LABOR RELATIONS

Legal Environment & Union Structure

Legal Environment & Union Structure

Introduction

Labor Union, association of workers that seeks to improve the economic and social well-being of its members through group action. A labor union represents its members in negotiations with an employer over all aspects of an employment contract, including wages and working conditions. These contract negotiations are known as collective bargaining. By giving workers a united voice, a union can often negotiate higher wages, shorter hours, and better fringe benefits (such as insurance and pension plans) than individual workers can negotiate on their own. When an employer and a union cannot reach an agreement through the collective bargaining process, the union may conduct a strike (organized work stoppage). Or, an employer may prevent workers from entering the workplace in a lockout.

Discussion

In many countries, labor unions have official affiliations with political parties and seek to bring about social change through legislative and political action. In other countries, including the United States, no formal ties of this kind exist. The United States has a tradition of so-called business unionism, in which the main goal of the labor movement is to improve wages and working conditions. Unions in the United States, however, often engage in political activities. These activities include lobbying for legislation that furthers the aims of the labor movement and providing financial support to political candidates who are friendly to union causes(Bramel, Dana and Clemencia, 1987).

In the early 19th century all aspects of the employment contract, including wages and hours of work, usually resulted from direct negotiation between employers and individual workers. Because of the imbalance of power, such negotiations favored employers. Labor unions began to form in the 19th century to help relieve the damaging effects of industrialization on workers, especially the long hours and low pay that factory work entailed. The earliest organizations of workers in the United States appeared in New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shortly before 1800. These organizations represented the crafts of printers and shoemakers(Doyle, 1985).

Why Workers Join Unions

In the United States, workers can become members of a union by voting to certify a union as their collective bargaining agent. Voting typically occurs after 30 percent of the workers petition for a certification election. The union wins the right to represent the workers if it obtains the votes of a simple majority (more than 50 percent) of the workers who will make up the bargaining unit. If the union wins the certification election, management has a legal obligation to bargain in good faith with the union chosen by the workers. Workers who become dissatisfied with their union representation can use the same process to petition for a de-certification election(Dickens, 1985).

Some states give workers the right not to join a union even if they work in a unionized establishment. These laws, called right-to-work laws, prohibit unions from requiring that workers become union members as a condition of employment in unionized firms. In 2000, 21 states had right-to-work laws. If agreement on the terms of the employment ...