CHAPTER 3 Employment Relations in the United

Transcript:CHAPTER 3 Employment Relations in the United:
CHAPTER 3 Employment Relations in the United States Harry C. Catz and Alexander J. S. Colvin Lecture Outline Key themes Historical context The role of the state US employers US unionism and revitalisation Collective bargaining The 2000s Variations in employment practices The Employee Free Choice Act Conclusions Key themes High diversity of employment conditions in US system Relatively low levels of unionisation compared to other DMEs Significant differences between union and non-union sectors Recent union revitalisation and changed strategies Decentralisation of collective bargaining structures and strategy Possible regulatory intervention Historical context Early unions were formed by and were exclusive to skilled craftsmen The dominance of Taylorism or ‘scientific management’ undermined the rationale for mainstream workers to act collectively to negotiate pay and conditions Further, early capitalists were politically powerful and vigorously opposed the union movement Even the early successes of the craft unions were hampered by the organised opposition of employers and anti-union employment laws Historical context It was not until the Great Depression of the 1930s that unions first began to organise factory workers Many circumstances led to successful organisation during the 1930s including the Wagner Act 1935 which gave employees the federally guaranteed right to organise and strike for the first time In the 1940s and 1950s the unions continued to grow although federal legislation restricted and regulated them Collective bargaining arrangements secured during the war continued in peacetime The1960s and 1970s saw much of the public sector unionise The role of the state The US state influences industrial relations beyond its role as an employer in two main ways: Direct regulation of terms and conditions of employment Regulation of the manner in which organised labour and management relate to each other Federal and state wage and hour laws provide for minimum levels of pay and overtime rates, although many workers are excluded from the operation of these laws ‘Employment at will’ operates in the US – employers do not have to provide just cause for dismissal, reasonable notice or severance pay on dismissal of an employee The role of the state The National Labor Relations Act (also called the NLRA or Wagner Act) provides a structure of rules establishing employee rights with respect to collective action Some of these rules include union certification (by secret ballot) and the requirement for certified unions and employers to bargain in good faith There is debate over whether union certification procedures