Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining by Michael R. Carrell and Christina Heavrin (10th edition)
Introduction to labor relations
- Labor relations. Any activity between management and unions or employees concerning the negotiation or implementation of a collective bargaining agreement.
- Collective bargaining agreement. A written and signed document between an employer entity and a labor organization specifying the terms and conditions of employment for a specified period of time.
- Labor organization. Defined in Sec. 2. [§ 152] of the NLRA and means any employee committee or other organization of any kind in which employees deal with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, or working conditions.
- Union density. The number of union employees in proportion to the total number of employees in a state or other area.
- Craft union. A labor union whose membership is organized in accordance with their craft or skills.
- Industrial union. A labor union whose membership is composed primarily of semiskilled or unskilled workers, such as automobile workers and steelworkers, who are organized on the basis of the product they produce.
- Salary arbitration. A process specified in a sport’s CBA that provides if a player and team cannot agree on a new salary for a future, they agree to submit the issue to an arbitrator who will make a final and binding decision.
- Free agent. A player who is permitted to negotiate contract terms with any club. Players are not usually eligible for unrestricted free agency until they turn a certain age. They could become unrestricted free agents earlier if a club exercised its walk-away rights or if their contract was bought out or terminated.
- Union membership. Employees of an organization that belong to a labor organization.
- Preemption. A legal theory in which federal law takes precedent over state law.
Private sector labor relations: history and law
- Labor union. An organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interests in the workplace and improving wages, hours, and working conditions.
- Trade unionist. One of like-skilled workers, such as printers, shoemakers, tailors, and bakers, who organized the earliest unions in the United States.
- Labor injunction. A court order that prohibits any individual or group from performing any act that violates the rights of other individuals concerned. Until 1932, injunctions were primarily used by employers to end boycotts or strikes.
- Company union. An employee organization formed by an employer and recognized within a company, often it will offer employer-conceived reforms, such as health benefits and better living conditions, to discourage employee unionization. This type of union usually does not meet the requirements of the National Labor Relations Act and thus is not considered a true union.
- Railway Labor Act. Passed in 1926 to prevent disruptions in the nation's rail service, it required railroad employers to negotiate with employees' union. In 1936 it was expanded to include the airline industry.
- Norris-LaGuardia Act. Passed in 1932, this act restricts the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain law and order. The act also made yellow-dog contracts illegal.
- National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act). The cornerstone of U.S. Federal labor law. The act was the first in history to give most private sector employees the right to organize into unions, to bargain collectively with employers, to define unfair labor practices by employers, and to create the NLRB.
- National Labor Relations Board. An independent agency of the federal government that serves to investigate unfair labor practices, determine appropriate bargaining units, certify unions that legally represent a majority of employees, and administer the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act.
- Fair Labor Standards Act. Passed in 1936, it requires employers to pay covered employees at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay for work exceeding a 40-hour week.
- Scab. A derogatory term to describe workers who cross a union picket line to perform the jobs of striking workers.
- Taft-Hartley Amendments.
- Landrum-Griffin Act.
- Employee Free Choice Act.
- Coalition of Labor Union Women.
- Dual sovereignty.
- Home rule.
- Spoils system.
- Pendleton Act.
- Fraternal organization.
- Hatch Act.
- Civil service system.
- Sovereignty Doctrine.
- Executive Order 10988.
- Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
- Public sector-only union.
- Mixed union.
- Pattern bargaining.
- FOIA.
- Multilateral bargaining.
- Executive-legislative.
- Sunshine Laws.
- Union security.
- Free rider.
- Cheap rider.
- Fair share.
- Right to strike.
- PATCO Strike.
- Mediation.
- Fact-finding.
- Advisory arbitration.
- Interest arbitration.
- Privatization.
- Furlough.
