Section APlease indicate your answer by entering “T” or “F”
3. An employee committee with delegated managerial authority can take on the union’s role to “deal with” management.
4. According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), child care is not a mandatory subject for collective bargaining.
5. In all unionized organizations, promotion decisions are solely based on seniority.
6. An employer can allow its employees access to its bulletin board, but prohibit union solicitation material from being displayed on the board.
7. Affirmation Action rights have generally been upheld over seniority rights in cases of layoffs when the two are in conflict.
8. An individual is precluded from suing under the civil rights laws if his claim has gone through arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement.
9. When an arbitrator is evaluating an employee misconduct case, the relative value of the damage is the primary factor in considering the appropriate discipline; the person’s deliberate and malicious intent has relatively little significance.
Section B Multiple Choice Question
6. Which of the following statements is true regarding a labor–management team created to consider employment issues in a unionized organization?
a. The creation of such teams is illegal when there is a union to represent the employees.
b. All the members of this team must be appointed by management.
c. Such a team can be created only when most employees support the incumbent union.
d. Such a team should contain more union members than management.
7. The law on successorship provides that if there is a genuine change in the collective bargaining representative, ________.
a. the successor representative can change only that part of the existing collective bargaining contract which deals with wages and hours of employment
b. the successor representative must obtain the approval of the management
c. the existing collective bargaining contract is not binding on the successor representative
d. the successor representative can renegotiate only the permissive bargaining items with management
8. Mathew has been working in a production company for the past 15 years. According to the union contract provision, the company grants promotions only on the basis of seniority. When a promotion opportunity came up, Mathew thought he would be given the promotion because of his seniority. But to his dismay, the promotion was given to his colleague who had joined the company a year ago. Mathew reported the grievance to the shop steward and he agreed that the grievance had some merit and should be pursued further. What is the immediate next step that Mathew and the steward should take?
a. Negotiate a last chance agreement among the employer, union, and employee.
b. Report the matter to an arbitrator.
c. Complete a grievance form. d. Form a union grievance committee.
10. William has been working at H&S for the past 12 years. When some family trouble arose, William wanted to work in the afternoon shift for a month rather than his usual morning shift. The work performed in the afternoon shift was exactly the same as that in the morning shift and William had all the skills required to perform the job. One of his colleagues, Jack, who worked on the afternoon shift, was willing to swap shifts with William for a month but the supervisor did not allow William to change his shift. William reported the grievance to the union and it could not be resolved even after a long discussion with the management. Which of the following steps is most likely to be taken by the union as the final step in the grievance handling procedure?
a. Announce a strike.
b. Report the matter to the NLRB.
c. File a complaint against the employer in the court.
d. Request an arbitrator to resolve the grievance.
Part C – Short Answer (Please write only 1 short paragraph to answer each question).
1. Why has management’s right to subcontract work been the subject of many grievances?
2. Discuss how disciplinary procedures affect the labor–management relationship.
Part D – Essay. Your essay should be between 250 and 500 words). Please do use APA to reference your answers. Create a reference list at the end and use the (author, year) format within the text; or, if it is a direct quote.
Use the terms and concepts covered in the course to analyze this case. Your essay should be between 250 and 500 words. PLEASE DO NOT EXCEED 500 WORDS!
The company operates about 700 convenience stores. A sales assistant at one of the company’s stores was murdered while on duty. The murder was widely publicized, and employees complained of inadequate security measures. As a result of the murder, 15 sales assistants telephoned the union requesting a union organization effort. The union sent representatives to 60 stores in the area where the murder had occurred and left union authorization cards. Two days later the company notified the union that an injunction had been issued during a prior union campaign prohibiting solicitation on company property. The next workday, the company had a meeting with the store managers in the area and talked about the need to improve security. The company officials also discussed the union’s organization activities and reminded the managers of the “no solicitation” policy and stated that a union would not necessarily do the employees any good. Later that week, the company had an unprecedented meeting for all sales assistants. Approximately 200 sales assistants attended and were paid for their time. The company officials told the employees that they did not need a union and that the employees from the union could retrieve their authorization cards. The employees were asked to voice their complaints and the employees listed the following: getting less than 40 hours work per week; not having breaks; not being paid for overtime work; working alone at night; and poor lighting at the stores.
The next day the company sent a memo to all regional personnel directing that sales assistants should work a 40-hour workweek; canopy lights were installed at all the stores; a policy was adopted that no one would be required to work alone at night; and sales assistants began receiving wages for after-hours overtime work. The company posted “no solicitation” signs in all stores and directed that those signs be enforced; if the employees did not enforce the signs, they would lose their jobs. Later that month the company held further meetings with sales assistants, who again were paid for their time. They asked to select committee representatives to meet with management to discuss their complaints. Management officials left the room while the employees selected their representatives. The company made a list of the ten most frequently mentioned items from the employees’ recommended subjects for the committee to discuss. Meanwhile, the union filed a representation petition with the NLRB seeking an election in a unit of all Summitt, Ohio sales assistants. The company president told the managers to tell the sales assistants that if they joined the union, the company would close those stores. The first meeting of the Employee Management Committee was held and the ten priority items were listed, granting employees a new vacation policy, improved health-care benefits, sick days, change in holiday hours for pay, recognition of seniority ranks, and improved security systems. Not long after that, the company sent an additional memo around announcing other improvements in life, major medical, and accident insurance plans, in addition to death and family benefits and a revised disciplinary appeal system.
If the union wanted to file a complaint with the NLRB, what “unfair labor practice” claim(s) could it make? What defenses would the company utilize? Use the specific terms and concepts covered in this course to support your analysis.
