Deck 12: Dealing With Employeemanagement Issues

Question 1

Historically, managers were less concerned about productivity and more concerned with friendly relations among employees.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Most historians view the increase in union membership in the United States as an outgrowth of the transition from an industrial economy to a service economy during the middle part of the 20th century.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

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

Answer 3

True

Question 4

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.

Question 5

The presence of formal labor organizations in the United States dates back to the late 1700s.

Question 6

A union is an employee organization that has the main goal of representing its members in employee-management negotiation concerning job-related issues.

Question 7

A union that consists of members who are all skilled specialists in a particular trade is called an industrial guild.

Question 8

The Knights of Labor, the first national labor organization, offered membership to all working people, including employers.

Question 9

A craft union is an organization of skilled specialists in a particular craft or trade.

Question 10

Membership in industrial unions was strictly limited to skilled craftspeople.

Question 11

During its early years, the AFL tried to expand as rapidly as possible by recruiting both skilled and unskilled workers.

Question 12

Even in their infancy, the main goal of most labor unions was to provide members with increased management power.

Question 13

One of the things that labor is interested in is fairness.

Question 14

In its early years, the AFL limited its membership to skilled workers.

Question 15

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

Question 16

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).

Question 17

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was initially intended to be a single craft union.

Question 18

Today labor unions have seen a revitalization of support and union membership has increased significantly.

Question 19

Throughout most of American history, the relationship between managers and employees has been trouble-free.

Question 20

Samuel Gompers was the most important leader of the American Federation of Labor during its early years.

Question 21

A major difference between early labor organizations in the United States and today's labor unions is that the early labor groups often were temporary organizations that disbanded after achieving a short-range goal, while today's unions are permanent organizations.

Question 22

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

Question 23

Collective bargaining is the process whereby union and management representatives negotiate a labor-management contract for workers.

Question 24

The Norris-LaGuardia Act prohibits firms from requiring workers to agree not to join a union as a condition of their employment.

Question 25

George, an unskilled worker in the 1930s, toiled 10 hours a day on an assembly line. His hours were long, his wages were low, and his working conditions were unsafe and unpleasant. George would probably have been more sympathetic to the views of John L. Lewis than to those of Samuel Gompers.

Question 26

Samuel Gompers believed that collective bargaining was likely to be an ineffective way for unions to achieve their objectives.

Question 27

Union membership is likely to rise in the coming decade, because the same economic and political conditions that gave rise to unions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are now reappearing.

Question 28

According to the Spotlight on Small Business box, today's labor leaders claim that the tragedy at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company is proof of why labor unions are crucial to maintain workplace balance in the U.S.

Question 29

For 20 years, the CIO was a major rival of the AFL in the contest for leadership of the labor movement.

Question 30

The Industrial Revolution slowed the growth of unions by creating a rapidly rising standard of living for most workers.

Question 31

The process by which a union is recognized by the NLRB as the authorized bargaining agent for a group of workers is called collective bargaining.

Question 32

A yellow-dog contract required workers to agree not to join a union as a condition of their employment.

Question 33

The Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor were actually very similar in their aims, tactics, and membership. The only major difference was in the effectiveness of their leaders.

Question 34

The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) gave labor the legal justification to pursue collective bargaining and other key labor issues.

Question 35

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

Question 36

Today, 55 national and international labor unions are affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

Question 37

The initial objective of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was to provide union membership to workers in all industries.

Question 38

The Norris-LaGuardia Act made it more difficult for unions to legally recruit new members.

Question 39

The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) established the first minimum wage for workers.

Question 40

The Bompart Corporation operates a manufacturing plant in Maplewood. Semiskilled and unskilled labor work along an assembly line. These employees are looking into obtaining union representation. The type of union they would belong to would be classified as an industrial union.

Question 41

The Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act) strengthened unions by giving them the right to engage in featherbedding and secondary boycotts.

Question 42

The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) gave employees the right to form and join labor organizations and the right to engage in activities such as strikes and boycotts.

Question 43

Daniel remembers his grandfather telling him about going to work at 16 years of age in the coal mines of West Virginia. In order to get the job, he had to agree to a yellow-dog contract. Essentially this meant he would only get the job if he agreed not to join a union.

Question 44

Candace is negotiating with management as a member of a union team. The union wants to obtain a labor contract for the workers represented by the union. Candace is involved in contract arbitration.

Question 45

Until passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, under a closed shop agreement, a company could only hire workers who already belonged to a union.

Question 46

The negotiated labor-management agreement clarifies the terms and conditions under which labor and management agree to function over a specified period of time.

Question 47

The NLRB oversees the decertification of unions. Company owners can petition and seek the signatures of 30% of the employees in order to decertify the union; in other words, officially, the union could no longer represent the employees in any bargaining negotiations.

Question 48

Wage rates, hours of work, employee benefits, and job rights and seniority are issues covered in a typical negotiated labor-management agreement.

Question 49

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has created procedures that union advocates must follow in order to organize a union at a place of business. The multistep procedure culminates with a secret vote by the employees of the organization.

Question 50

The workers at the Fairfield Company are unhappy with the way they have been represented by their union. The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) allows these workers to take away the union's right to represent them through a process known as decertification.

Question 51

The Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act) allowed states to pass laws that prohibited compulsory union membership.

Question 52

The Norris-LaGuardia Act prohibited courts from issuing injunctions against nonviolent union activities.

Question 53

A union security clause in a labor-management agreement stipulates that employees who benefit from a union must either officially join or at least pay dues to the union.

Question 54

During an interview with a Summit Systems company representative, Susie was told that Summit faces intense competition and management believes that the only way the company can survive is to have a nonunion workforce. Therefore, all workers Summit hires must sign an employment contract stating that they agree not to join a union while they work for Summit. This requirement by Summit is illegal in the United States.

Question 55

The main objectives of organized labor, better wages, and shorter hours, have remained remarkably stable over time.

Question 56

The Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act) gave more power to management.

Question 57

Under a union shop agreement, workers must belong to a union before they can be hired.

Question 58

One goal of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin Act) was to clean up union corruption.

Question 59

Under the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), the National Labor Relations Board can establish a labor union in an organization if it finds evidence of substantial labor abuse within that organization.

Question 60

Under a closed shop agreement, workers must agree not to join a union in order to keep their jobs.

Question 61

A mediator has the power to impose a binding settlement on labor and management.

Question 62

A bargaining zone is the time period during which a third party is used to reach agreement on union disputes.

Question 63

Many of the negotiated labor-management agreements in the United States call for the use of an arbitrator to end labor disputes.

Question 64

Arbitration is an agreement to bring in an impartial third party to render a binding decision in a labor dispute.

Question 65

The vast majority of grievances filed by union members are negotiated and resolved by shop stewards and supervisory managers.

Question 66

Arbitration and mediation are alike in that both involve an impartial third party to help in the negotiation process. The differences in these two approaches is that an arbitrator's decision is binding and both parties agree to this on the front end; a mediator encourages the two conflicting parties to continue to negotiate and may make suggestions in pursuit of a resolution.

Question 67

A union shop agreement is illegal in states that have passed right-to-work laws.

Question 68

Over the years, Jennifer has acted in a number of supporting roles on TV sitcoms. Her last contract obligated her to perform in 22 episodes for a stipend of $500 per episode. Upon completion of the 11th episode, Jennifer broke her leg and was not able to complete the episodes in a timely manner. The studio claimed that Jennifer broke her contract and they are not obligated to pay her. She is confident that an impartial third party will view her circumstances as exceptional and will rule that she be reimbursed for the 11 performances. She has agreed to mediation.

Question 69

Under an agency shop agreement, only union members are represented at the bargaining table.

Question 70

Haven was recently hired to work at a production plant at Marshall Manufacturing. Upon her hiring, she was told she must join the union within 90 days in order to keep her job. Haven is employed in an agency shop.

Question 71

At the Atalanta Company, labor and management have reached a stalemate in their efforts to negotiate an acceptable labor-management agreement. The two sides have agreed to bring in an arbitrator. If the arbitrator issues a ruling that the union does not like, it can still reject the decision.

Question 72

In the past, a variety of professionals have served as mediators. If a labor dispute were to break out between the management at an auto manufacturer and the local union that represents workers at the auto manufacturing plant, it would be highly unusual for a university professor who has studied labor relations to be asked to mediate. The disputing parties would save his time for something more serious like arbitration.

Question 73

Under an open shop agreement, workers have the option to join or not join a union, if one is present in the workplace.

Question 74

Kylie works for a company in which a union is recognized as the bargaining agent for the workers who perform her type of job. However, under the arrangements at her company, Kylie is not required to join the union, nor is she required to pay any fees or dues to the union. Kylie works under an agency shop agreement.

Question 75

In an agency shop agreement, workers who do not belong to the union must pay a union fee or pay regular union dues.

Question 76

A grievance is a charge by managers that the union is not abiding by the terms of the negotiated labor-management agreement.

Question 77

The Taft-Hartley Act made the union shop agreement illegal in all states.

Question 78

The sources of many grievances include overtime rules, promotions, layoffs, and job assignments.

Question 79

Arkansas has passed a right-to-work law, which means that union shops are illegal in the state.

Question 80

Robert works for a company under an open shop agreement. Under this type of arrangement, Robert must join the union at his company within 90 days or he will lose his job.