-
EMPLOYEE-MANAGEMENT ISSUES.
- The
relationship of employees and their managers has always been
affected by certain issues
- The text
discusses several of the key employee-management issues: unions,
ESOPs, comparable worth, executive pay, and other issues affecting
employee-management relations.
- These
issues must be worked out through open discussion, goodwill, and
compromise.
- The
discussion of employee-management relations begins with a discussion
of unions.
-
UNIONS are employee
organizations that have the main goal of representing members in
employee-management bargaining over job-related issues.
-
Historically, employees turned to unions to gain specific rights
and benefits.
- However,
in the 1990s, unions failed to regain their previous power.
- LABOR UNIONS
FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES.
- One’s opinion
concerning the needs for unions usually depends upon which side of
the management fence one is on.
- The one thing
about unions that most people do agree on is the reason unions were
started in the first place.
- The
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION moved workers out of the field and into
the factories.
- Workers
were at the mercy of management.
- UNIONS
IMPROVED JOB CONDITIONS and won better wages and job security.
- Workers
learned that strength through unity (unions) could lead to
improved job conditions, better wages, and job security.
- But some
argue that organized labor has became a large industrial entity in
itself.
- THE EARLY
HISTORY OF ORGANIZED LABOR.
- As early as
1792, the CORDWAINERS (shoemakers) met to discuss labor
issues in Philadelphia.
- The
cordwainers were a CRAFT UNION, that is, an organization
of SKILLED WORKERS in a specific trade.
- Usually a
craft union met to deal with a SPECIFIC PROBLEM AND THEN
DISBANDED.
- The
Industrial Revolution changed the economic structure of the U.S.
- As the
Industrial Revolution intensified, the PROBLEMS WERE NO
LONGER SHORT-TERM.
- There was
a need for a organization that would attack long-term problems
such as child labor and subsistence wages.
- The first
national labor organization was THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR formed
by URIAH SMITH STEPHENS in 1869.
- It
included employers as well as workers, and promoted social,
labor, and economic causes.
- The
Knights of Labor were short-lived.
- THE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (AFL) was formed in 1886 under
the leadership of SAMUEL GOMPERS.
- The AFL
was an organization of craft unions that championed fundamental
labor issues.
- An
unauthorized committee in the AFL began to organize workers in
INDUSTRIAL UNIONS, that is, organizations of UNSKILLED
WORKERS.
- When the
AFL rejected these unions, JOHN LEWIS, president of the
UNITED MINE WORKERS UNION, formed a new, rival organization.
- THE
CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (CIO) soon rivaled the
AFL in membership.
- The AFL
and CIO volleyed for leadership of the labor movement until
THE TWO ORGANIZATIONS MERGED in 1955 under the leadership of
GEORGE MEANY.
- The
AFL-CIO now have 68 labor unions including the
Teamsters.
- LABOR
LEGISLATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.
- The growth
and influence of organized labor in the U.S. has depended on two
major factors: the law and public opinion.
- The
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT (WAGNER ACT) gave employees the
right to form or join unions.
-
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING is the process whereby union
representatives sit down with management and work out a mutually
agreed-upon contract for the workers.
- The Warner
Act also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), to
oversee labor-management relations.
-
CERTIFICATION is the process of a union’s becoming recognized
by the NLRB as the bargaining agent for a group of employees.
-
DECERTIFICATION is the process which takes away this union’s
right.
- The
Wagner Act provided clear procedures for both.
- OBJECTIVES
OF ORGANIZED LABOR.
- Union
objectives change according to the needs of the workers.
- In the
1970s the primary objective of labor unions was additional pay
and benefits.
-
Throughout the 1980s, objectives shifted to job security and
union recognition.
- The 1990s
also focused on job security, complicated by the issue of global
competition.
- The
NEGOTIATED LABOR-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT sets the tone and clarifies
the terms and conditions under which management and labor agree to
function over a specific period of time.
- COMMON
TYPES OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS:
- UNION
SECURITY CLAUSES stipulate that employees who reap benefits
from a union must either join or pay union dues.
- A
CLOSED-SHOP AGREEMENT specified that workers had to be
members of a union before being hired for a job.
- Under the
UNION SHOP AGREEMENT, workers do not have to be members
of a union to be hired, but must agree to join.
- Under the
AGENCY SHOP AGREEMENT, employers may hire nonunion
workers who are not required to joint the union, but must pay a
union fee.
- Twenty-one
states have passed RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS which give workers
the right to have the option to join a union, if one exists, or to
not join.
- Labor
unions play a key workplace role in countries other than the U.S.
as well.
- RESOLVING
LABOR-MANAGEMENT DISAGREEMENTS.
- Labor and
management do not always agree concerning the interpretation of
the labor-management agreement.
- If such a
disagreement cannot be resolved, a grievance may be filed.
- A
GRIEVANCE
is a
charge by employees that management is not abiding by the terms of
the negotiated labor agreement.
- STEWARDS
(union officials who represent employee interests on a daily
basis) negotiate the majority of these grievances.
- MEDIATION
AND ARBITRATION.
- The
BARGAINING ZONE is the range of options between the initial
and final offers that each party will consider.
- If
negotiations don’t result in an alternative within this bargaining
zone, mediation may be necessary.
-
MEDIATION is the use of a third party, called a MEDIATOR,
to encourage both sides to continue negotiating.
- The
mediator makes SUGGESTIONS, not decisions, for settling the
dispute.
-
ARBITRATION is the agreement to bring in an impartial third
party to render a BINDING DECISION.
- TACTICS USED
IN LABOR-MANAGEMENT CONFLICTS
- Both sides
may use specific tactics if labor and management reach an impasse in
collective bargaining.
- UNION
TACTICS.
- The strike
has historically been the most potent tactic unions use to achieve
their objectives.
- A
STRIKE means that workers refuse to go to work.
- Strikers
may also picket, or walk around outside the firm carrying signs
and talking with the public about the issues.
- The
public often realizes how important a worker is when he or she
goes on strike.
- Often
police, teachers, or others engage in SICKOUTS or the
BLUE FLU when union members don’t strike but refuse to come
to work due to illness.
- Employees
of the federal government can organize unions but are denied the
right to strike.
- Under the
provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, the President can ask for a
cooling-off period to prevent a strike in a critical industry.
- During a
COOLING-OFF PERIOD, workers return to their jobs while
the union and management continue negotiations.
- Very few
labor disputes lead to a strike, but it still remains a powerful
weapon.
- PRIMARY
AND SECONDARY BOYCOTTS.
- A
PRIMARY BOYCOTT is when organized labor encourages its
membership not to buy the product(s) of a firm involved in a
labor dispute.
- A
SECONDARY BOYCOTT is an attempt by labor to convince others
to stop doing business with a firm that is the target of the
primary boycott.
- Labor
unions can legally authorize primary boycotts, but the
Taft-Hartley Act prohibits the use of secondary boycotts.
- MANAGEMENT
TACTICS.
-
YELLOW-DOG CONTRACTS (outlawed by the Norris-LaGuardia Act)
required employees to agree as a condition of employment not to
join a union.
- LOCKOUTS
(rarely used today) put pressure on unions by temporarily closing
the business and denying employment to the workers.
- Management
most often uses injunctions and strikebreakers.
- An
INJUNCTION is a court order directing someone to do something
or refrain from doing something.
- The USE
OF STRIKEBREAKERS, workers who are hired to do the jobs of
striking employees, has been a source of hostility in labor
relations.
- THE FUTURE
OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS.
- Several new
labor-management issues have emerged.
- Many unions
have even granted concessions or GIVEBACKS, where members
give back previous gains, to management.
- The
UNIONS’ SHARE OF NONFARM WORKERS HAS DECLINED from its peak in
1945 (35.5% to 13.9% today.)
- In order
for U.S. firms to remain competitive with foreign firms, unions
are likely to assume a role in maintaining competitiveness.
- In exchange
for cooperating with management, unions may receive improved job
security, profit sharing, or higher wages.
-
CONTROVERSIAL EMPLOYEE-MANAGEMENT ISSUES.
- EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION.
- Throughout
the 1990s government, boards of directors, and stockholders have
argued that executive compensation is getting out of line.
- In the
past, executive compensation was determined by the FIRM’S
PROFITABILITY or INCREASE IN STOCK PRICE.
- Today,
many executives receive STOCK OPTIONS, the ability to buy
the company stock at a set price at a later date.
- The
assumption is that the CEO will raise the price of the firm’s
stock, but often executive pay continues to soar, even when the
company does poorly.
- Peter
Drucker has suggested that CEOs should not earn much more than 20
times as much as the company’s lowest-paid employee.
- Some
companies followed his advice, but many have not.
- Today the
average chief executive makes 475 times the pay of a typical
American factory worker.
- The
imbalance between starting pay and top pay is less for European
and Japanese executives.
- The issue
of fair compensation for executives is an interesting topic for
class debate.
- COMPARABLE
WORTH
- Women make
up a larger percentage of the workforce—up from 15% in 1890 to 50%
in 2000.
-
COMPARABLE WORTH is the concept that people in jobs that
require similar levels of education, training, or skills should
receive equal pay.
- Keep in
mind that this is a different concept than EQUAL PAY FOR
EQUAL WORK which means that equal wages should be paid to
men and women who do the same job.
- The issue
of comparable worth centers on comparing the value of jobs.
- Women earn
approximately 75% of what men earn.
- One
reason for the disparity is that many women try to work as well
as care for their families and so fall off the career track.
- Other
women opt for more flexible jobs that pay less.
- One of
the main arguments is that women make less because the labor
market is not perfectly competitive and some degree of gender
bias still exists.
- The idea of
PAY EQUITY is to correct past discrimination by raising the
pay in so-called women’s jobs.
- It is
difficult to determine whether comparable worth creates greater
equality or simply chaos.
-
SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
- SEXUAL
HARASSMENT refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for
sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature (verbal or
physical).
- Both men
and women are covered under the Civil Rights Act of 1991 that
today governs sexual harassment.
- SEXUAL
HARASSMENT becomes ILLEGAL when:
- An
employee’s submission to such conduct is made either explicitly
or implicitly a term or CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT.
- An
employee’s submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as
the BASIS FOR EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS AFFECTING THE WORKER’S
STATUS.
- The
conduct UNREASONABLY INTERFERES with a worker’s job
performance or CREATES AN INTIMIDATING, HOSTILE, OR OFFENSIVE
WORKING ENVIRONMENT.
- Recent
cases have introduced the concept of a HOSTILE WORKPLACE,
which is any workplace where behavior occurs that would offend a
reasonable person.
- In 1996 the
U.S. Supreme Court broadened the scope of what can be considered a
hostile work environment.
- Managers
and workers are now much more sensitive to comments and behavior
of a sexual nature.
- One of the
major problems is that workers and managers often know a policy
concerning sexual harassment exists, but they have no idea what it
says.
- CHILD
CARE.
- Child-care
is an increasingly important issue.
- Federal
child care assistance has risen significantly since the passage of
the Welfare Reform Act of 1996.
- The need
for child care is obvious.
- A sizable
percentage of the over 50 million working women are likely to
become pregnant during their working years.
- So who is
going to provide child care? Who will pay for it?
- Many
companies are now providing child care for their employees.
- Working
parents have made it clear that safe, affordable child-care is an
issue on which they will not compromise.
- ELDER
CARE.
- By 2005,
40% of U.S. workers WILL BE AGED 40 TO 54.
- These
workers will not be concerned with child care.
- Instead,
they will be faced with the responsibility, of CARING FOR
OLDER PARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES.
- Over the
next five years 18% of the U.S. workforce will be involved in
caring for an aging relative.
- Some firms
are already offing elder care programs.
- Some
predict that this will have a greater impact on the workplace than
child care.
- Elder care
givers cost employers billions in lost output and replacement
costs.
- Elder care
providers are generally older and more experienced employees who
are often more critical to the company than the younger workers
effected by child-care problems.
- AIDS
TESTING, DRUG TESTING, AND VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE.
- AIDS.
- AIDS is a
leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and
44.
- Clear-cut
policies are needed to confront this critical issue.
-
MANDATORY TESTING FOR THE AIDS ANTIBODY is one of the more
controversial employee-management issues.
-
Preemployment medical testing CANNOT BE USED TO INTENTIONALLY
SCREEN OUT POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES.
- If used
at all they must be given to EVERYONE.
- Many
firms have gone beyond pre-employment testing and suggested
that ALL employees should be tested.
- Many
firms have suggested that all existing employees should be
tested for the HIV antibody.
- DRUG
TESTING.
- Some
companies feel that alcohol and drug abuse is an even more
serious workplace issue.
-
Individuals who use drugs are three and a half times more likely
to be involved in workplace accidents.
- Over 70%
of major companies now test workers and job applicants for
substance abuse.
- VIOLENCE
IN THE WORKPLACE.
- Employers
are also struggling with a growing trend of violence in the
workplace.
- Many
executives don’t take workplace violence seriously and believe
it is primarily media hype.
- Other
organizations recognize the threat and hire managers with strong
interpersonal skills to deal with growing employee violence.
- EMPLOYEE
STOCK OWNERSHIP PLANS (ESOPS).
- EMPLOYEE
STOCK OWNERSHIP PLANs are plans which allow employees to buy
part or total ownership of the company in which they work.
- Louis O.
Kelso started the idea for ESOPS about 50 years ago when he
helped the employees of a newspaper buy their companies.
- Since
then, the idea of employees taking over ownership of their
companies has gained much favor.
- ESOPs
have had mixed results.
- There
are about 11,500 businesses with ESOPs.
- BENEFITS
OF ESOPS.
- Giving
employees a share in the profits of the firm motivates them to
enhance their involvement in the firm and increases morale.
-
Productivity also seems to rise.
- PROBLEMS
WITH EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLANS (ESOPS).
- ESOPs can
be used to refinance a company with workers’ money without
giving them more participation or job security.
- In about
85% of the companies with ESOPs, employees do not have voting
rights.
- The
goals of ESOPs are good, but the implementation of such
programs is often less than satisfactory.
-
Companies with HEALTHY EMPLOYEE-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS
have a better chance to compete.
-
Managers must constantly be aware of emerging issues that
affect employee-management relations.
|
|