Union-Management Relations

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Chapter #1 - Union-Management Relationships in Perspective. The labor relations process involves management and a labor organization (union). Management’s role is to represent the best interests of the company, whereas the union’s role is represent the union members (employees) interests. There are three phases to the labor relations process, recognition of the legitimate rights, negotiation of a labor agreement, and administration of the negotiated labor agreement. The focal points of the process include three major elements, negotiation and administration of work rules, key participants in the process, and constraints that affect the parties in negotiating and administering the work rules. To fully understand the labor relations system, …show more content…

These three labor organizations had very different goals and strategies. The Knights of Labor was a national union that had a scope larger than any previous union. The KOL attracted members that were unhappy with the industrial revolution. Their goal was to change the existing labor-management relationship to reduce mass production and attain improve moral rights for employees and society. The AFL was formed after several members of KOL were expelled. Unlike the KOL, the AFL was not a national union. “The AFL represented a federation of national unions cooperating for mutual gain while permitting each national union to maintain independent control over its own identity and operations” (Holley, Williams, Jennings, pg. 51). The AFL’s founder, Samuel Gompers devoted his attention to ensuring the AFL had a pure and simple approach to collective bargaining. This approach had two major objectives, economic betterment for the members and the enhancement of the capitalistic system. The IWW was formed as an alternative to AFL. The initial goal of the IWW was to overthrow the existing capitalistic system by any means necessary based on the assumption that employees and employers had nothing in common. The IWW also sought to remove any societal aspect of group that supported capitalism. This approach …show more content…

economy (National Labor Relations Board, 2017).” The Act also established the National Labor Relations Board made up of three members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate-to enforce employee rights rather than to mediate disputes. It gave employees the right, under Section 7, to form and join unions, and it obligated employers to bargain collectively with unions selected by a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining

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