Question

1. Describe in detail four reasons why some employees might choose not to join a union. 2. Describe four reasons why employees join unions. 3. Explain the phrase "unfair labour practice". If it appears that an employer is guilty of an unfair labour practice during a union organizing campaign briefly describe the procedure followed, and outline three remedies that are available.

Answer 1

Let's get to the answers question by question

1. There are various reasons that an employee doesn't want to join an employee union. As requested, let us discuss four reasons in details

(i) Union is the sole representative: Union bargains with the employer on behalf of the employees. So how does the union come to a decision or a bargain? By a simple majority. Let us suppose that an employee votes against a decision. Unfortunately the decision that an employee votes against gets the majority. Obviously the union bargains for it, which eventually leads to the term that you voted against for. You simply lose your identity, which mean only the union deals with the employer about the wages, terms and conditions or whatever.

(ii) Lots of rules: Unions have lots of rules, to which you have to bind when you are a member of it. There would be many official and unofficial rules. Having a union is like having an official or another boss.

(iii) Internal conflicts: There may be more than one union in an organization. You might be a member of one union and your colleague or a team member might be a member of an other union which might lead to internal conflict.

(iv) Corruption and discrimination: Most unions if not all are based unofficially on race, creed or religion. There will be discrimination based on their ethnicity. There also exists internal politics and corruption.

2. As we have seen the reasons for not joining a union let's go to the reasons for joining a union

(i) Collective bargaining: By joining a union your voice sounds louder. You can achieve something with a group a voices that you are unable to with a single voice. Unions use their collective muscle for better wages and work timings.

(ii) Fair treatment and support: An employee should be treated fairly and rationally. If they are treated unfairly they should have a shoulder to lean on, which is a union. A union takes care of employee problems relating to job and workplace harassment and would take the employee's stand

(iii) Safe from exploitation: An employee who is a member of a union is always safe from exploitation. Also union offers a listening ear to all the workers of the union, especially to those who feel alone and helpless.

(iv) Fair layoff practices: If any layoffs occur, unions ensure that the separation packages or benefits are fair basing on the length of their service. This provides the employees with a sense of security regarding their job.

3. An unfair labor practice refers to certain actions taken by the employers or unions that violate the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Such actions are investigated by the National Labor Relations Board. Not every unfair act amounts to an unfair labor practice. While the employees of the NLRB may assist individuals in filing charges, the employees of the NLRB cannot file charges on their own. Under the Act, "any person" (except an employee of the Board) may file a charge with the NLRB

  The General Counsel of the NLRB is responsible for investigating unfair labor practice charges and making the decision whether to issue a complaint. This job is delegated to the Regional Director of the region of the NLRB in which the charge has been filed; the Regional Director in turn assigns it to an employee of the region. It is the responsibility of the charging party to identify the witnesses who can support its charge; should it fail to do so the Regional Director will typically dismiss the charge. A party unsatisfied with the Regional Director's decision to dismiss its charge can appeal the dismissal to the office of the General Counsel. The General Counsel's decision to dismiss a charge is not subject to further appeal and cannot be challenged in court

The Existing Legal Framework Federal labor law attempts to regulate the union organizing campaign in several ways. Most directly, federal law creates machinery for "representation elections," by which a union is certified as the official bargaining representative for a group of employees. The NLRB supervises these elections, counts the ballots, and guards against any irregularities. An election may be held when at least 30 per cent of the employees in a given unit favor the union. A majority of the employees in the unit must vote for the union in order for it to be certified. The law attempts to protect the employee's freedom to vote for or against union representation by prohibiting certain "unfair labor practices" which might prejudice or unduly pressure employees. An employer or union that uses inflammatory propaganda commits an unfair labor practice, as does the employer who makes threats, discharges pro-union employees discriminatorily," interrogates employees unduly or grants special benefits on the event of the election. Remedies for unfair practices vary. The Board may issue cease and desist orders or if the practice is a discriminatory discharge, the Board may reinstate the discharged employee with back pay. In addition, the Board can invalidate election results. A valid election precludes a subsequent election for one year, but if the Board finds that either party has committed unfair labor practices which may have significantly influenced the election result, it can set the election aside at the request of the non-offending party and order another election. Finally, under section 10(c) of the NLRA, the Board has general power to "effectuate the policies" of the NLRA, which it has relied on occasionally to create new remedies guaranteeing fair representation elections. The existing legal framework for regulating organizing campaigns has been sharply and widely criticized. It is acknowledged that union organizing campaigns are frequently illegally disrupted by employers' unfair labor practices. Most critics blame these recurring abuses on the inadequate, slow, and unworkable remedies of present labor law. Existing remedies such as reinstatement with back pay for discriminatorily discharged workers have been justifiably called "too little and too late" and "no more than a license fee for union busting."