Exam 12: Dealing With Employee-Management Issues and Relationships

In the past,the compensation of chief executive officers of corporations was based on:

A(n)________ boycott is an illegal attempt by labor to convince others to stop doing business with a firm that does business with a company that is the subject of a primary boycott.

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." -After gaining union representation,any workers with complaints regarding promotions,layoffs,and job assignments will file a(n)________ with their shop steward.

According to the material in the Spotlight on Small Business box in Chapter 12,a relatively recent trend is for many __________ to join unions.

Bellandro Bay Brewery union representatives and the company's management have reached an impasse.Going forward,the union has planning an organized strike and other tactics to put pressure on management where it will be most effective.Union supporters are being encouraged to avoid purchasing Bellandro's products.Now union leaders have contacted a variety of stores that stock Bellandro's Beer informing them that union members and other supporters will stop shopping at any store that continues to carry the brewery's beer until the dispute is resolved in the union's favor.This tactic against stores that carry Bellandro's Beer is called a primary boycott.

Some contend that the main reason membership in labor unions has declined in recent years has been the passage of anti-labor legislation in the late 1980s that guaranteed all employees of a firm the same wages and benefits whether they joined a union or not.

Since 1945,the unionized share of the workforce has:

Under a(n)___________ shop agreement,workers must belong to the union before they are hired.

A cooling-off period is when workers in a critical industry return to their jobs while the union and management continue negotiations.

The NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)consists of:

Outspoken critics of today's labor unions believe that these organizations have lost their focus.They contend that they no longer represent the rights of workers,as much as they are concerned with the vitality and strength of the union itself.

As a management executive left the meeting between his team and the company's union representatives and headed straight for the CEO's office,he reviewed where things seemed to breakdown.Union reps came to the table with three different offers to resolve the insurance and vacation benefits problems laborers were experiencing.Management offered its own resolutions - two different ones,to be exact.The problem was that a bargaining zone did not emerge.Neither side was willing to consider each other's alternatives.As he reached the CEO's door,he was ready to concede that the negotiations were probably headed to _______________.

According to information contained in the Reaching Beyond Our Borders box in Chapter 12,U.S.unions,

Harassment that creates an intimidating,or offensive work environment falls under the type of sexual harassment known as a(n):

Employees were striking at the London Met University last year.Very few students were crossing the picket line.In fact,the city's postal employees refused to deliver mail there claiming that they were honoring the strike for their fellow service union members.The Postal employees were participating in a voluntary secondary boycott.

Miko began working for a company that operates under an open shop arrangement.Under this type of arrangement,Miko must join the union at her company within 90 days or she will lose her job.

_________ sexual harassment refers to situations in which an employee's submission to unwanted conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment or is used to influence employment decisions affecting the worker's job status.

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

John L.Lewis broke with the American Federation of Labor (AFL)in 1935 over membership issues and formed a rival group known as the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

The Taft-Hartley Act authorizes the U.S.president to ask for a cooling-off period to temporarily prevent a strike in a critical industry.