Bargaining Agreements : A Collective Bargaining Agreement

Labor unions represent workers interests and the collective bargaining process provides a way to manage the conflict (Noe, 2003). More than ever, union employees have come to see unionizing as a way to achieve an

“Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection”.

The National Labor Relations Act limit the Board’s determination by not grouping employees of different employers into the same bargaining unit, not allowing supervisors to join since it would be considered conflict of interest since they operate in the interest of the employer, separating professional and unprofessional unless approved by the professional employees. (p122) “The board has disregarded history of bargaining in several cases when that history contravened the board’s policy of mixing clerical and production and maintenance personnel, when it was based on oral contracts, and when it

Collective bargaining was a result of a Keokuk, Iowa teacher strike in 1970. The salary of the teachers was the main reason the KEA and school board was vigorously divided. When a deadlock was reached between the two groups a mediator came in to help. The school board shot down what the mediator came up with for a solution. According to Daily Gate City, “When the school board adopted a salary schedule April 17 that was $21,000 (or $107 per teacher) less of a package than what was recommended by the mediator, the teachers, with community support went on strike”(Daily Gate City). The Keokuk Education Association ended up in court due to the teachers protesting and state public employees were not allowed to go on strike. They refused to stop the

Maintaining strong employee relations is vital to the success of any business. Many of the Supreme Court cases in the textbook discuss collective bargaining and union participation. These cases were intriguing because they reiterate employees’ rights to express their opinions and join organizations designed to better their lives.

Currently they must be formed between the employer and the union(s) that are best able to represent a majority of the employees that will be covered by the agreement (EM 2014). Additionally, they are not subject to good faith bargaining principles.

The NLRA requires management and the union to bargain over certain issues if they are introduced in negotiations. The issues are referred to as mandatory bargaining items and include anything that falls into the category of wages, hours, and working conditions such as health insurance, safety standards, and flexible work hours. To begin, labor law affects what is discussed at the bargaining table, specifically the NLRA requires good faith bargaining over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The NLRA also allows the parties to negotiate over certain issues if they are mutually amenable to doing so. For example, if the parties involved choose to negotiate over the treatment of retirees or job applicants, they have the

Employer and employee relationships were strained from the very beginning of labor, and it soon was evident that government intervention would be necessary to keep the labor movement on track. Several statues have been enacted since the early nineteenth century to deal with management and unions. Evidence can be seen from the Norris-La

The union and the employer work out the details of the employees' wages, benefits, working conditions,

The Court held an employer could not be compelled by the Act to do so if other channels of communication are available that allows the union to reach the employees, provided that the employer does not discriminate against the union by allowing other distributions. The Supreme Court stated that so long as the circumstances of the employment do not "place the employees beyond the reach of reasonable union efforts to communicate with them," respect for the employer 's property rights allow it to prohibit nonemployee access to its property. In doing so, the Court specifically differentiated the access rights of employees from those of nonemployees. The distinction [between employees and nonemployees] is one of substance. No restriction may be placed on the employees ' right to discuss self-organization among themselves unless the employer can demonstrate that a restriction is necessary to maintain production or discipline. Republic Aviation Corp. v. Labor Board, 324 U.S. 793, 803. But no such obligation is owed nonemployee organizers.” Ted Scott and Sara B. Kalis, Littler Mendelson, P.C.1.

An article in the New York Times shared light to some opinions of the case. “Under California law, public employees who choose not to join unions must pay a “fair share service fee,” also known as an “agency fee,” typically equivalent to members’ dues. The fees, the law says, are meant to pay for collective bargaining activities, including “the cost of lobbying activities.” More than 20 states have similar laws.” Workers decided to make the claim that unions were using their dues for activities beside collective bargaining. A claim was made that dues are being used to help fund the union’s speech and that it violated non members first amendment rights. However, the article continued to claim “Unions say the teachers’ First Amendment argument is a ruse. Non-members are already entitled to refunds of payments spent on political activities like advertising to support a political candidate.

2. List and discuss three U.S. laws that support collective bargaining, and three examples of employer unfair labor practices.

A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their jobs and the quality of work within the organization. In many occasions, unions help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003). In this paper, I will be discussing the impact of unions and labor relations within an organization.

Since the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935, unions have been in existence. The main role is to safeguard workers’ rights, ensure safe work conditions and negotiate for the employees through collective bargaining. Collective bargaining

Voluntary or permissive bargaining subjects are those for which an employer or labor organization may choose to bargain, but are not required to do so. Moreover, a refusal to address a voluntary or permissive bargaining subject is not a violation of the NLRA. Some examples include the following: internal union business, inclusion of supervisors in contract, designation of negotiators, marketing strategies, price of employer’s product, use of union labels, and taping or making transcripts of negotiations (Delaney, Sockell, & Brockner, 1988). Yet, illegal subjects of bargaining are unlawful under the NLRA. Some examples include the following: closed-shop clauses, union-shop clauses in right-to-work states, “hot cargo” clauses and provisions that violate the NLRA or federal or state employment laws (Delaney, Sockell, & Brockner, 1988).