Exam 1: Contemporary Labor Relations: Objectives, Practices, and Challenges

A collective bargaining agreement negotiated between an employer and its workers is an informal agreement outlining the terms and conditions of employment.

What is the "representation gap"? What evidence,if any,exists to suggest that there may be a representation gap in the United States?

The widening gap between the richest and poorest individuals in the U.S.is in part due to the weakened position of labor unions.

In the United States,employees have broad protections against arbitrary dismissal such that employers must provide a good,business related reason for firing someone.

At present,the gap between those employees who say they want unions and those that have union representation in the private sector at their workplace is about:

Why has union density in the U.S.declined so dramatically since the 1950s?

Because American unions were instrumental in pushing for increased protective legislation such as workers' compensation laws and unemployment insurance,the demand for union services has increased,rather than decreased,over time.

Most countries base their industrial relations system on the perspective that:

_____________________ is a measure of the percentage of workers who are union members.

Conflicts between what the employee wants and what the employer wants are generally resolved privately between the individual and his/her employer.

The official policy of the Unites States is to protect workers' rights to act together for mutual aid and protection in the workplace and to promote collective bargaining as a way to resolve workplace conflict.

In the U.S. ,workers can generally be discharged for good cause,no cause,and even a morally wrong cause.

Union contracts are:

Conflicts between employers and employees can best be described as conflicts between:

The labor movement in the United States is considered by experts to be very strong today.

While voice and equity are important to the employment relationship,efficiency is really the critical component.If an employer can be efficient,equity and voice will naturally follow.

Employee empowerment is another term used to describe ___________________,an objective of the employment relationship in which workers are given some say in the conditions of their employment.

When an employer allows supervisors to arbitrarily discipline employees without cause,it is most directly violating which objective of the employment relationship?

A union contract is:

If the reasons for the decline in unionization rates in the U.S.are largely structural and a result of declining demand for union services,there is no real need for labor law reform.