Labor_Union_and_Management_Tactics

Labor Union and Management Tactics A labor union is an employee organization that has the main goal of representing members in employee-management bargaining over job-related issues. Unions were originally formed in the late nineteenth century to protect workers from intolerable work conditions and unfair treatment. Minimum wage laws and unemployment benefits were nonexistent with eighty hour work weeks being accepted as a norm. These were not short term issues that would easily go away (Dias and Shah). Many tactics have been used by unions and management to negotiate contracts and resolve labor disputes with union membership growing drastically since. Unions negotiate for an employment contract through a process called collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a type of negotiation used by employees to work with their employers. During this period, workers' representatives approach the employer and attempt to negotiate a contract which both sides can agree with. Typical issues covered in a labor contract are hours, wages, benefits, working conditions, and the rules of the workplace. Once both sides have reached a contract that they find agreeable, it is signed and kept in place for a set period of time, most commonly three years. The final contract is called a collective bargaining agreement, to reflect the fact that it is the result of a collective bargaining effort (Wise Geek). When an agreement can’t be accomplished through collective bargaining, a variety of tactics such as striking, boycotting, mediation and arbitration are used. Striking is powerful because of the financial loss imposed upon the employer when employees collectively refuse to go to work. A boycott is a refusal to buy services or goods from a business whose workers are on strike. Unions also try to get the general public involved to support their cause. Mediation is the use of a third party who encourages both sides in a dispute to come to an agreement. Arbitration is a more extreme option to solve disputes. This occurs when an unbiased third party is brought in to make a decision about the disagreement. This can be binding where the arbitrator makes a decision that can’t be appealed or nonbinding whereas the arbitrator offers an opinion but the parties are not required to agree or follow (Dias and Shah). Management may put pressure on the unions by using tactics such as lockouts, injunctions, and strikebreakers when there is a breakdown in negotiations. Lockout happens when management shuts down a workplace in hope of bringing the workers to the companies’ terms. Sometimes a court will issue an injunction to halt a strike and order the workers back to work. Strikebreakers occur when management hire new people to replace the people that are on strike until the dispute is resolved (Dias and Shah). Philadelphia was a city of labor union firsts: the first recorded labor strike, first labor newspaper, first city central body of unions, and first labor union political activity (Reynolds). Philadelphia printers conducted the first recorded strike for higher wages in 1786, opposing a wage cut and demanding a minimum wage of $6 per week (Reynolds). In 2009, 16.9 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union. This group includes both union members (15.3 million) and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract (1.6 million). Government employees (781,000) comprised nearly half of the 1.6 million workers who were covered by a union contract, but not members of a union. Union members had average weekly earnings of $908, while those who were not represented by unions averaged $710. In addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, the difference reflects a variety of influences including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, firm size, or geographic region (Labor). Unions developed in America due to the slavery-like conditions facing the American worker. The purpose and philosophy of a union is that a group is more powerful than any individual. Americans have realized that working together in unison is important for achieving their goals. Many Americans take their job benefits for granted, not realizing the struggles early Americans underwent for their security and happiness. Works Cited Dias, Laura Portolese and Amit J. Shah. Introduction to Business. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Labor, United States Department of. 23 October 2010 . Reynolds, Morgan. Mises Daily. 23 October 2010 . Wise Geek. 23 October 2010 .