TEST 3, Chapter 12 (Dealing with Employee-Management Issues and Relationships) TEXT

In the US today, women earn ___% of what men earn

78.7

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin Act), 1959

Amended Taft-Hartley Act and the amended the Wagner Act; guaranteed individual rights of union members in dealing with their union, such as the right to nominate candidates for union office, vote in union elections, attend and participate in union meetings, vote on union business, and examine union records and accounts; required annual financial reports to be filed with the US Dept of Labor; one goal of this act was to clean up union corruption

why is organized labor at a crossroads?

Overall membership has declined, but there have been increases in membership over the past 2 years. To grow, unions will have to include more white-collar, female, and foreign-born workers than they have traditionally included

grievance

a charge by employees that management is not abiding by the terms of the negotiated labor-management agreement; most are negotiated and resolved by shop stewards and supervisory-level managers

injunction

a court order directing someone to do something or refrain from doing something

Yellow dog contract

a type of contract that required employees to agree as a condition of employment not to join a union; prohibited by the Norris-LaGuardia Act in 1932

strike

a union strategy in which workers refuse to go to work; the purpose is to further workers' objectives after an impasse in collective bargaining

open shop agreement

agreement in right-to-work states that gives workers the option to join or not join a union, if one exists in their workplace; a worker who does not join cannot be forced to pay a fee or dues

Negotiated labor-management agreement (labor contract)

agreement that sets the tone and clarifies the terms under which management and labor agree to function over a period of time

Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act), 1947

amended the Wagner Act; permitted states to pass laws prohibiting compulsory union membership (right-to-work laws); set up methods to deal with strikes that affect national health and safety; prohibited secondary boycotts, closed-shop agreements, and featherbedding (the requiring of wage payments for work not performed by unions); this act gave more power to management

secondary boycott

an attempt by labor to convince others to stop doing business with a firm that is the subject of a primary boycott; prohibited by the Taft-Hartley Act

lockout

an attempt by management to put pressure on unions by temporarily closing the business

union

an employee organization whose main goal is representing its members in employee-management negotiation of job-related issues; workers originally formed these to protect themselves from intolerable work conditions and unfair treatment

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

an organization of craft unions that championed fundamental labor issues; founded in 1886; limited membership to skilled workers (craftspeople); was never 1 big union, and it still functions as a federation of many individual unions that can become members yet still keep their separate union status

craft union

an organization of skilled specialists in a particular craft or trade; established to achieve some short-range goal, and usually disbanded after attaining this goal

agency shop agreement

clause in a labor-management agreement that says employers may hire nonunion workers; employees are not required to join a union but must pay a union fee (labor leaders feel that such fees/dues are justified because the union represents all workers in collective bargaining, not just its members)

union shop agreement

clause in a labor-management agreement that says workers do not have to be members of a union to be hired, but must agree to join the union within a prescribed period

closed shop agreement

clause in a labor-management agreement that specified workers had to be members of a union before being hired (outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947)

givebacks

concessions made by union members to management; gains from labor negotiations are given back to management to help employers remain competitive and thereby save jobs

hostile work environment sexual harassment

conduct unreasonably interferes with a worker's job performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment

co-determination

cooperation between management and workers in decision making

quid pro quo sexual harassment

employee's submission to sexual conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of employment, or an employee's submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the worker's status

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), 1935

expanded labor's right to collectively bargain; established an administrative agency (the National Labor Relations Board - NLRB) to oversee labor-management relations; this act gave great impetus to the union movement

certification

formal process whereby a union is recognized by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as the bargaining agent for a group of employees

industrial unions

labor organizations of unskilled and semiskilled workers in mass-production industries such as automobiles and mining

right-to-work laws

legislation that gives workers the right, under an open shop, to join or not join a union if it is present

comparable worth

legislative proposal required that people in jobs requiring similar levels of education, training, or skills should receive equal pay

Employee Free Choice Act

pending legislation, which is designed to make it easier for unions to organize workers; workers would openly approve union representation simply by signing a card (card check)

labor unions can legally authorize ____, but the Taft-Hartley Act prohibits the use of _____

primary boycotts, secondary boycotts

Equal Pay Act of 1963

requires companies to give equal pay to men and women who do the same job

Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938

set minimum wage and maximum basic hours for workers in interstate commerce industries

blue flu

sick outs; usually displayed by workers who are prohibited from striking

Paycheck Fairness Act (2009)

strengthens protections against compensation discrimination

arbitration

the agreement to bring in an impartial 3rd party (a single arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators) to render a binding decision in a labor dispute

Labor

the collective term for nonmanagement workers

Knights of Labor

the first national labor union, formed in 1869; offered membership to all working people, including employers; promoted social causes as well as labor and economic issues; intention was to gain significant political power and eventually restructure the entire US economy

decertification

the process by which workers take away a union's right to represent them

Collective bargaining

the process whereby union and management representatives form a labor-management agreement, or contract, for workers

bargaining zone

the range of options between the initial and final offer that each party will consider before negotiations dissolve or reach an impasse

mediation

the use of a third party, called a mediator, who encourages both sides in a dispute to continue negotiating and often makes suggestions for resolving the dispute

shop stewards

union officials who work permanently in an organization and represent employee interests on a daily basis

Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO)

union organization of unskilled workers; broke away from the AFL in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955

Sexual harassment

unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct (verbal or physical) of a sexual nature that creates a hostile work environment

primary boycott

when a union encourages both its members and the general public not to buy the products of a firm involved in a labor dispute

cooling-off period

when workers in a critical industry return to their jobs while unions and management continue negotiations; lasts up to 80 days

strikebreakers

workers hired to do the jobs of striking workers until the labor dispute is resolved

unwelcome

a term for behavior that would offend a reasonable person

Civil Rights Act of 1991

governs sexual harassment of both men and women

new issues affecting labor-management relations

increased global competition, advancing technology, offshore outsourcing, changing nature of work

pay equity

people in jobs that require similar levels of education, training, or skills should receive equal pay

Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932

prohibited employers from using contracts that forbid union activities such as yellow dog contracts

union security clause

provision in a negotiated labor-management agreement that stipulates that employees who benefit from a union must either officially join or at least pay dues to the union