Management as an Actor in Industrial Relations

1
Management as an Actor in Industrial Relations

• Nonunion or Union
• Nonunion
• Direct Effects
• Lowers profitability
• Indirect Effects
• Productivity
• Wage Distribution
• Internal Labor Markets

2
BUSINESS STRATEGY AND MODERN (UNIONIZED) PRIVATE
SECTOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

• TWO DISTINCT PERIODS
• 1930s - 1970s
• Since 1970s

3
Unionized Labor Relations Models 1935 Through
1970s

• Institutionalized Adversarialism (New Deal Model)
• mutual recognition of institutional legitimacy of
  other party
• sharply defined roles
• Management manages the organization
• Union protects and represents the workers
• Long-term contracts
• Rights of each party
• Workplace laws
• structured communication - negotiations and
  grievance procedure

4
Nonunion Models Developing in 1960s

• Emulate Union Models in some ways
• Written Policies
• Corporate or Division Wide
• Removed discretion of first-line supervisors
• With flexibility because policies can be changed
  or interpreted to fit changing environment

5
Bifurcated Private Sector ER System

• By late 1970s
• Unionized (partially) sector
• Older Manufacturing Companies
• Construction
• Utilities
• Transportation
• Old Telecommunication
• Nonunion sector
• Newer Manufacturing Companies
• Retail
• Business Services
• Emerging Unionized Sector
• Health Care

6
THREE POST-1970S EMPLOYER CB STRATEGIES

• DEUNIONIZATION
• CONFLICT
• INVESTMENT
• TRADITIONAL ADVERSARIALISM
• COOPERATION
• MANAGEMENT NO LONGER NECESSARILY WILLING TO
  ACCEPT NEW DEAL SYSTEM AS THE MODEL OF
  BARGAINING

7
DEUNIONIZATION - Conflict

• Use of legal right to bargain without concessions
• Union Options
• accept an unacceptable contract
• strike and risk replacement
• Er may permanently replace strikers
• Claim good faith doubt about unions majority
  status
• Pyramiding of legal rights by employer

8
Deunionization/ConflictExamples

• Detroit Newspapers
• International Paper
• Greyhound
• Continental Airlines (mid 80s)

9
DEUNIONIZATION -Investment

• Company invests in nonunion facilities
• greenfield
• older nonunion facilities
• Examples
• rubber tire industry
• some paper processing firms
• auto industry (Mexico)

10
TRADITIONAL ADVERSARIALISM

• Examples
• Trucking Industry
• Aerospace
• Airlines

11
COOPERATION

• Creation of non-adversarial structures for
  communication
• Reduce labor costs by reducing the costs of
  adversarialism
• Permits firm to better exploit knowledge of
  workers
• Focus on common, rather than conflicting,
  interests

12
MANAGEMENT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STRATEGIES
Institutionalized Adversarialism (Traditional)
Conflict/ Deunionization
Cooperation

13
Different Bargaining and Contract Administration
Models

• Bargaining
• Adversarial Positional Bargaining
• Each side provides position to other party
• Listens
• Modifies position
• rationale
• bargaining power

14
CooperativeInterest-Based Bargaining Processes

• Example Mutual Gains Bargaining
• Define problems and interests - separate
• Discussion of problems and interests - joint
• Brain-storming of solutions - joint
• Recommendations of possible solutions -
  separate
• Presentation of recommendations and selection
  of solutions - joint

15
Administration Process

• Longer-Term Agreements
• Problem-Solving Teams
• Team-Based Production
• Joint Committees

16
Examples of Cooperative Relationships

• National Steel and United Steelworkers of America
• Ford and UAW
• GM and UAW
• Philip Morris (Trenton, Ohio) and UAW

17
Fundamental Question

• Does Management challenge the institutional
  legitimacy/status of the union?
• No
• Cooperation
• Institutionalized Adversarialism
• Yes
• Deunionization