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Thomas
Chapter 11 – Labor Unions and collective Bargaining
Our reading assignment for the week focused on the role and structure of labor unions, discussed laws that affect collective bargaining, and how collective bargaining units and its process are formed. The authors started off the chapter by explaining the role of Unions. The industrial revolution was pointed as the start of that movement from the significant change from family-owned crafts to large industrial factories with owners that are highly motivated by profit. Therefore, the creation of Union had the same reasons of why workers join Unions nowadays: dissatisfaction with management regarding job security, pay, and overall treatment. Those three major reasons why employees decide to join a Union will be discussed in the questions below, as well as the five main reasons for the decline of Unionization rates.
The chapter described the Union structure, which goes by local union, national union, and America Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Different growth strategies for unions were then explained, such as political involvement, building organizing funds, and public awareness campaigns. The authors then discussed multiple laws that affect collective bargaining (described by the book as the process of negotiation between union representatives and management), such as the National Labor Relations Act and Labor Management Relations Act. One of the most interesting parts of the chapter in my opinion was the explanation of the steps of forming a Bargaining Unit, which involves the signing of an authorization card, petition for election, election campaign, and election/certification.
Chapter 11 then discussed bargaining issues (mandatory, permissive and prohibited) and how topics included in labor agreements include recognition, management rights, employee security, amongst others. One particularly interesting part of this reading for me was the explanation of how negotiations occur, especially regarding wage increases and reaching/ratifying an agreement. The authors then discussed the process of grievance in a union environment and how that is usually restricted to violations of terms and conditions to a previously signed agreement. Therefore, union decertification reverses the process that employees must follow in order to receive the recognition of a collective bargaining unit. Finally, the authors explained details of collective bargaining in the public sector and its particularities.
Questions
The five reasons that explain the decline in unionization rates are: intimidation tactics to force union membership now prohibited by the law, disadvantaged groups protected by government regulation, globalization created a need for greater union flexibility, lower unionization in right-to-work states, and public sector unionization under greater scrutiny by politicians.
The three major factors that make employees join a Union are related to dissatisfaction with management regarding compensation/employee benefits, job security and attitude of management toward workers.
References
Martocchio, J. J., & Mondy, R. W. (2019). Human Resource Management. Pearson.