MHR 612 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
National unions might have the most formal power - ANSWER
Jobs and the workplace - ANSWER the most important site of cooperative interactivity
and sociability with adults, outside of the family
Labor union - ANSWER group of workers who join together to influence the nature of
their employment
Labor relations for employers - ANSWER managing relationships with employees and
labor unions in ways that promote organizational goals or cost-effective service delivery
Nonunion employers - ANSWER try to remain union-free through preventative labor
relations strategies
Objectives of labor relations - ANSWER Efficiency, Equity, Voice
Efficiency objective - ANSWER productive use of scarce resources for economic
prosperity
Important to the employment relationship because of its effect on competitiveness,
economic development, and economic prosperity
Work is not simply an economic transaction though - work is a fully human activity such
that employees are entitled to fair treatment and opportunities to have input into
decisions that affect their daily lives
The sole objective of the labor relation is - ANSWER efficiency
General belief is "what's good for a company is good for the world"
Businesses are not designed to be democratic training grounds
A company has no obligation to provide personal and moral development
Equity objective - ANSWER standard of fair treatment for employees
Voice objective - ANSWER the ability of employees to have meaningful input into
workplace decisions
Equity and voice are - ANSWER social and human boundaries on efficiency and are
weak compared to employment-at-will (lack of just cause discharge protections)
In agrarian and crafts-based societies, quality of life is linked to ____ but now modern
workers are dependent on _______ - ANSWER property; jobs
,These three objectives can - ANSWER clash
Equitable treatment might reduce - ANSWER flexibility and efficiency
Employee voice might make decision making - ANSWER more cumbersome and less
efficient
Unions centralize ______ to better achieve equity, but become less _____ to individuals -
ANSWER power; responsive
The greatest challenges in labor relations arise from - ANSWER conflicting goals
Labor relations must strike a balance between these conflicting goals
Conflicts are generally resolved privately through _______ and other means by
individuals, unions, and companies - ANSWER bargaining
The key right of workers is - ANSWER the ability to quit jobs they do not like
Through bargaining, unions can - ANSWER 1. Provide voice and representation to
individual workers
2. Negotiate extensive work rules to protect members against unfair treatment by
management
3. Secure better wages
Collective bargaining - ANSWER representatives of the employer and employees
negotiate employment terms and conditions such as compensation, personnel
policies/procedures, employee and employer rights and responsibilities, union rights
and responsibilities, dispute resolution and ongoing decision making
Pressures for competitiveness and quality add pressure to collective bargaining
The crucial feature of collective bargaining - ANSWER management's authority to
unilaterally establish conditions of employment is replaced by bilateral negotiations
where workers have a collective voice
Flexibility clashes with - ANSWER lengthy contracts with detailed work rules
Cooperation and employee involvement clashes with - ANSWER adversarial bargaining
processes
Contracts set duration and terms and are not generally - ANSWER flexible
Union contract - ANSWER the provisions of a bargain that are written down and bound
into a legally enforceable collective bargaining agreement
Collective bargaining objectives - ANSWER 1. Negotiate the terms and conditions of
employment
,2. Mutual aid
3. Protection
Management's perspective - ANSWER - Adversarial negotiations do not promote trust
and cooperation
- Need to supplement high-level, periodic negotiations with ongoing low-level
communication and problem-solving mechanism
- Lengthy, detailed contracts inhibit flexibility and involvement
- Labor laws are outdated
Labor's perspective - ANSWER - Labor law is weak - penalties are minimal, delays are
frequent, employers can use captive audience speeches and permanent strike
replacements, secondary boycotts are prohibited
- Private sector union density is less than 7%
Workplace democracy - ANSWER belief that workers in a democratic society are
entitled to the same democratic principles of participation in the workplace
Information about workplace democracy - ANSWER - Labor unions seek not only
material gains in wages and benefits but also dignity, voice, and freedom
- Workers want more influence over decisions that affect their job or work life to allow
them to enjoy their jobs more and make businesses more competitive
- Managers like to deal with workers one-on-one but half of workers prefer dealing with
management as a group
- Unions underscore voice in union literature and campaigns but unions overseas
emphasize voice
- Social commentators, labor leaders, and workers want fairly distributed outcomes,
participation in decision making, and profitable and effective production of goods and
services
Supporting unionization - ANSWER unions help strike a balance between efficiency,
equity, and voice
U.S. labor law assumes that corporations have _______ power than individual workers -
ANSWER greater
Superior employer bargaining power results in - ANSWER low wages and worker unrest,
long hours at low pay under discriminatory conditions that violate equity, employer
dictation of employment conditions and autocratic supervision
Unions are seen as - ANSWER improving the power inequalities and helping strike a
, balance between efficiency, equity, and voice
U.S. labor law protects unions to strike a balance between efficiency, equity and voice
by the following - ANSWER 1. Increasing the purchasing power of workers and reducing
disruptive strike activity
2. Achieving fair standards and protections against exploitation
3. Providing democracy in the workplace
If a majority of workers want union representation - ANSWER - The employer must
bargain with the union over wages, hours, and other terms/conditions
- Workers cannot be fired or discriminated against for their union support
- Employers cannot threaten employees or take action to prevent unionization
Union density - ANSWER the percentage of workers who are union members
Private sector union density in the U.S. has ______ since 1955 in - ANSWER declined;
traditionally unionized industries
Reason for union density decrease - ANSWER 1. Increased numbers of women in the
workforce
2. Increased education and skill levels
3. Unions not doing a good job of responding to the needs of a changing workforce
4. Employers have improved their responsiveness to employees' needs
5. Increased protective legislation has provided a substitute for unions such as the Civil
Rights Act, Equal Pay Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Family Medical
Leave Act
Public sector union density - ANSWER jumped in the early 1960s, increased steadily for
15 years, and after a slight decline, has leveled off
Employer resistance or opposition - ANSWER - American managers are exceptionally
hostile towards unions
- Strong tradition of using union avoidance tactics
- Failure to invest in nonunion operations
- Actively fighting organization drives
- Increased anti-union legislation in U.S. public sector
Representation gap - ANSWER employees want more representation in the workplace
than they have; ⅓ of non-union workers would like a union in their workplace; union
National unions might have the most formal power - ANSWER
Jobs and the workplace - ANSWER the most important site of cooperative interactivity
and sociability with adults, outside of the family
Labor union - ANSWER group of workers who join together to influence the nature of
their employment
Labor relations for employers - ANSWER managing relationships with employees and
labor unions in ways that promote organizational goals or cost-effective service delivery
Nonunion employers - ANSWER try to remain union-free through preventative labor
relations strategies
Objectives of labor relations - ANSWER Efficiency, Equity, Voice
Efficiency objective - ANSWER productive use of scarce resources for economic
prosperity
Important to the employment relationship because of its effect on competitiveness,
economic development, and economic prosperity
Work is not simply an economic transaction though - work is a fully human activity such
that employees are entitled to fair treatment and opportunities to have input into
decisions that affect their daily lives
The sole objective of the labor relation is - ANSWER efficiency
General belief is "what's good for a company is good for the world"
Businesses are not designed to be democratic training grounds
A company has no obligation to provide personal and moral development
Equity objective - ANSWER standard of fair treatment for employees
Voice objective - ANSWER the ability of employees to have meaningful input into
workplace decisions
Equity and voice are - ANSWER social and human boundaries on efficiency and are
weak compared to employment-at-will (lack of just cause discharge protections)
In agrarian and crafts-based societies, quality of life is linked to ____ but now modern
workers are dependent on _______ - ANSWER property; jobs
,These three objectives can - ANSWER clash
Equitable treatment might reduce - ANSWER flexibility and efficiency
Employee voice might make decision making - ANSWER more cumbersome and less
efficient
Unions centralize ______ to better achieve equity, but become less _____ to individuals -
ANSWER power; responsive
The greatest challenges in labor relations arise from - ANSWER conflicting goals
Labor relations must strike a balance between these conflicting goals
Conflicts are generally resolved privately through _______ and other means by
individuals, unions, and companies - ANSWER bargaining
The key right of workers is - ANSWER the ability to quit jobs they do not like
Through bargaining, unions can - ANSWER 1. Provide voice and representation to
individual workers
2. Negotiate extensive work rules to protect members against unfair treatment by
management
3. Secure better wages
Collective bargaining - ANSWER representatives of the employer and employees
negotiate employment terms and conditions such as compensation, personnel
policies/procedures, employee and employer rights and responsibilities, union rights
and responsibilities, dispute resolution and ongoing decision making
Pressures for competitiveness and quality add pressure to collective bargaining
The crucial feature of collective bargaining - ANSWER management's authority to
unilaterally establish conditions of employment is replaced by bilateral negotiations
where workers have a collective voice
Flexibility clashes with - ANSWER lengthy contracts with detailed work rules
Cooperation and employee involvement clashes with - ANSWER adversarial bargaining
processes
Contracts set duration and terms and are not generally - ANSWER flexible
Union contract - ANSWER the provisions of a bargain that are written down and bound
into a legally enforceable collective bargaining agreement
Collective bargaining objectives - ANSWER 1. Negotiate the terms and conditions of
employment
,2. Mutual aid
3. Protection
Management's perspective - ANSWER - Adversarial negotiations do not promote trust
and cooperation
- Need to supplement high-level, periodic negotiations with ongoing low-level
communication and problem-solving mechanism
- Lengthy, detailed contracts inhibit flexibility and involvement
- Labor laws are outdated
Labor's perspective - ANSWER - Labor law is weak - penalties are minimal, delays are
frequent, employers can use captive audience speeches and permanent strike
replacements, secondary boycotts are prohibited
- Private sector union density is less than 7%
Workplace democracy - ANSWER belief that workers in a democratic society are
entitled to the same democratic principles of participation in the workplace
Information about workplace democracy - ANSWER - Labor unions seek not only
material gains in wages and benefits but also dignity, voice, and freedom
- Workers want more influence over decisions that affect their job or work life to allow
them to enjoy their jobs more and make businesses more competitive
- Managers like to deal with workers one-on-one but half of workers prefer dealing with
management as a group
- Unions underscore voice in union literature and campaigns but unions overseas
emphasize voice
- Social commentators, labor leaders, and workers want fairly distributed outcomes,
participation in decision making, and profitable and effective production of goods and
services
Supporting unionization - ANSWER unions help strike a balance between efficiency,
equity, and voice
U.S. labor law assumes that corporations have _______ power than individual workers -
ANSWER greater
Superior employer bargaining power results in - ANSWER low wages and worker unrest,
long hours at low pay under discriminatory conditions that violate equity, employer
dictation of employment conditions and autocratic supervision
Unions are seen as - ANSWER improving the power inequalities and helping strike a
, balance between efficiency, equity, and voice
U.S. labor law protects unions to strike a balance between efficiency, equity and voice
by the following - ANSWER 1. Increasing the purchasing power of workers and reducing
disruptive strike activity
2. Achieving fair standards and protections against exploitation
3. Providing democracy in the workplace
If a majority of workers want union representation - ANSWER - The employer must
bargain with the union over wages, hours, and other terms/conditions
- Workers cannot be fired or discriminated against for their union support
- Employers cannot threaten employees or take action to prevent unionization
Union density - ANSWER the percentage of workers who are union members
Private sector union density in the U.S. has ______ since 1955 in - ANSWER declined;
traditionally unionized industries
Reason for union density decrease - ANSWER 1. Increased numbers of women in the
workforce
2. Increased education and skill levels
3. Unions not doing a good job of responding to the needs of a changing workforce
4. Employers have improved their responsiveness to employees' needs
5. Increased protective legislation has provided a substitute for unions such as the Civil
Rights Act, Equal Pay Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Family Medical
Leave Act
Public sector union density - ANSWER jumped in the early 1960s, increased steadily for
15 years, and after a slight decline, has leveled off
Employer resistance or opposition - ANSWER - American managers are exceptionally
hostile towards unions
- Strong tradition of using union avoidance tactics
- Failure to invest in nonunion operations
- Actively fighting organization drives
- Increased anti-union legislation in U.S. public sector
Representation gap - ANSWER employees want more representation in the workplace
than they have; ⅓ of non-union workers would like a union in their workplace; union
