Labor Relations Paper
Labor Relations � PAGE �1�
Labor Relations Paper
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX �
Labor Relations Paper
Management 's decision to have its organization unionized or stay as a nonunion operation is based on many factors. This paper will define and describe the impact of unions and labor relations along with examining the impact of changes in employee relations strategies, policies and practices on the organizational performance. This paper continues with answering the question "are unions still relevant in the United States?" and it concludes with a brief description of the union campaign, the election, contract negotiations, grievance handling, arbitrations, labor relations, and strikes.
_Unions and Labor Relations_
Unions are "organizations formed for the purpose of representing the member 's interests in dealing with employers" (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, p.441). Unions provide a method for skilled and unskilled employees to achieve wage uniformity and improve working conditions through collective bargaining (Boone, & Kurtz, 1999). In the 1700 and 1800s the need for unions evolved in the United States due to safety and security needs for employees working in intolerable conditions. Some of these intolerable working conditions include low wages, long work hours and unsafe work environment. During the Industrial Revolution workers, including children, worked all day in unsafe factories for only pennies per day (Labor Union, n.d.). Ongoing conflict between employees and employer allowed the unions to intensify its role in collective bargaining within an organization. Unions also provided conflict management for employee raised complaints, and labor contracts (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2003). Unions had forced employers to change the workplace environment drastically, develop new factory systems, seniority driven wages and management accountability. Today, US labor unions role is the legal representatives of workers in many industries but are
Labor Relations Paper
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX �
Labor Relations Paper
Management 's decision to have its organization unionized or stay as a nonunion operation is based on many factors. This paper will define and describe the impact of unions and labor relations along with examining the impact of changes in employee relations strategies, policies and practices on the organizational performance. This paper continues with answering the question "are unions still relevant in the United States?" and it concludes with a brief description of the union campaign, the election, contract negotiations, grievance handling, arbitrations, labor relations, and strikes.
_Unions and Labor Relations_
Unions are "organizations formed for the purpose of representing the member 's interests in dealing with employers" (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, p.441). Unions provide a method for skilled and unskilled employees to achieve wage uniformity and improve working conditions through collective bargaining (Boone, & Kurtz, 1999). In the 1700 and 1800s the need for unions evolved in the United States due to safety and security needs for employees working in intolerable conditions. Some of these intolerable working conditions include low wages, long work hours and unsafe work environment. During the Industrial Revolution workers, including children, worked all day in unsafe factories for only pennies per day (Labor Union, n.d.). Ongoing conflict between employees and employer allowed the unions to intensify its role in collective bargaining within an organization. Unions also provided conflict management for employee raised complaints, and labor contracts (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2003). Unions had forced employers to change the workplace environment drastically, develop new factory systems, seniority driven wages and management accountability. Today, US labor unions role is the legal representatives of workers in many industries but are
References: Boone, Louis E., and Kurtz, David L. (1999). _Contemporary Business_. Fort Worth, TX: Dryden Press. Labor Relations, (n.d.). Investors Glossary. Retrieved October 18, 2008, Web site: http://www.investorglossary.com/labor-relations.htm Labor Union, (n.d.). Answer.com. Retrieved October 18, 2008, Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/labor-union Larson, R. (1990). LABOR Unions and Political Reform. Retrieved October 19, 2008, Web site: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Labor/HL242.cfm National Labor Relations Act, (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2008, from http://www.nlrb.gov/About_Us/Overview/fact_sheet.aspx Noe, R., Holenbeck, J., Gerhert, B., & Wright, P. (2003). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Co., Inc. Taft-Hartley Act, (n.d.). Dpeartment of History. Retrieved October 18, 2008, Web site: http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/tafthartley.html The Union Representation Election Process, (1999). Mackinac Center. Retrieved October 20, 2008, Web site: http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=2319