Deck 3: Public Sector Labor Relations: History and Laws

Question 1

Which of the following doctrines was presented as a basic reason for not allowing federal employees to have collective bargaining rights or the right to strike?

A) severability doctrine
B) eminent domain doctrine
C) internal affairs doctrine
D) sovereignty doctrine

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements is TRUE of state government?

A) The executive branch of a state consists of the state level courts.
B) The legislative branch is headed by the chief justice of the state.
C) The majority of states have a bicameral legislature.
D) The judicial branch is typically headed by an elected governor.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Congress enacted the ________ of 1912 with the intention of conferring job protection rights on federal employees and a restriction on the authority of the executive branch of government to discharge a federal employee for talking to Congress.

A) Wagner Act
B) Lloyd-LaFollette Act
C) Sarbanes-Oxley Act
D) Lilly Ledbetter Act

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following came about as a result of the "Davenport v. Washington Education Association" case?

A) Public sector unions are not allowed to strike.
B) Public sector employees are allowed to take up to 20 weeks of unpaid leave for family reasons.
C) Public sector unions are required to obtain written consent from nonmembers they represent in a bargaining unit before spending fees collected from them for electioneering expenses.
D) Public sector employees are protected from being fired for failure to make political contributions and certain employees are forbidden to engage in political activities.

Question 5

The ________ gives federal employees the right to join or not join unions and to engage in collective bargaining; it places central authority with the Federal Labor Relations Authority to oversee labor-management relations within the federal government.

A) Civil Service Reform Act
B) Classification Act
C) Hatch Act
D) Equal Employment Opportunity Act

Question 6

Executive Order 10988, which was signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, ________.

A) required employers to give employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family reasons
B) restricted the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain law and order
C) recognized the rights of federal employees to join or to refrain from joining labor organizations
D) limited the political activities of federal employees to shield workers from political pressure

Question 7

Which of the following terms refers to the flexible grant of powers from the state to municipalities to determine their own goals without interference from the state legislature or state agencies?

A) home rule
B) dual sovereignty
C) preemption
D) injunction

Question 8

Which of the following statements is TRUE of the federal government?

A) The federal government is divided into three main branches: the legislative, the judicial, and the operational.
B) The Supreme Court is the legislative branch of the federal government that passes the laws.
C) Congress is the judicial branch of the federal government that interprets the laws.
D) Federal executive departments handle the day-to-day administration of federal laws.

Question 9

The ________was chartered by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1918. It is the oldest noneducation nationally affiliated state or local union.

A) Working Women's Association
B) Wisconsin State Employees Association
C) International Association of Fire Fighters
D) Women's Trade Union League

Question 10

Which of the following are the three main branches of the federal government?

A) operational; legislative; evaluative
B) judicial; evaluative; executive
C) legislative; judicial; executive
D) evaluative; legislative; judicial

Question 11

The governmental authority most commonly exercised by municipalities is the exercise of ________ powers, that is, the power to enact laws governing health, safety, morals, and general public welfare.

A) referent
B) preemption
C) coercive
D) police

Question 12

Which of the following entities was established under Executive Order 11491?

A) National Labor Relations Board
B) Federal Labor Relations Council
C) Bureau of Labor Statistics
D) Employees' Compensation Appeals Board

Question 13

Which of the following entities is a panel appointed by the president of the United States to oversee the creation of bargaining units, conduct elections, decide representation cases, determine unfair labor practices, and seek enforcement of its decisions?

A) Bureau of Labor Statistics
B) Federal Labor Relations Authority
C) Benefits Review Board
D) Federal Labor Relations Council

Question 14

Which of the following statements is TRUE of the Federal Labor Relations Act?

A) It is also known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
B) It created the National Labor Relations Board.
C) It makes it mandatory for federal employees to join a union.
D) It excludes wages and benefits from the scope of negotiable issues.

Question 15

Which of the following is the only state in the U.S. that has a unicameral legislature?

A) Arizona
B) Nebraska
C) Indiana
D) Oregon

Question 16

"Dual sovereignty" refers to ________.

A) the sharing of collective bargaining power between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government
B) the sharing of governmental power between the federal and state governments
C) the sharing of collective bargaining power between the union and the management
D) the sharing of governmental power between the local government and companies in the private sector

Question 17

The Civil Service Reform Act is also known as the ________.

A) Federal Labor Relations Act
B) Equal Employment Opportunity Act
C) Comprehensive Employment and Training Act
D) Whistleblower Protection Act

Question 18

The Pendleton Act ________.

A) put into place a requirement that employers with federal contracts should pay time and a half to any employee working more than eight hours per day
B) restricted the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain law and order
C) required employers to give employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family reasons
D) provided for open competitive examinations to determine the fitness of appointees to federal office

Question 19

Which of the following is the legislative branch of the federal government?

A) the President
B) Congress
C) the Department of State
D) the Supreme Court

Question 20

The federal court has three levels, district court, ________, and the Supreme Court.

A) family court
B) state court
C) court of appeals
D) executive court

Question 21

The Supreme Court and all other federal courts have legislative authority vested in them by the Constitution.

Question 22

Sunshine laws ________.

A) control the procedure followed by courts and parties to legal cases
B) define legally enforceable rights and duties, and what wrongful acts amount to violations of those rights and duties
C) require that the official business of government be conducted in public
D) cover any civil action between private parties arising from wrongful acts which amount to a breach of general obligations imposed by law and not by contract

Question 23

Which of the following is TRUE of bargaining in the public and private sectors?

A) Federal employees can bargain over the number of work hours but private-sector employees cannot bargain over the number of work hours.
B) Federal employees cannot bargain on wages but most state and local employees can bargain over wages.
C) Federal employees can bargain on pension benefits but most private-sector employees cannot bargain over pension benefits.
D) Federal employees cannot bargain over paid leaves but most state and local employees can bargain over paid leaves.

Question 24

If an employer bases its bargaining position on an inability to pay increased wages, then that employer must ________.

A) allow the NLRB to make the final decision in a dispute
B) increase the number of paid holidays or the employees
C) allow a union to examine the company's books to verify the claim
D) provide higher pension benefits to its current employees

Question 25

Which of the following is an example of a mixed union?

A) The American Federation of Teachers
B) The Association of Federal Government Employees
C) The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
D) International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Question 26

Congress is the judicial branch of the federal government, and interprets the laws passed by the legislative branch.

Question 27

Under which of the following circumstances in the public sector is an employer allowed to take unilateral action?

A) The employer is unable to meet the financial demands of the union due to insufficient profits.
B) The employer proves that the union has demonstrated bad faith bargaining.
C) The union and the management are unable to reach an agreement after negotiating for a week.
D) The union declares an impasse and declines the employer's offer to meet again.

Question 28

Which of the following terms generally refers to negotiations in the public sector where the authority to commit to a collective bargaining agreement may be shared by the executive and legislative branches, and thus three parties are involved in negotiations?

A) integrative bargaining
B) multilateral bargaining
C) pattern bargaining
D) distributive bargaining

Question 29

According to the ________ shop provision, an employee is required to support a union financially even if the employee is not a union member.

A) union
B) agency
C) open
D) closed

Question 30

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is affiliated with the ________ in the United States.

A) Utility Workers Union of America
B) United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union
C) American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
D) Fraternal Order of Police

Question 31

The National Labor Relations Act gave public sector employees substantive rights to organize into labor unions.

Question 32

_____ bargaining in the private sector refers to national or international unions, such as the United Auto Workers, entering into agreements that set the bar for pay or benefit increases across the industry.

A) Distributive
B) Associative
C) Integrative
D) Pattern

Question 33

Which of the following is an example of a public-sector only union?

A) Service Employees International Union
B) The National Education Association
C) The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
D) International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Question 34

The federal government is divided into three main branches: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive.

Question 35

Employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement but are not required to become union members, are required to pay a(n) ________ to the union for the bargaining and representation services they receive.

A) activation fee
B) royalty
C) fair share
D) retainer

Question 36

________ are employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement but cannot be required to become union members. However, they are required to pay something to the union for the bargaining and representation services they receive.

A) Free riders
B) Boundary spanners
C) Cheap riders
D) Early adopters

Question 37

________ allows a third party panel to make a final and binding decision on a negotiation dispute.

A) Mediation
B) Interest arbitration
C) Conciliation
D) Advisory arbitration

Question 38

Both the public sector and private sector received labor relations rights simultaneously.

Question 39

________ refers to a process in which governmental employees are replaced with other workers through a contract with a non-government employer for the purpose of reducing overall costs.

A) Globalization
B) Nationalization
C) Privatization
D) Liberalization

Question 40

Which of the following public sector unions is the largest professional organization in the world?

A) National Rural Letter Carriers Association
B) National Education Association
C) National Treasury Employees Union
D) National Weather Service Employees Organization

Question 41

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a state government.

Question 42

Sovereignty is defined as "the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power by which an independent state is governed."

Question 43

Municipal corporations are considered sovereign entities.

Question 44

Montana is the only state in the U.S. that has a unicameral legislature.

Question 45

In many local government structures, the legislative body also serves as an executive body, directing the day-to-day operation of its activities.

Question 46

A ruling from a district or court of appeals that is not challenged is legally binding; if it is challenged and heard by the Supreme Court, then that decision is legally binding.

Question 47

The Federal Labor Relations Act does not cover supervisors and members of the armed forces.

Question 48

The power of a state government to enact laws governing health, safety, morals, and general public welfare is known as police power.

Question 49

Under the U.S. Constitution, all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved for the states.

Question 50

The Federal Labor Relations Act excludes wages and benefits from the scope of negotiable issues.

Question 51

The Classification Act provided a pay structure for federal employees based on the qualifications of the person holding the job rather than the duties assigned to a job.

Question 52

Home rule powers allow municipalities to act on issues of local concern because they do not have to seek approval for their actions from the state legislature.

Question 53

The Clayton Act provided for a bipartisan three-member Civil Service Commission to draw up and administer competitive examinations to determine the fitness of appointees to federal office.

Question 54

The Pendleton Act protected federal employees from being fired for failure to make political contributions and actually forbade political campaign contributions by certain employees.

Question 55

The Hatch Act restricted the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain law and order.

Question 56

Under E.O. 10988, strikes were specifically denied to the public labor organizations.

Question 57

The Federal Labor Relations Authority was created by the National Labor Relations Act.

Question 58

According to the U.S. Constitution, the actions of the federal government are considered supreme whenever its constitutional use of power clashes with the legitimate actions of the states.

Question 59

Executive Order 10988, signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, recognized the rights of federal employees to join or to refrain from joining labor organizations.

Question 60

Executive Order 11491 made the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) an independent agency of the executive branch.

Question 61

Collective bargaining in the public sector is largely shaped by market forces, while political forces shape bargaining in the private sector.

Question 62

The Federal Labor Relations Authority has jurisdiction in all the arbitration awards appealed to it, regardless of the issue involved.

Question 63

Public sector unions are required to obtain written consent from nonmembers they represent in a bargaining unit before spending fees collected from them for electioneering expenses.

Question 64

Federal employees under the Federal Labor Relations Act are required to either become union members or pay any money in the form of fees or dues in support of the union's representation.

Question 65

There is no federal law currently governing the collective bargaining relationship between states and local governments and their employees.