Labor Relations

Lecture 11
Administrative
Processes in
Government
 Public Sector Labor Relations
Unions are groups of employees who create a
formal organization (the union) to represent their
interests before management.
Labor relations is the term for all of the
interactions between the union leaders
(representing the employees) and management
(representing the corporation or jurisdiction).
 Public Sector Labor Relations
Reasonable people might be both optimistic and
pessimistic about the role of public employee
unions.
Pessimistic because of the skill of public employee
unions to get crippling pay raises without tradeoff
increases in productivity.
Optimistic because unions offer hope of replacing
civil service commissions as an instrument for reform
of merit and source of leadership in the fight for
increased productivity.
 Public Sector Labor Relations
Why have the unions been so successful?
They have been better politicians than
elected political executives.
Acceptance of a militant postures arose
directly out of civil rights movements and civil
disobedience.
 The AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor
Congress of Industrial Organizations is a
voluntary federation of over a hundred
national and international labor unions.
A union of unions.
Created by merger of AFL and CIO in
1955.
 The AFL-CIO
Each member union remains autonomous,
conducting its own affairs in the manner
determined by its own members.
Although voluntary, AFL-CIO plays a role
in establishing overall labor policy.
 Administrative Agencies
In the context of labor relations, an administrative
agency is any impartial private or government
organization that oversees or facilitates the labor
relations process.
Generally headed by a board of three to five
members.
Boards make rulings on unfair labor practices, the
appropriateness of bargaining units, the proper
interpretation of a contract, or the legitimacy of
the scope of bargaining.
 Administrative Agencies
Administrative agencies also oversee
authorization elections and certify the
winners as the exclusive bargaining agents
for all of the employees in a bargaining
unit.
Private sector National Labor Relations
Board (1935).
 Administrative Agencies
Federal government Federal Labor
Relations Authority (1978).
State government Public Employment
Relations Boards.
In the public sector, binding arbitration
more likely to be used than strikes.
 Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining is bargaining on
behalf of a group of employees as opposed
to individual bargaining where each worker
only represents him- or herself.
Term covers the negotiating process that
leads to a contract as well as the
subsequent administration and
interpretation of the contract.
 Collective Bargaining
Four basic stages to collective bargaining.
The establishment of organizations for
bargaining;
The formulation of demands;
The negotiation of demands; and
The administration of the labor agreement.
 Collective Bargaining
The predominant public sector labor
relations model comes from the private
sector.
But the fit far from perfect.
The process uses the adversarial model,
which assumes that someone must win and
someone lose.
 Collective Bargaining
Operates on the assumption that the outcome of
bargaining will reflect the relative bargaining
strength of the two parties.
Rules established and enforced by NLRB.
Workers retain the right to strike and to bargain
as equals with management.
Assumes that the free market imposes ultimate
harmony of interest. Neither party wants the
demise of the employer.
 Collective Bargaining
Model problematic for public sector.
Unions not the equal of governments.
Public sector negotiations must restrict the
scope of bargaining.
Outcomes not based on relative strengths.
Strikes occur for largely political reasons.
Public sector fragmented with regard to
models of collective bargaining.
 Impasse Resolution
An impasse is a condition that exists
during labor-management negotiations
when either party feels that no further
progress can be made toward a settlement.
 Impasse Resolution
The most techniques for breaking the
impasse are mediation, fact-finding, and
arbitration.
Mediation or conciliation is any attempt by
an impartial third party to help settle
disputes.
Mediator has no power but persuasion.
Conciliation is more passive, mediation more
active.
 Impasse Resolution
Fact-finding is an impartial review of the
issues in a labor dispute by a specially
appointed third party, whether a single
individual, panel, or board.
Fact finder holds formal or informal hearings
and submits a report, which may contain
recommendations.
 Impasse Resolution
Arbitration method of dispute settlement by having an
impartial third party (arbitrator) hold a formal hearing
and render a decision that may or may not binding on
both parties.
Arbitrator may be an individual or uneven numbered board.
May contain representatives of disputants.
Compulsory arbitration is arbitration under a legal
requirement.
Final or last offer arbitration.
Binding arbitration frequently used in public sector collective
bargaining in place of a strike, but can create problems.
 Strikes
A strike is a mutual agreement among
workers to a temporary work stoppage to
obtain or to resist a change in their
working conditions.
Considered an essential element in the
collective bargaining process.
The use of strikes has declined. Concerns
about impact on unstable economy.
 Why Strikes Occur
Workers will not work after a contract has
expired.
Union leader is often in a complicated political
position. Expectation gap.
A strike may be used as a political weapon
against public officials.
Managements efforts to provoke strikes at a time
when unions are relatively weak.
Economic positions of the two sides.
 Two Famous Public Strikes
Boston police strike of 1919. Higher wages and
right to form a union affiliated with AFL. Public
opposition to compromising public safety sank
the strike and set back public sector unionization.
Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
(1981). (95% went on strike). Cripple air travel.
President Reagan fired all 11,000 controllers.
Strike broken by only president who was a labor
union leader.