Unions, Employers and the Law

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Unions, Employers and the Law

• Class

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Administrative

• Reading for next class Size and Structure of
  the Labor Movement 2 readings both in BL

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Review

• Growth of contingent employment and growth of
  sweat shops
• Unionization among graduate teaching assistants
• Developments in the AFL-CIO including the split
  of 2005

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Today

• Traditional Approach of Employers
• Union Organizing, Collective Bargaining and the
  Law
• Contemporary Management Approaches
• Impact on Likelihood of Unionization

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I. Traditional Employer Approaches to Unions and
Bargaining

• How did employers respond to unionization in the
  19th century?
• How about in the 20th century?

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II. The Law

• Rights of representation and to engage in
  bargaining
• Majority rule

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Elections

• To be free of restraint or coercion
• Employers free to express opinions about
  unionization but not to engage in victimization
  of employees before, during or after union
  organizing campaign

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III. Contemporary Management Approaches

• Try to avoid employees even discussing
  unionization
• Use of consultants
• Fire and harass union activists
• Use of threats and intimidation

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Contemporary Management Approaches

• If union wins
• Legal delays
• December 2001 Bush Administration repealed rule
  that government agencies can refuse to grant
  federal contracts to companies that dont comply
  with labor, environmental and consumer protection
  laws

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The EnerSys case

• In 1995 IUE won an election at EnerSys
• 2004 lawsuit EnerSys sued its anti-union law
  firm, Jackson Lewis
• Each blamed the other for illegal activity
• Testimony about law suit led to 120 ULP charges
  against EnerSys for campaign to decertify the
  union
• Company settled back claims for 7.75 million.
  However, it has closed the plant

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IV. Impact on Unionization

• Increasing acceptability of employers
  deliberately violating the law
• Hypocrisy of employers as guardians of free
  choice
• Unions have tried to avoid NLRB election process

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Next Time

• Size and Structure of the Union Movement