Twin Cities Human Resources Association SHRM Certification Preparation Course – Fall 2013 Employee and Labor Relations Session 2 K. David Hirschey, MAIR, SPHR, GPHR Minneapolis, MN Topics for Session 2 20% PHR (35 questions) 14% SPHR (25 questions) • Motivations for Employees to Join or Not Join Unions • Union Organizing Campaign Activities • Union Representation of Employees • Employer’s Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) • Union’s Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) • Negotiations • Public Sector Labor and Employee Relations 2013 K. David Hirschey, Minneapolis, MN 2 Motivations for Employees to Join or Not Join Unions ♦ Employees join unions if they think they need to collectively protect themselves against arbitrary and / or unreasonable acts of management. ♦ Common conditions and practices that may result in employees joining unions include: 1. Absences of management concern about employee problems and issues. 2. Communication between management and employees. 3. Working conditions. 4. Pay and Benefits. ♦ Key reasons employees tend NOT to join Unions include: 1. Employees identify with company and management. 2. Employees are satisfied with status quo. 3. Employees disagree with Union’s goals. 4. Employees see themselves as “professionals” or otherwise not suited for Union membership. 2013 K. David Hirschey, Minneapolis, MN 3 Union Organizing Campaign Activities Initial Contact ♦ Can be made in several ways: 1. Employee or group of employees contacts Union. 2. Union organizer contacts employees. 3. Management contacts Union and suggests it begin organizing efforts. ♦ Factors a Union is likely to evaluate in making decision to give assistance: 1. Number of potential dues payers. 2. Estimated cost of organizing drive. 3. Estimated chance of success. 4. Estimated cost of servicing bargaining unit. 5. Strategic importance of proposed unit to Union. 6. Other demands on Union. Timing ♦ Union efforts should peak at time of election. ♦ If Union’s timing is off, it will either cost the Union votes or increase the cost of a campaign. Inside Organizing ♦ Most effectively done inside workplace by employees. The protected right of “Salting”. ♦ Employer may adopt no-solicitation rules and other devices to restrict access to non-union employees. ♦ Management’s efforts to remain non-union must take place early. Leafleting ♦ Indicates the Union already has considerable employee support and inside Union organizers. Meetings ♦ Social affairs designed to transmit information and impressions to uncommitted workers and to reinforce loyalty and dedication of those who support Union. ♦ Management may / should decline to provide time for meetings. 2013 K. David Hirschey, Minneapolis, MN 4 Home Visits ♦ Used infrequently because of time and cost. ♦ Management should not give Union access to employees’ addresses. Electronic Organizing ♦ Telephoning is less effective than home visits but more economical. ♦ The utilization of Internet campaigning is increasing rapidly. Media Campaign ♦ Public opinion is important factor in success of campaign—employer may suffer loss of business and community goodwill. ♦ Organization’s response to media should be determined early and deliberately, with advice from public relations staff and legal counsel. Indirect Pressure ♦ The best “defense” is to have firmly established and widely communicated policy in favor of remaining non-union. Picketing ♦ Three forms: Recognitional, Organizational, and Informational. ♦ Organization must know restrictions on both types of picketing and be able to recognize Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs). Campaigning at Polls ♦ Campaigning by either party in or around polls during election hours is prohibited. Outcomes of Voting ♦ Ballots generally counted immediately after voting. ♦ Union certified by simple majority. ♦ Tie vote results in no certification. ♦ If the union does not get a majority vote, another election may not be held in same unit for one year. 2013 K. David Hirschey, Minneapolis, MN 5 Addressing a Union Organizing Attempt An organization generally goes through three phases in a Union-organizing attempt: Phase I - Preventative and Assessment • Organization conducts audit to evaluate susceptibility. • Union conducts research to determine what the concerns or issues might be. During this phase, the Union may bring in organizers to contact employees at home to show video movies on belonging to a Union. Phase II - Card Signing The Union will generally establish a committee of employees, along with some outside organizers, to get employees to sign Union authorization cards. The management can and should point out the consequences of signing a Union card. Also share concerns about the motive of the Union. Ascertain if your employees are in the card-signing mode. Establish an action plan of what to do if you find employees are signing cards. Phase III - Pre-election The Union has convinced employees to sign authorization cards and subsequently has notified the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for recognition and/or certification. The Union must have obtained 30% of the target population to sign authorization cards to request election. If they get 50% plus 1 to sign authorization cards, they may request the organization to recognize the Union without an election. You do not have to be an attorney to understand what you should do or not do during an organizing campaign. The basic ground rules are, with respect to any employee or Union representative: 1. Do not Threaten 2. Do not Interrogate 3. Do not Promise 4. Do not Spy With these points in mind, there are two distinct processes to addressing a Union Organizing Attempt in each of the three phases noted above: Education and Evaluation. The following briefly deals with some of the aspects an organization needs to be sensitive with in dealing with a Union-organizing attempt. 2013 K. David Hirschey, Minneapolis, MN 6 Preventative and Assessment Phase: Before an Organizing Drive A. A Union representative may contact supervisors or any member of management at any time. This contact may come by telephone, mail, or in person. This representative is trying to: 1. Claim that the union represents a majority, or all, of the employees in a particular area of/or the organization as a whole, and/or 2. Demand that you recognize the Union as the exclusive bargaining agent for the employees at the organization, and/or 3. Request that you meet with Union representatives to set a date for negotiating a labor contract dealing with salaries, hours, and working conditions for the employees. B. If this happens, some points to remember are: 1. Maintain composure. Be polite but be businesslike and firm. 2. State that you are unable to discuss this issue with him/her. 3. Get the person’s name and title, the name of the Union, the local number, address and telephone number, if possible. 4. Do not accept any cards or statements presented by the Union representative. 5. Do not make any statements that could be construed as recognition of the Union. 6. Listen to what the representative has to say, but avoid any lengthy discussion. 7. Immediately contact a management representative in your Human Resources or Legal Departments. The Union’s purpose is to get a person in the organization's management to say or do something that will give the Union a basis for automatic recognition of it as a bargaining agent for the employees, or that can become the basis for an unfair labor practices charge. C. Union organizers are allowed to distribute literature off organization property as long as they are not blocking the inflow or outflow of traffic. D. Employees are allowed to distribute literature during their non-work time such as breaks and lunch, as long as they are not interfering with another employee doing his/her job. 2013 K. David Hirschey, Minneapolis, MN 7 Card Signing Phase After the initial information gathering phase of an organization attempt, the Union may begin its authorization card signing campaign. There are serious implications associated with signing an authorization card of which employees are usually not aware. 1. Employees have the legal right to not sign a Union authorization card. It is a violation of the law for a Union agent to threaten, coerce, or intimidate an employee into signing a Union authorization card. 2. Union authorization cards are the first step toward having a Union, which includes dues, assessments, potential strikes, etc. 3. A Union card normally is not kept confidential or secret as stated by the Union representative. They are frequently shown to NLRB officials to support a representation election. 4. The Union cannot guarantee any improvements in salary or benefits if employees sign authorization cards. 5. Union authorization cards are legally binding instruments and, in some cases, have been used by unions to obtain bargaining rights for employees where those employees were never given a chance to vote on whether or not they wanted a union. Pre-Election Phase: During the Organizing Campaign Once an organizing drive is under way, it becomes very important that managers and supervisors conduct themselves in such a way that the Union has no basis to file unfair labor practices charges. Should the Union prevail in such a charge, the outcome could be the certification of the Union as the bargaining representative for employees without the employees being given a choice. A. Some things you can do during the organizing campaign: 1. Tell employees that you have been and are willing to discuss with them any subject of interest to them. 2. If necessary, tell employees you do not know the answer to a question but will get back to them. 3. Tell employees about the benefits they presently have, so long as you make no promises or threats about increases or decreases in those benefits. 4. If appropriate, tell employees how their salaries and benefits compare favorably with other companies in the area. 5. Tell employees some of the disadvantages of belonging to a Union, dues, initiation fees, assessments, and fines. 6. Stress the advantage of fair and direct dealing between the employee and supervision without third party intervention.