Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations Essay

CHAPTER 14 incarnate talk charge and travail craftingsChapter thickThis chapter suffers an e reallywhereview of hole-and-corner(a)- firmament cranch- wariness dealings in the coupled States, with shortened attention to macrocosm-sector differences and trans field repel relations. by and by(prenominal) a model of agitate-charge relations and a con schoolbook for current relationships be provided, conglome number aspects of the military effect of bodied negociate atomic piece 18 described. Cooperative forms of churn- precaution relations be thus confronted. Fin completelyy, an in constituent is given for how varys in agonistic challenges atomic anatomy 18 influencing advertize- guidance inter subroutineions.Learning ObjectivesAfter analyse this chapter, the student should be able to1. name what is meant by collective dicker and mash relations.2. Identify the force relations goals of management, bray gists, and society.3. Explain the ratified environments impact on fight relations.4. pull in the study repel-management interactions organizing, pact negotiations, and resolution judicial system.5. unwrap the sunrise(prenominal), slight adversarial approaches to labor-management relations.6. Explain how changes in agonistic challenges (e.g., point of intersection-market competition and globalisation) argon influencing labor-management interactions.7. Explain how labor relations in the familiar sector differ from laborrelations in the private sector. widen Chapter Outline pure t adept Key term appear in boldface and ar listed in the Chapter style section.Opening Vignette excavate transaction and the Bottom LineThe main let go in the 54-day usurp by the unite Auto stoolers (UAW) at two frequent Motors preempt industrial lines was personal line of credit security and whether GM would invest in curriculumts in the get togethered States or continue its effort to concussion U.S. employment and slip of paper production abroad to reduce labor be. The strike postp one(a)d all of GMs plant operations, which ca theatrical usaged one-year earnings and market sh be. GM plans to winding off a unfermented unit, which would take a musical mode 200,000 of UAW proletarians from the sacrificeroll. get over is thinking nigh doing the equal thing plainly has postponed the move becaexercising of UAW opposition.I. entree chore-management relations argon complex, and somewhat(prenominal)(prenominal) ar in transition as competitive challenges force a realignment of management and train uper interests. The study for legion(predicate) U.S. companies to become little and more than(prenominal) efficient translates into actions (job loss) that atomic number 18 at cross-purposes with the interests of compass north members.II. The press traffic modeling ( textbook edition embodiment 14.1 and TM 14.1)A. John Dunlop suggested a labor relations systems that consists of four elements1. An environmental context (technology, market forces, etc.).2. Participants employees and their summations, management, and the government.3. A vane of commands (rules of the game) that describe the sour bywhich labor and management interact.4. Ideology (acceptance of the system and farewellicipants).B. Katz and Kochan hold patronage presented a model that focuses on the decision- make process and outcomes.1. At the strategical level, management makes elemental choices much(prenominal) as whether to diddle with its federation or develop non northern operations.2. These labor and management choices made at the strategic level mask interaction at the second level, the functional level, where thrust negotiations carry on.3. These strategic decisions besides affect the thrashplace level, the bea in which the contract is administered.III. Goals and StrategiesA. Society drudge unitings major benefit to society passim history has been the balancing o f radiation patterner and the institutionalization of industrial conflict in the least(prenominal) dear(p) way of life. The subject field Labor Relations round (NLRA, 1935) sought to provide a legal frame tally in conducive to collective dicker.B. focus moldiness determine whether to advertise or discourage the sum of moneyization of its employees. Based upon unlooses of net cost, flexibility, and labor st efficacy, as tumefyspring as ideology, management must decide. If management has a partnership, it has the option of supporting a decertification take, an preference in which employees switch a pass to vote out the sum of money.C. Labor fusions desire to give turners formal delegation in setting the terms and conditions of employment. (See text side stride 14.1 for categories of home playacts in collective bargain agreements).IV. centre Structure, Administration, and MembershipA. study and multinational br otherhoods be composed of multiple loc al anaesthetic unions, and more or less atomic number 18 affiliated with the Ameri female genitals Federation of Labor and Congress of industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) (see delay 14.2 in the text for a list). In 1995, 3 major unions, the UAW, the united Steelworkers, and the foreign Association of Machinists, announced plans to go by the year 2000. A cogitate knowledge from Dushkins Annual Editions mankind Resources 99/00 (HR Comes of Age by Michael Losey 1. Craft unions are those that take members of a particular skill or trade, much(prenominal) as electricians or plumbers. Craft unions are possible to be responsible for reproduction platforms called apprenticeships.2. Industrial unions are made up of members who work in any number of positions in a given manufacturing, such as the auto or mark industry. Whereas craft unions whitethorn wish to take in the number of members, industrial unions wish to maximize the number of members.B. Local unions are a grea t deal responsible for the negotiations of a contract as swell as the day-to-day administration of the contract, including the iniquity procedure. Typically, an industrial local corresponds to a single manufacturing facility.C. The AFL-CIO is a federation of national unions. It represents labors interests in the governmental process and provides numerous services to its members, in terms of question and education (text realise 14.2). A related reading from Dushkins Annual Editions Human Resources 99/00 (Labor Deals a impudent Hand by Marc Cooper D. conjunction security depends upon its ability to ensure a stability of members and imputables. wedlocks typically negotiate a contract article that defines the relationship it has to employees and that provides for an uninterrupted f unhopeful of dues.1. A checkoff provision is an automatic deduction of union dues from an employees cave incheck.2. A so utilised divulge is a union security provision under which a just rough one must be a union member.3. A union shop requires a soul to join the union within a certain length of cartridge clip after fountain employment.4. An commission shop is mistakable to a union shop, but does non require union affable rank, only that an agency fee be paid.5. alimony of social rank requires only that those who join the union stay on members finished with(predicate) the life of the current contract.6. Right-to-work lawsAs a function of the Taft-Hartley amendment to the NLRA, states whitethorn decide to make mandatory union rank (or flush dues paying) nonlegal.E. nub Membership and negociate PowerEmployers are change magnitudely resisting unionization. joints are making new attempts to organize new social statuss and to provide new services. Union membership has legitimately declined since 1950 and now stands at most 10 percent of private-sector employment (text encounter 14.3 and TM 14.2). Reasons for this decline are renowned below1. Structur al Changes in the deliveryThese changes include decline in kernel manufacturing and emergence in the service sector. exclusively these changes, according to studies, only account for 25 percent of the overall union membership decline.2. Incr embossmentd Employer ResistanceAlmost 50 percent of large employers in a survey reported that their most master(prenominal) labor goal was to remain union free. Unions ability to organize whole industries has declined, and thitherof con ladder are rarely interpreted out of competition. Additionally, studies contrive shown that if a union wins an choice, it is oft the eluding that managers lose their jobs (see Figure 14.4 for the sum up in un unclouded labor practices filed). Competing by Meeting Stakeholders Needs Is punishing Labor Relations Good for occupation? Milwaukee- found Johnson Controls is not looking to cultivate a unionized work force. That is why it endures strikes at its seat making factories by UAW workers who we re essay to negotiate their first collective dicker contract with the accompany. cut across has taken a different view because it has begun a sanitary commitment with the UAW to be a competitive advantage. intersection realizes that it is not in the beaver interests of its employees to accept seats by shift workers because their relationship with the union and respect for the aggroup are too important to them. Finally, Johnson Controls hold on a contract with the UAW at its two plants with suffice from Ford. 3. telephone exchange with HRMIn large nonunion companies, HRM policies and practices whitethorn encourage positive employee relations, and thitherfore union representation is not desired by employees. Competing done globalization UAW Concedes Defeat at counterchangesfor now UAW is diverting its attention from the Japanese-owned assembly plants to the German-owned plants because the Japanese are turning their backs on the UAW. Transplant operations are to ugh to implement, but they are continuing to grow in this terra firma and employment continues to shrink. Also, the UAW membership is beginning to shrink because it depends on the auto industry for its existence. Transplant operations usually tour pay and benefits and the social and semipolitical environments take overt support unions. BMW and Mercedes-Benz are ordain to work with the U.S. auto union because it is easier to organize during economic times and they whitethorn be able to influence affairs with Germany. BMW pays workers periodic with bonuses as well as use a self-directed work team up concept. These pay and benefits are attractive to the workers at this company. The union must also campaign with plant expansions because employees find themselves considering job progress or at least a move to a more likable work slot. BMW and Mercedes-Benz are expanding twain(prenominal) their factories and their payrolls. 4. Substitution by Government Regulation invol vement laws become been passed that reduce the areas in which unions jackpot make a contribution.5. Worker ViewsThe privation of a U.S. history of feudalism and variety distinctions has limited the class-consciousness needed to support a strong union endeavour.6. Union ActionsCorruption, apology to obvious economic change, and openness to women and minorities pass all hurt the perception of union.V. court- pronounceed FrameworkLegislation and court decisions that provide the mental synthesis within which unions must pass away ingest had an effect upon membership, negotiate antecedent, and the full point to which unions and managements are booming in achieving their goals. The 1935 NLRA enshrined collective bargain as the preferred mechanics for settling labor-management hostilitys. section 7 of the act sets out the reclaims of employees, including the right to self-organization, to form, join, or hang labor organizations, to bargain conjointly through representati ves of their own choosing, and to engage in new(prenominal) concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining.A. foul Labor Practices (ULPs)Employers The National Labor Relations Act (1935) prohibits certain activities by both employers and labor unions. Section 8(a) of the NLRA contains ULPs by employers.1. Employers cannot throw in with, snare, or coerce employees in drill their Section 7 rights.2. Employers cannot dominate or interfere with a union.3. Employers may not discriminate against an individual for exercising his or her right to join or uphold a union.4. Employers cannot refuse to bargain collectively with a certified union ( oppo localize theoretical accounts are given in text Table 14.3).B. Unfair Labor PracticesLabor Unions These were added by the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.1. These ULPs parallel those listed previously. For example, unions may not restrain or coerce employees in the function of their Section 7 rights (see Table 14.4 in the text for add itional examples).C. EnforcementThe National Labor Relations maturate (NLRB) has the primary function for enforcing the NLRA.1. The NLRB is a five-member board appointed by the president. Additionally, there are 33 regional offices.2. Only businesses involved in interstate commerce are covered by the NLRA and therefore subject to the NLRB.3. The NLRB has two major functionsa. To conduct and certify representation elections.b. To sustain ULPs and to adjudicate them.4. ULP charges are filed at and investigated by the regional offices.5. The NLRB may defer to the parties unrighteousness process instead of holding a hearing.6. The NLRB can issue a cease-and-desist place to halt a ULP. It may lay out reinstatement and back pay. The court of appeals can learn to enforce the NLRBs orders.VI. Union and steering fundamental interactions OrganizingA. wherefore Do Employees Join Unions?Is it for take and benefits? Do unions help increase net profits and benefits?B. The Process and Legal Framework of OrganizingAn election may be held if at least 30 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit sign authorization cards. A secret ballot election give be held. The union is certified by the NLRB if a simple majority of employees vote for it.1. A decertification election may be held if no some other election has been held within the year or if no contract is in force.2. The NLRB must define the grab bargaining unit. Thecriterion they use is interdependence of interest of employees.3. Certain categories of employees cannot be include.C. Organizing Campaigns caution and Union Strategies and Tactics (see text Tables 14.5 and 14.6 for gross campaign issues).1. Table 14.7 in the text and TM 14.3 list employer strategies, legal and illegal, that are used during organizing campaigns. Additionally, note the significant increase in employer ULPs since the late 1960s.2. The consequence of pause the law in this situation is minimal, and variety against employees ac tive in union organizing decreases organizing success.3. The NLRB may set aside the results of an election if the employer has fashiond an cash machine of confusion or fear of reprisals.4. feller union membership provides a person who is not part of a bargaining unit with some of the services a full union member receives ( admittance to insurance, citation cards, etc.). This is a strategy unions are hard in order to increase support.5. corporeal campaigns seek to bring public, financial, or political pressure on employers during the organizing and negotiating process.Example William Patterson, corporate affairs director of the Teamsters union, attended the 1996 snip Warner Inc.s annual meeting, where he unsuccessfully pushed a Teamsters proposal to split the prexy and CEO position into two ramify positions. The Teamsters pension funds eat up assets of $48 billion and actively pursue strategies as conveyholders to support their positions.VII. Union and forethought Intera ction Contract NegotiationBargaining structures, the clasp of employees and employers that are covered under agiven contract, differ, as shown in text Table 14.8.A. The Negotiation ProcessWalton and McKersie suggested that negotiations could be broken into four subprocesses1. Distributive bargaining occurs when the parties are attempting to divide a unconquerable economic pie into two parts. What one ships company gains, the other loses.2. Integrative bargaining has a win-win focus it seeks solutions beneficial to both sides.3. Attitudinal structuring refers to behaviors that substitute the relationships mingled with the parties, for example, offering to share breeding or a meal.4. Intraorganizational bargaining is the consensus- pretending and negotiations that go on between members of the same troupe.B. Managements preparation for negotiations is critical to labor be and productivity issues. The next step are suggested1. Establish interdepartmental contract objectives among industrial relations and finance, production, and so on.2. reappraisal the old contract to focus on provisions needing change.3. Prepare and analyze entropy on labor cost, your own and competitors. study on scotchs, compensation, and benefits must be examined as well.4. Anticipate union demands by maintaining an awareness of the union perspective.5. Establish the potential costs of non-homogeneous possible contractprovisions.6. puzzle preparations for a strike, including possible replacements, security, and supplier and customer.7. pick up the strategy and logistics for the negotiators.C. Negotiation Stages and Tactics1. The early(a) stages may include many individuals, as union proposals are presented.2. During the middle stages, for each one side makes decisions regarding foregoingities, theirs and the other parties.3. In the lowest stage, momentum may build toward small town or pressure may build as an impasse becomes more apparent. more(prenominal) small gro ups are used to head particular proposition issues.4. acquiring to Yes by fisher cat and Ury presents four principles of negotiationsa. Separate the muckle from the problem.b. condense on interests, not positions.c. Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do.d. verify that the results be based on some objective measuring.D. Bargaining Power, Impasses, and Impasse outcomeAn important determinant of the outcomes of negotiations is the relative bargaining power of each party. Strikes impose various economic costs on both sides and therefore, in part, determine the power.E. Managements Willingness to Take a StrikeWillingness is inflexible by the answers to two questions.1. flush toilet the company remain profitable over the unyielding thresh if it agrees to the unions demands?2. Can the company continue to operate in the short run despite a strike.3. The following factors help determine whether management is able to take a strikea. harvest-time DemandIf i ts strong, there is greater potential loss for management.b. Product PerishabilityA strike timed with perishability of a crop results in permanent r even soue enhancement loss.c. TechnologyA ceiling-intensive firm is less dependent on labor for go along operation.d. Availability of Replacement Workers( communication channel that the Clinton Administration issued an administrator order that at the time of matter was under an injunctive order. This executive order prohibits federal official contractors from permanently replacing striking workers).e. multiple Production Sites and Staggered ContractsThese permit the shifting of work from a struck site.f. Integrated FacilitiesIf parts are not available from a struck plant, other facilities may be shut down.g. Lack of Substitutes for the ProductA strike is less costly if customers cannot leveraging substitute goods.F. Impasse-Resolution Procedures Alternatives to Strikes1. Mediation is provided by the federal Mediation and Concilia tion Service. While a mediator has no formal dominance to force a solution, he or she acts as a facilitator for the parties, trying to help find a way to nail down an impasse.2. A fact finder is most commonly used in the public sector. The fact finders job is to investigate and report on the reasons for the dis ensnaree and both sides positions.3. arbitrement is a process through which a neutral party makes a final and binding decision. Traditionally, rights arbitrament (the interpretation of contract terms) is widely accepted, temporary hookup interest arbitration (deciding upon the outcome of contract negotiation) is used much less frequently.VIII. Union and Management Interactions Contract AdministrationA. The mark procedure is a process actual to resolve labor management disputes over the interpretation and implementation of the contract. This happens on a day-to-day basis.1. The WWII War Labor Board first institutionalized the use of a triplet base-party neutral, called an arbitrator (now, the final step in the unrighteousness process).2. The effectiveness of grievance procedures may be judged on three criteriaa. How well are day-to-day problems resolved?b. How well does the process adjust to changing mountain?c. In multi-unit contracts, how well does the process report localcontract issues?3. The duty of fair representation is mandated by the NLRA and requires that all bargaining-unit members, whether union members or not, bring equal access to and appropriate representation in the grievance process. An individual union member may sue the union over indifferent or discriminatory representation.4. Most grievance procedures have several steps prior to arbitration, each including representatives from increasingly higher(prenominal) levels of management and the union (Text Table 14.9 and TM 14.4).5. Arbitration is a final and binding step. The supreme Court, through three brasss know as the Steelworkers Trilogy, confirmed the credibility and binding nature of the arbitrators decision.6. Criteria arbitrators use to make headway decisions includea. Did the employee know the rule and the consequences of violating it?b. Was the rule use in a consistent and predictable way?c. Were the facts collected in a fair and systematic way?d. Did the employee have the right to question the facts and present a defense?e. Does the employee have the right of appeal?f. Is there progressive right?g. Are there mitigating circle?B. New Labor-Management Strategies1. There are signs of a transubstantiation from an adversarial approach to a less adversarial and more constructive approach to union-management relations.2. The transformation includes increasing worker involvement and participation and reorganizing work to increase flexibility. Competing through High-Performance Work Systems Look Whos Pushing productivity Aluminum Co. of America is on the job(p) to hold a high performance work system within its plant by setting up a lab or-management partnership and spur productivity, protect jobs, and as utilize unions as consultants. The International Association of Machinists is implementing a revolutionary change in the way unions view cooperation with management. The goal is to protect workers jobs and pay by making their employers more competitive. By developing expertise in new work systems, unions have a come active to make themselves valuable to employers battling todays intense global and domestic competition. Partnerships can also dilute the opposition many executives feel toward unions. However, the most leaveing unions calm down battle over allowance. The IAM has opted for a soft-sell approach, market itself as a resource for employers. The one payoff is that unions get more jobs for its members even if it cant win election battles against nonunion contractors. 3. Union leaders have frequently resisted such change, fearing an erosion of their influence.4. In the Electromation case, the NLR B ruled that setting up worker-management committees was a violation of the NLRA, given certaincircumstances (see Table 14.10 for a description of what makes teams illegal).5. Polaroid late dissolved an employee committee when the U.S. Department of Labor claimed it was a violation.6. In a third case, the NLRB ruled that worker-management safety committees were illegal because they were rule by management.7. These new approaches (with the boundaries of legality) to labor relations may add to an organizations effectiveness. Table 14.11 in the text and TM 14.5 decorate the patterns of traditional and transformational approaches.IX. Labor Relations OutcomesA. StrikesSee Table 14.12 in the text for U.S. strike data. take note that strikes occur very infrequently.B. Wages and BenefitsIn 1997, private-sector unionized workers received, on average, wages that were 28 percent higher than nonunion counterparts.1. The union-nonunion gap is most probably overestimated due in part to the e ase of organizing higher skilled (therefore more passing paid) workers. The union threat more than presumable causes an underestimation of the differences. The net difference is close to 10 percent.2. Unions influence the way in which pay is given (across-the-board wages on top of occupational wage rates). Promotions are in large part based on higher status. A related reading from Dushkins Annual Editions Human Resources 99/00 (Off the Tenure Track by Barbara McKenna C. Productivity1. Unions are believed to decrease productivity in three waysa. The union pay advantage motivates management to use more capital per worker, which is an inefficiency.b. Union contracts may limit work load, and so on.c. Strikes and other job actions result in some lost productivity.2. Unions, alternatively, may increase productivitya. Unions provide more efficient communion with management, which may reduce turnover.b. The use of seniority decreases the competition between workers.c. The presence of a union may encourage management to tighten up in terms of consistency on work rules, and so on.3. Overall, studies have concluded that union workers are more productive than nonunion workers although the explanation is not clear.Example Between 1978 and 1982, Ford lost 47 percent of sales. Today, Ford uses one-half as many workers to make a car as they did during that period. A major factor in Fords increased productivity has been the melioration in their labor-management relationship. Management has made a strong effort to increase employee involvement. The Walton Hills plant outside of Cleveland, Ohio, is given as an example of a change from an adversarial relationship to a more concerted approach that allowed for a change of work rules which kept the plant open.D. Profits and Stock PerformanceThese may suffer under unionization if costs are raised. Recent studies have shown ostracize effects on profit and shareowner wealth. These research findings describe the average effec ts of unions. The consequences of more innovative union-management relationships for profits and stock performance are less clear.X. The International ContextThe United States has both the largest number of union members and the lowest unionization rate of any Western European kingdom or Japan (Text Table 14.13). A number of potential explanations exist.A. The growing globalization of markets (EC common market, NAFTA, etc.) will continue to put pressure on labor costs and productivity. Unless U.S. unions can increase productivity or organize new production facilities, union membership may continue to decline.B. The United States differs from Western Europe in the phase of formal worker participation in decision making. Work councils and economytermination are mandated by law in Germany.XI. The Public arenaDuring the 1960s and 1970s, unionization in the public sector increased dramatically. By 1997, 37 percent of government employees were covered by a union contract. Strikes are illegal at the federal level and in many states for government workers.Chapter VocabularyThese terms are defined in the Extended Chapter Outline section.Web of RulesDecertificationCraft UnionIndustrial UnionLocal UnionAFL-CIOCheckoff ProvisionClosed ShopUnion ShopAgency ShopMaintenance of MembershipRight-to-Work LawsUnfair Labor Practices (ULPs)National Labor Relations Act, 1935Taft-Hartley Act, 1947National Labor Relations BoardAssociate Union MembershipCorporate CampaignsDistributive BargainingIntegrative BargainingAttitudinal StructuringIntraorganizational BargainingGetting to YesMediationFact Finder iniquity ProcedureArbitrationDuty of mean(a) RepresentationElectromation sideDiscussion Questions1. why do employees join unions?Employees join unions because of dissatisfaction with wages, benefits, running(a) conditions, and supervisory method. Employees believe that collective voice (representation) will increase the likelihood of improvement. unionisation provides a better ba lance of power between management and employees (as a group).2. What has been the panache in union membership in the United States, and what are the underlying reasons for the turn out?Since 1950, union membership has consistently declined as a percentage of employment to some 16 percent of all employment. Students may suggest a number of reasons for this (as discourseed in the text) decline in the manufacturing core industries, increase in employer union resistance,more frequently adopted progressive HRM policies, increase in employment legislation, and a lack of union adaptation.3. What are the consequences for management and owners of having a union represent employees?Various consequences may occur depending on the character of the union-management relationship. Management may find less flexibility, higher wage and benefit costs, higher productivity, and a ban impact on stock price and profitability.4. What are the general provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, an d how does it affect labor-management interactions?The NLRA provides a detailed list of individuals rights regarding organizing a union, bargaining a contract, and involvement (or lack thereof) in job (concerted) actions. These rights are referred to as Section 7 rights. Section 8 lists unsportsmanlike labor practices for both employers and unions. Students could present and establish each of these. The NLRB (the primary enforcement agency) was also mandated by the act.The NLRA encouraged unionization in order to provide employees with a balance of power vis a vis employers. It affects labor relations by providing a structure for negotiations and conflict resolution. Students could be called upon to provide some specific examples.5. What are the features of traditional and untraditional labor relations? What are the potential advantages of the new nontraditional approaches to labor relations?Traditional labor relations can be characterized as adversarial in nature. Negotiations ar e generally win-lose, and grievances tend to be colonized at the third and fourth levels of the process. Nontraditional labor relations include an emphasis on problem-solving and win-win negotiations. Grievances may be more frequently settled informally at the first step. Additionally,employees may be involved in team efforts and participate in decision making.6. How does the U.S. industrial and labor relations systems compare with systems in other countries such as those in Western Europe?The U.S. industrial relations system has a very low relative union density rate. The union wage premium is higher in the United States. Western European unions have a much higher level of formal worker participation in decision making.Web ExerciseStudents are asked to visit UAWs web site to read somewhat and answer questions closely their recent mergers. www.uaw.comEnd-of-Chapter CaseA beautify Under Foreign Factories?The global economic crisis is turning up the heat on companies that use cheap overseas labor, and as a result many companies are taking action like Nike, Inc. Nike elevate wages for its entry-level factory workers in Indonesia by 22 percent to offset that countrys devalued currency and other companies are finding ways to fix these problems without being undercut by rivals. The American Apparel Manufacturers Association (AAMA) introduced a line of work force to set guidelines for companies to police their factories and suppliers. In addition, the Council on Economic Priorities launched a program toward labor relations by having companies self-regulate even in the face of negative packaging about sweatshops, which could in turn create a floor of basic working conditions evolving around the globe. The plan is to establish the seemly Labor Association (FLA), a private entity to be controlled 50-50 by corporate and human-rights or labor representatives. The FLA would accredit auditors, such as accounting firms, to certifycompanies as complying with the code o f conduct, and inspect about a twenty percent of a companys factories for certification. This plan however needs to address wages and unionization rights in order to be successful. These two efforts can pose a problem for companies who still want to deal with sweatshops because human-rights groups will continue to expose the companies that use this technique.Questions1. From labors point of view, what challenges does the mobility of capital create of protecting workers rights?From labors point of view, the challenges are decent wage levels, appropriate standard of living, and job security.2. Should companies be obligated to pay a living wage to workers? What would the likely consequences be for workers?To avoid exploitation by companies, living wages certainly makes sense. It also treats employees as assets rather than cheap labor.3. If international labor standards are to be enforced, what is the outdo means? Should enforcement take the form of self-regulation by industry groups or should national governments uphold in enforcing such standards?If international standards are to be enforced, they should be consistent and standardised for the whole international market. This way it will be easier to monitor and control when there are discrepancies or when there is check-ins in the factories. National governments should take a reconciling approach in this arena to make sure things are going as planned and companies are complying with standards.4. As a consumer, do the conditions under which mountain work matter to you in choosing a product to buy?Answers will vary. For the most part, most consumers will not think about where the products came from or where they were made when deciding on whether to purchase a certain product. The people that will take this issue into consideration would probably be the human-rights groups or other informed and concerned consumers however, many people do not understand or are well informed about such issues.Additional Activ itiesTeaching SuggestionsStudents are frequently quite interested in how labor relations work. Additionally, they may have fairly strong opinions about unions and their effectiveness. Discussions are therefore quite easy to wampum and keep going. Below are a number of activities that can be added to the text material. One role play is included that allows students to try out the first step in a grievance procedure. The HBR case on the clerical and technical employees organizing campaigns gives students a good chance to think about how HRM policies and practices truly play a role in employee relations. Two of the Competing through boxes have coverion questions listed. Finally, the Saturn end-of-part case is very effectual with this chapter, illustrating the benefits of a constructive joint union-management relationship.1. Competing through Quality Discussion Questions Certainly strikes bring about hostile attitudes in many cases. What strategies can management use to defuse these feelings once people are back at work? Given the Electromation case, how thoughtful does management need to be in using teams as a quality improvement technique?2. Competing through Globalization Discussion Questions What types of strategies should U.S. organizations use when dealingwith labor relations in other countries? What information do they need and with whom should they staff the labor relations positions? Will unions ever move to have a multinational structure like many organizations do? Why or why not? You may wish to have students do some library or Internet research on this question.3. An interesting case from the Harvard credit line School is listed below with questions for discussion. This may be assigned to groups as a written case analysis or used in class to discuss and illustrate a number of points regarding why employees join unions and what sort of union organizing techniques are used.Case 9-490-027 Clerical and Technical Workers OrganizingCampaign at Harvard University (A)Case 9-490-081 Part (B)Teaching Note (5-490-083)Supplement (9-490-081)This case describes a successful organizing drive among clerical and technical workers at Harvard. The union (HUCTW) relied on unusual strategies espousing cooperation, avoiding specific demands, emphasizing the need for worker voice, and making use of volunteer organizers.Discussion Questions1. Should Harvard contend unionization?2. How would a union affect the universitys business needs?3. How effective were Harvards campaign tactics?4. What did you learn about managing human resources from reading and analyzing this case?5. The Saturn case presents a labor-management relationship (as well as a plant design process) designed from the ground up as a cooperative, joint interaction. After application program this chapter, students should be well prepared to discuss the demands placed upon both the union and management in a situation like Saturns. The case provides some focus on the political riskin ess of a cooperative relationship for the union-elected officials.In the Saturn case discussion, it would be useable to note the difference between beginning a new operation in which the union-management relationship is based on jointness and blaspheme and the effort needed to change a relationship in which trust has not existed in the past.6. Assign the following article from The Wall Street ledger (May 24, 1993) Why Ms. Brickman of Sarah Lawrence Now Rallies Workers by Kevin Salwen. Note also that as part of the AFL-CIOs new union summer program, more than 1,600 young people, mostly college students, have applied for pro-labor candidates and help organize workers.Ask the students to discuss this quote Every successful social movement in history, including the civil rights movement, was run by young people. If the labor movement is going to succeed and grow again, they need to be a big part of it.7. A role play is useful in talking about the grievance procedure. Using the follow ing scenario, assign the roles of union steward, supervisor, employee, and observer to students in groups of four. Give them 20 minutes to try to resolve the issue informally, but if they are unable to, have them write it up as a grievance. Those groups that do resolve it may book in their resolution. Observers should provide feedback to the students in the other roles on interpersonal skills, empathy, listening, idea extension to resolve the issue, and so on.It is Friday afternoon in the special-order fabrications section of the Caseville plant. As the supervisor bloody shame Reed is checking work orders, she notes that there is one order that has not been handled, and delivery is due the next week. Clearly, bloody shame is going to have to find several people to work a second shift on extra time. Under the Caseville-Local 484 contract, overtime must be distributed by seniority. The supervisor quickly pulls her seniority list from the file and, beginning at the top, walks around her area talking to the employees and petition about their interest in overtime immediately after the current shift ends. After talking with five men, Mary has only one who will work. Quitting time is five minutes away, and the whereabouts of Brooke Youngblood is not known (Brooke is next on the list). In desperation, Stevens asks three employees standing at their benches who are about to leave. Two of these people agree to work (both are junior to Brooke). That afternoon and level the order is completed.Monday morning, upon arrival, Brooke is greeted and asked about his weekend. It turns out that he had taken a trip into the metropolis with his son for a major league baseball game Friday afternoon. The tickets had been purchased a calendar month before, and the special event was a birthday present. In the course of the discussion, Brooke learns about the overtime and realizes he hadnt been asked about it by his supervisor. He immediately calls his union steward, accommodate S tevens. A discussion ensues.