Collective Bargaining Power In The Workplace

Great Essays
I. Introduction
The process of negotiation can be seen in almost any form or scale in our everyday lives. Whether an individual is negotiating a better rate for their car or homeowners insurance, on the purchase price of a home, the price of a new car or an increase in their wages, some form of negotiations occur. In most cases we would expect to have equal power to negotiate; however, we can also have little power at all. As an individual employee, depending on the demand for your skills, we may have no real negotiating power with our employers at all.
The following analysis will provide an overview of unfair labor practices, the impact collective bargaining power and unionization has on leveling the playing field between management and the labor force, the reasons for the consistent decline of union membership in the private sector of United States, as well as the role and two primary responsibilities of the National Labor Relations Board. Recommendations will be provided on whether a company should resist unionization and best practices to implement to assist in their resistance. II. Collective Bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of discussion or negotiation between a company’s management and representatives of the employees. The “collective” of employees are only effective together since as individuals they have less bargaining power and far fewer financial resources than their employers. The negotiations between the two are generally based on establishing an agreement on working hours, workplace conditions, and any other items of mutual interest between the parties. This formal type of negotiations helps both sides avoid the costly impact of lost productivity, litigation, and the societal component of class warfare (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2008). In an effort to promote a fair collective bargaining process and a less hostile legal system, in 1935 the Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was passed. The NLRA’s purpose was to define and protect the rights of employees and employers. The rights of employees include: • The right to self-organization. • The right to form, join, or assist a labor organization. • The right to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing. • The right to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining. • The right to refrain from any or all collective bargaining activities except in cases where membership in a labor organization is a condition of employment (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2008, p. 622). The NLRA’s coverages include specific exclusions to their protections for individuals; for example, employees who are considered supervisors, parents or spouses of the employer, or independent contractors. The NLRA also prohibits unfair labor practices for both employers and labor unions that include: • Threatening employees with loss of job or benefits if they join or vote for a union. • Threatening to close down a plant if organized by a union. • Spying or pretending to spy on
…show more content…
However, since its peak in the 1950’s when union membership was 35 percent of employment there has been a consistent pattern of decline. Several factors explain the reason for union membership decline including structural changes in the economy, increased employer resistance, substitution with human resource management, changes in government regulation, worker views, and union actions. Each of these factors contributes to the overall decline, yet the major contributors are arguably employer resistance and the impact of human resource management strategies (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2008).
Employer resistance to unions is driven by increased market pressures from foreign competition and deregulation of certain industries. This is in contrast to how employers reacted in the past when unions were considered to play a vital role in helping management make effective decisions. Nonunion employers now utilize strategic human resource management practices to implement policies that promote employee empowerment, employee growth, competitive benefits and wages, and an overall positive employee attitude (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright,
…show more content…
The NLRB’s two primary functions are to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices, whether committed by labor organizations or employers; and to establish whether or not certain groups of employees’ desire labor organization representation for collective-bargaining purposes (NLRB, 2016). The NLRB ensures that the process of organizing a union is followed and is responsible for holding a union representation election if they are met (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright,

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    PATCO Strikes

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Introduction Unions have existed for more than 4 centuries. The creation of unions was in response to effects from the industrial revolution. The face of unionized labor was forever changed in 1981. Unions had much success with strikes and work stoppages in order to obtain their demand post-world war. One particular group changed the landscape for all unions with poor management and strong government pressure.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The NLRB has two main functions. The first applies to situations where a union represents thirty percent or more of any group of employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB conducts secret ballot elections, to determine whether or not these employees wish to be represented in collective bargaining proceedings. The second one is to prevent and remedy unlawful case, commonly referred to as…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The National Right to Work Committee (NRTW) says that labor unions are “outdated and no longer beneficial to their members, American workers as a whole, or the larger society”. They go on to encourage union members to drop their memberships, and for members (and agency fee payers) to cancel their dues payments. Of course, the NRTW’s rhetoric ignores the fact that union members earn significantly more than their non-union counterparts (BLS, p. 2; Yates, p. 40), are protected by collective bargaining agreements with their employers, and belong to organizations that “compel employers to listen to their employees and to respect them as human beings. Employers know these things, and this is why they fight our collective efforts so viciously and spread lies about them” (Yates, p. 46). The NRTW is just another employer-sponsored attack dog set loose to attack unions, collective bargaining, and worker organization.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Knights Of Labor Essay

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The American Federation of Labor (AFL) has reigned as the primary labor federation to which the overwhelming majority of labor unions in the United States have historically belonged to, but this has not been without frequent contestation. Compare and contrast the AFL and 3 different competing labor organizations that we have discussed in class, including a discussion on leadership, policies, and organizing strategies (such as business unionism vs. social unionism). Use specific examples and cite your sources. It’s no secret that the American Federation of Labor(AFL) is has been the dominant Union has unionized the most workers in the United States.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Part 1: Key Terms and Definitions/Applications Labor Unions is when employees have the legal right to bargain collectively with their employers and its used for bargaining in good faith and sometimes the demands are not met which could lead to strikes and it is within their right. The most negotiated things within Unions is better health care, pensions and better wages or even just making sure the company does not outsource their jobs. Some ways in which labor unions have helped workers is demonstrated with verizon workers who went on strike because their jobs were being outsourced to different countries just because the company wanted to cut down labor costs. With the help of labor unions who negotiated for new contracts which was that for the next four years all customer…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout history labor unions have been and are debated. The labor unions versus capitalism are a major subject matter that has separated our country into two separate political parties. Whether, unions are practical and mandatory for our economy, or just another conflict added to the list of problems our country already has. Although, the general opinion of part of today’s labor unions have become redundant and can eventually be risky, labor unions of the Glided Age were necessary. Providing evidence of merits, personal bias, and political views to support the idea of the unsafe and unfair working conditions during this era.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Trade Union Impact

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Unions are a group of workers who band together to improve their employment conditions and protect co-workers and themselves from legal and economic mistreatment. Unions began forming in the mid-19th century, with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) forming in the 1880s. By 1900 there were a million union workers. Though the cause of the impacts may vary, the economy, legislation, and public policy have always had an impact on Union Membership.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Unions have a long time history across the United States globe. In the article is says, "Union worker, benefits include higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Labor unions also represent the voice of their members. Meaning they voice theirs owns opinion about things.…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “In 2014, 7.2 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.4 million workers in the private sector. The union membership rate for public-sector workers (35.7 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.6 percent)” (Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2015, para. 4). In the public sector, unionization was highest in local government jobs that include teachers, police officers and firefighters (41.9%). In the private sector, unionization is among those working in Utilities (22.3%), Transportation and Warehousing (19.6), Telecommunications (14.8%) and Construction (13.9%) (Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2015).…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Public Sector Unions

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Unions Effect on State and Local Government Today, unionized workers are more likely to be in public sector unions as teachers, police officers, or firefighters rather than steel workers, electricians, or autoworkers. Union’s effect on the economy is not a short story. They have shaped the economy and the industrial complex that we both have enjoyed and grown to dislike. Unions have brought about changes in the organizations we would see as unethical and morally corrupt. Nevertheless, corporations were engaging with the best practices of that particular time.…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Corporations are generally opposed to unions in the workplace. Many believe that union have slower productivity and protect incompetent workers. Labor unions are better than non-union work forces because they provide optimal…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Labor Unions Benefits

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “The way to get the economy back on track is to boost the purchasing power of the middle class. One major way to do this is to expand the percentage of working Americans in unions” (Reich 2). Labor Unions benefit all workers’ and helps protect them. Union’s helps workers get the benefits they need.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Poverty in the United States of America is a controversial topic, the issue of poverty affects everyone nationwide. The United States, societal roles are often depicted and dependent on poverty to keep the scale balanced between the wealthy and the poor. Poverty consists of two words, the word poor, meaning lacking, insufficient and below the norm. The second word society, meaning a large social group sharing the same social or geographic territory. In the year 1990 13.1 percent of America’s population lived in poverty.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Reich attributes the past more equivalent distribution of wealth in the 1950s and 1960s to stronger unions. He comments that union membership has fallen from “more than a third of all private-sector workers belonging unions in the 1950s to fewer than 7 percent today” (Reich) and that because of this, the bargaining power of average workers has all but disappeared. According to his data, the decline of the American middle class mirrors almost exactly the decline of American labor union membership. Reich proposes a three step system to strengthen unions and to therefore lessen income inequality; “First, make it easier to form a union, with a simple majority of workers voting up or down, Second, build in real penalties on companies that violate labor laws by firing workers who try to organize a union or intimidating others.…

    • 1862 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays