Exam 12: Dealing With Union and Employeemanagement Issues

The Food Source Grocery chain stocks the products of Vegi-Delite Food Company at all of their supermarkets. The Teamsters Union is currently involved in a labor dispute with Vegi-Delite. The union has already encouraged its members and the general public not to buy Vegi-Delite products. Now it is threatening Food Source with the possibility of a boycott if it continues to carry the Vegi-Delite line. The union is threatening Food Source with a(n):

One in six violent crimes that are committed in the U.S. occur in the workplace.

Identify several laws that significantly influenced labor-management relations. Discuss the major provisions of each law.

In 1955, after the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, the AFL and CIO merged to create the AFL-CIO.

Today, a woman usually receives a salary that is equal to over 80% of her male counterpart.

Safe'nSwift Airlines implemented a program to curb workplace violence before it occurs. Under this program, the employees of Safe'nSwift can expect to:

Once a union is certified to represent a group of workers, decertification is not a consideration or future possibility.

The Taft-Hartley Act:

Mini-Case The workers at Endrun Corporation are not affiliated with a union. Until recently, the workers felt they were well paid and treated fairly by the company, so they had little interest in seeking union representation. However, worker morale at Endrun has declined steadily since the board of directors fired the old CEO last year and replaced him with Ty Runt, a no-nonsense, autocratic manager with a reputation for cutting costs. As soon as he took over, Ty fired other members of the old top management team and replaced them with people who shared his views. Together, the new management team made a series of moves that did not sit well with Endrun's workers. First, they announced changes in work procedures designed to speed up the production line. Many workers complained that the new methods cut corners and were unsafe, but management refused to listen. A few months after changing work methods, the company told workers that it was reducing their health benefits. This led to even greater worker unrest. Finally, just a few weeks ago, workers received word that the wages of all production-line employees would be cut by 6 percent. Many employees felt this was the last straw, especially since the company's board of directors recently approved big salary increases and more lucrative stock option plans for Ty and his management team. A spokesperson for the board explained that the raises were justified because of the management team's "outstanding efforts to reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve the company's profits." Several disgruntled employees, led by Ima Striker and Boyd Cotter, now believe it is time to obtain union representation. Top managers at the company have hinted that workers who actively participate in the union campaign may be among the first workers laid off if the company decides to downsize. Ima and Boyd are not intimidated by these management threats. "I wish we didn't have to do this," Ima recently told many of her fellow workers at the plant. "But someone has to stop Ty Runt and his team from ruining our jobs." -The steps Ima, Boyd and their fellow workers must take to get the union legally recognized as the authorized bargaining agent are parts of the __________ process.

One goal of the Landrum-Griffin Act was to clean up union corruption.

CEOs only earn high salaries and bonuses when their companies earn substantial profits.

Public employees and their union representatives were prohibited by a vote in the state senate from negotiating with government officials on issues which affected their labor contracts. The new law directly affected their ______ rights.

Membership in labor unions has grown steadily over the past 50 years.

At one time, as a condition of employment, the employer could make the employee sign a statement prohibiting the worker from joining a union. This was called a(n):

Courts will issue an injunction against union tactics only if management can show a "just cause" to restrict the union tactic.

The Knights of Labor was the first truly national labor organization in the United States.

The strike historically has been the most powerful weapon unions use to achieve their objectives in labor disputes.

Labor unions played a major role in establishing minimum wage laws, child-labor laws, and improvements in job safety.

____________ refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other unsolicited conduct of a sexual nature.

The union movement in the United States was an outgrowth of the economic transition caused by the: