Many things have changed over the last 20 to 30 years in American culture. Some of the changes comprise the advancement of technology and the business shift from yield to service. As history has shown, unequal pay and rehabilitation of employees has transformed employment an unbiased chance for the American dream to a dog-eat-dog world.
Many companies believe their employees should be happy with a paycheck at the end of the week, while employees want more than just a paycheck. Thus many new laws and the formation of a Union came forth.
During the 1930s, labor union membership in the United States increased rapidly, aided by the Wagner Act of 1935, which had protected the right of workers to produce and strike. Conservatives cited a coal miners' assault during World War Ii and a wave of strikes across many industries after the war as evidence that labor unions had come to be too suited and unrestrained.
In 1946 Republicans won operate of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1930. Senator Robert A. Taft, Sr. (Republican-Ohio), chair of the Senate Labor and group Welfare Committee, and Representative Fred Hartley, Jr. (Republican-New Jersey), chair of the House schooling and Labor Committee, sponsored the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 to regulate union activities. Their legislation became known as the Taft-Hartley Act. (Hartman)
Passed over President Harry Trum's veto, the Taft-Hartley Act allowed states to enact "right to work" laws to outlaw accomplished shops, companies where only union members could be employed. Taft-Hartley also prohibited jurisdictional strikes, in which separate unions struck a business to settle which one would record its workers, and barred communists from serving as union officers. Taft-Hartley gave Presidents the right to seek a federal court injunction to call off strikes for an 80-day "cooling off" period. This would allow work to continue while supervision and labor negotiated a contract. Although highly controversial, and strongly opposed by labor unions, the Republican-sponsored Taft-Hartley Act has remained largely unchanged by later Democratic majorities in Congress. (Byars & Rue, 2004, p. 381).
Taft-Hartley Act
Federal law (in full, Labor supervision Relations Act) enacted in 1947, which restored to supervision in unionized industries some of the bargaining power it had lost in pro-union legislation prior to World War Ii. Taft-Hartley prohibited a union from:
o refusing to deal in good faith
o coercing employees to join a union
o imposing inordinate or discriminatory dues and initiation fees
o forcing employers to hire union workers to perform unneeded or non-existent tasks (a custom known as featherbedding)
o striking to sway a bargaining unit's selection in the middle of two contesting unions (called a jurisdictional strike)
o enthralling in secondary boycotts against businesses selling or handling nonunion goods
o enthralling in pity strikes in withhold of other unions
Taft-Hartley also
o imposed disclosure requirements to regulate union business dealings and locate fraud and racketeering
o prohibited unions from directly making contributions to candidates running for federal offices
o authorized the President of the United States to postpone strikes in industries deemed valuable to national economic health or national security by declaring an 80-day "cooling-off period"
o permitted states to enact right-to-work laws, which outlaw compulsory unionization.
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal department created by Congress in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the customary law governing relations in the middle of unions and employers in the private sector. The statute guarantees the right of employees to produce and to deal collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity with or without a union, or to refrain from all such activity. (Byars & Rue, 2004 p. 365).
National Labor Relations Board (Nlrb), independent department of the U.S. Government created under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act), and amended by the acts of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Labor Act) and 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act), which affirmed labor's right to produce and deal collectively straight through representatives of their own selection or to refrain from such activities. The board consist of five members (appointed by the U.S. President with the approval of the Senate for five-year terms) is assisted by 33 regional directors.
This board determines permissible bargaining units, conducts elections for union representation, and investigates charges of unfair labor practices by employers. Unfair practices comprise interference, coercion, or restraint in labor's self-organizational rights; interference with the formation of labor unions; encouraging or discouraging membership in a union; and refusal to deal collectively with a duly chosen employee representative. The Nlrb does not have the power to reconsider cases enthralling real estate brokers, agricultural employees, domestic workers, family workers, government employees, and church-run schools. (www.hlrb.com)
State laws that make it illegal for labor unions and employers to enter into contracts that furnish for a business to hire only union members in the jobs covered by the contract. One typical version of a right-to-work law reads, "No person may be denied employment, and employers may not be denied the right to hire any person, because of that person's membership or non-membership in any labor organization." (Hedding) Labor union leaders typically seek the repeal of right-to-work laws because much lower percentages of workers choose to join unions and pay dues in states where such laws are in effect.
Defenders of right-to-work laws tend to argue that workers who refuse to join unions generally do so because they just do not value the group bargaining services that unions perform and/or because they disagree with the political causes that unions withhold with their dues money. Opponents of right-to-work laws tend to see refusal to join a union generally as attempting to be a free rider that enjoys the very real benefits of union representation without having to pay his fair share of the cost. About 20 Us states have some version of such a law presently in effect.
I current live in Arizona, which is a Right to Work state. Often there is blurring as to what that means. Many habitancy believe it means that you can be fired from your job without explanation, and they are, therefore, reluctant to live and work in a Right to Work state. That is not the basis of the Right to Work concept. A Right to Work law guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a health of employment, to join or not to join, or to pay dues to a labor union. In other words, if you work in a Right to Work state, like Arizona, and the employees form a union, you may not be fired if you settle not to join. Likewise, if you are a member of a union in a Right to Work state, and you settle to resign from the union, you may not be fired for that reason. (Hedding)
Here is how Arizona's Constitution, report Xxv, reads:
"Right to work or employment without membership in labor organization
No person shall be denied the chance to get or withhold employment because of non-membership in a labor organization, nor shall the State or any subdivision thereof, or any corporation, private or relationship of any kind enter into any agreement, written or oral, which excludes any person from employment or continuation of employment because of non-membership in a labor organization. (Addition stylish choosing Nov. 5, 1946, eff. Nov. 25, 1946; amended November 30, 1982.)"
Facts About Right to Work
1. If you work primarily in a Right to Work state you have the right to decline joining a union and you cannot be required to pay dues or an department fee to the union unless you choose to join the union. This includes State or Local Government employees, group School Teachers and College Professors.
2. If your employment takes place on Federal property, there may be an exception to whole (1) above. Check with your exact state.
3. All employees of the Federal Government, together with Postal assistance employees, by law are guaranteed the right to decline union membership. You cannot be required to pay dues or fees to a union, no matter where you work.
4. Railway and airline employees are not protected by state Right to Work laws.
Proponents of Right to Work laws point to what they say is empirical evidence that Right to Work states (mostly southern and western states) enjoy faster economic and employment growth than non-Right to Work states. (Hedding)
Opponents of Right to Work laws argue that mandatory union membership is valuable to offset the power of big business in a shop economy, which is responsible for the decline in real income for workers and greater income inequities. They also argue that Right to Work laws give some employees a free ride, by enjoying the benefits of unionization where they work without paying the costs related with maintaining their employment proprietary and benefits.
Since the 1940s, twenty-two states (and Guam) have enacted Right to Work laws. They are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
Whether or not you agree with Right to Work laws, and whether or not you want to live in a Right to Work state, it is foremost to recognize that the Right to Work laws are not to be confused with the idea of Employment At Will. Agreeing to J. Steven Niznik in his report entitled, Employment at Will, "The Employment at Will doctrine means that employment is voluntary for both employees and employers. As an at-will employee, you may quit your job whenever and for anyone intuit you want, commonly without consequence. In turn, at-will employers may finish you whenever and for anyone intuit they want, commonly without consequence."
Collective bargaining consists of negotiations in the middle of an boss and a group of employees so as to settle the conditions of employment. The ensue of group bargaining procedures is a group agreement. Employees are often represented in bargaining by a union or other labor organization. group bargaining is governed by federal and state statutory laws, administrative department regulations, and judicial decisions. In areas where federal and state law overlap, state laws are preempted.
The Nlra establishes procedures for the selection of a labor organization to record a unit of employees in group bargaining. The act prohibits employers from interfering with this selection. The Nlra requires the boss to deal with the appointed representative of its employees. It does not wish whether side to agree to a proposal or make concessions but does produce procedural guidelines on good faith bargaining. Proposals, which would violate the Nlra or other laws, may not be field to group bargaining. The Nlra also establishes regulations on what tactics (e.g. Strikes, lock-outs, picketing) each side may hire to supplementary their bargaining objectives.
State laws supplementary regulate group bargaining and make group agreements enforceable under state law. They may also furnish guidelines for those employers and employees not covered by the Nlra, such as agricultural laborers. (Cornell)
The role that Human resource plays in group bargaining initiatives is defined by the Nlra. The Human resource representative must deal with the appointed representative of its employees. The Human resource representative acts as the voice of the business with the authority to deal or negotiate with their employees straight through an appointed representative to keep the business going by avoiding a strike.
Most industries are prosperous due to group bargaining while others are not. Identifying those particular industries are easy to recognize due to their success in the labor market.
One business known for heavy group bargaining is the Auto Industry. The auto business historically has played a foremost role in American group bargaining, introducing many now base features -- multi-year contracts with cost-of-living adjustment escalators and built-in every year real wage increases, supplementary unemployment benefits, "30 and out" pensions, capability of working life programs, and pattern bargaining. From the early 1980s on, automotive labor relations was again in the forefront in taking actions to modify this long-established model, under pressure from both foreign and domestic competitors and from new yield methods often related to team working and related innovative human resource practices.
Another business is the Food and Service. Plagued by problems of low wages, high cost of health care and bad working conditions, the United Food and industrial Workers are using group bargaining to change these conditions. Great wages, lower cost health care with the boss paying more of the whole and other bargaining might be a renewed interest in Unionization surrounded by other industries.
A third business is the United Steelworkers industry. The business has been short changed with unfair trade, resignation and benefits, healthcare, and job security. The Steelworkers business has a great group bargaining setup to negotiate and bargaining with their employers and the Federal Government. Recently the Usw signed an deal that would furnish higher pay increases over the next three years, plus more money put aside for resignation and lower health cost for the employees and family. The Usw is highly complicated with group bargaining for their employees.
I currently work in a Call town providing financial information. Unionization in a Call town would be hard to accomplish. Each call town has a separate goal in mind based on the company's industry. retention competing surrounded by other call centers in the same business has proven to keep a Union out while providing the employee with what they desire.
In conclusion, group bargaining is a prosperous way for workers to reach their goals about accept able wages, hours, and working conditions. It al lows workers to deal as a team to satisfy their needs. group bargaining also allows supervision to negotiate efficiently with workers by bargaining with them as a group instead of with each one individually. Though customary bargaining can be negative and adversarial, it does produce group bargaining agreements in the middle of labor and management. Partnership bargaining can lead to increased comprehension and trust in the middle of labor and management. It is a positive, cooperative coming to group bargaining that also culminates in contracts in the middle of labor and management.
Reference:
A Glossary of Political Ecomony Terms: Right to Work Laws. Retrieved on May 21, 2007 from the Internet. Http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/right-to-work
Byars, Lloyd L. & Rue, Leslie W. (2004). Human resource supervision (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Cascio, Wayne. (2002). Managing Human Resources (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Collective Bargaining and Labor Arbitration Overview. Retrieved on May 20, 2007 from the Internet. Http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Collective_bargaining
Judy Hedding, Right to Work: Arizona is a Right to Work State. Retrieved on May 21, 2007 from the Internet. Http://phoenix.about.com/cs/empl/a/righttowork.htm
National Labor Relations Board. Information retrieved on May 21, 2007 from the Internet. Http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/bus/A0834954.html
Robert J. Donovan, conflict and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945-1948 (New York: Norton, 1977).
Susan M. Hartmann, Truman and the 80th Congress (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1971)
No comments:
Post a Comment