The Dynamics of Labor

Relations
• Mostly, workers act as individuals to
select jobs that are acceptable to
them and to negotiate pay, benefits,
flexible hours, and other work
conditions.
• At times, workers have believed their
needs and interests do not receive
enough consideration from
management.
• One response by workers is to act
collectively by forming and joining
labor unions.
 Unions
• A formal association of workers that
promotes the interests of its members
through collective action.
Factors Leading to Employee Unionization
 Unions and Labor
Relations
• Unions – • Labor relations –
organizations field that emphasizes
formed for the skills managers and
purpose of union leaders can use
representing their to minimize costly
members’ forms of conflict
interests in dealing (such as strikes) and
with employers. seek win-win
solutions to
disagreements.
Organizing Union/Employee Contact
Campaigns
Initial Organizational
Meeting
Steps in the
Organizing
Process Formation of In-House
Committee

Election Petition and

Voting Preparation

Contract Negotiations
Labor Relations Process

1. Workers desire collective

representation
2. Union begins its organizing
campaign
3. Collective negotiations lead to a
contract
4. The contract is administered
 Employer Tactics
Opposing Unionization
• Stressing favorable employer-employee relationship
experienced without a union.
• Emphasize current advantages in wages, benefits, or
working conditions the employees may enjoy
• Emphasize unfavorable aspects of unionism: strikes,
union dues, abuses of legal rights
• Use statistics to show that unions commit large
numbers of unfair labor practices.
• Initiate legal action when union members and leaders
engage in unfair labor practices
How Employees Become
Unionized
• Bargaining Unit
 A group of two or more employees who
share common employment interests and
conditions and may reasonably be grouped
together for purposes of collective
bargaining.
• Exclusive Representation
 The legal right and responsibility of the
union to represent all bargaining unit
members equally, regardless of whether
employees join the union or not.
Impact of Unionization
on Managers
• Challenges to Management
Prerogatives
 Management prerogatives versus union
participation in decision-making in the
work place.
• Loss of Supervisory Authority
 Constraints on management in directing
and disciplining the work force by terms of
the collective bargaining agreement.
Structures, Functions, and
Leadership of Labor Unions
• Craft unions
 Unions that represent skilled craft workers
• Industrial unions
 Unions that represent all workers—skilled,
semiskilled, unskilled—employed along
industry lines
• Employee associations
 Labor organizations that represent various
groups of professional and white-collar
employees in labor-management relations.
Structure and Functions
of Local Unions
• Local Officers
 Elected officials who lead the union and serve on
the bargaining committee for a new contract.

• Union Steward
 An employee, as a nonpaid union official, represents
the interests of members in their relations with
management.
 Types of Arbitration
• Compulsory Binding Arbitration
 A process for employees such as police
officers, firefighters, and others in jobs
where strikes cannot be tolerated to reach
agreement.
• Final-offer Arbitration
 The arbitrator must select one or the other
of the final offers submitted by the
disputing parties with the award is likely to
go to the party whose final bargaining offer
has moved the closest toward a reasonable
settlement.
The Collective Bargaining Process
The Bargaining Process
• Collective Bargaining Process
 The process of negotiating a labor agreement,
including the use of economic pressures by both
parties.
• Bargaining Zone
 Area within which the union and the employer are
willing to concede when bargaining.
• Interest-based Bargaining
 Problem-solving bargaining based on a win-win
philosophy and the development of a positive long-
term relationship.
Management and Union Power
in Collective Bargaining
• Bargaining Power
 The power of labor and management to
achieve their goals through economic, social,
or political influence.
• Union Bargaining Power
 Strikes, pickets, and boycotts
• Management Bargaining Power
 Hiring permanent replacement workers
 Continuing operations staffed by management
 Locking out employees
 Current Challenges to
Unions
Important issues confronting unions

Foreign competition and

technological change

The long-term decrease in

union membership

Employers’ focus on
maintaining nonunion status
Strategies to Remain Union-Free
• Offer competitive wages and benefits based on labor market
comparisons and salary and benefit surveys.
• Train supervisors in progressive human relations skills, including
employee motivation, job design, and employment law.
• Institute formal procedures to resolve employee complaints and
grievances; these may include peer-review committees, step-
review complaint systems, or open-door policies.
• Involve employees in work decisions affecting job performance or
the quality or quantity of the product or service provided.
• Give attention to employee growth and development needs;
recognize that the workforce is growing older, more female, more
vocal, better educated, less patient, and more demanding.
• Draft HR policies that reflect legal safeguards and that are fair and
equitable in employment conditions such as discipline, promotions,
training, and layoffs.