...Should Public Employees Be Allowed to Strike? Public sector employment involves working for any “local, state or federal agency”, effectively making the government the main employer for all public sector workers. Organized labor in the US has been a big part of the public sector since the early 1900’s, but this arena has seen some drastic changes occur in the last century. Looking at the data, it is clear to see that union membership has declined from 1/3 of the nationwide non-agricultural work force, to a mere 12.3% in recent years. Since then though, we also see a sharp decline in private sector unions, but interestingly enough, there was an increase in public-sector union membership, which is now estimated to be around 7.9 million employees. In addition, numerous economists agree, and have stated time and time again, that public sector unions and the political power they currently hold actually increases government spending, by making public goods and services unavailable through strikes, and by skewing the overall pay grade for public sector jobs at a National scale. The main problem being, that the overall demographic of union members in the last 50 years has dramatically changed. To put it in perspective, the public sector usually a higher wage for lower end jobs when compared to the private sector. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its data and concluded that the average median pay for office clerks actively working in the public sector was $27K in 2005, the average...
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...Kim Paper 1 Professor Jack McGrory PA 530 5/23/2015 The Need to Strike Introduction The pubic sector in this country is currently under attack. Wages are stagnating, and benefit plans are getting slashed. It used to be a wide known fact that public sectors employees earn less than private sector employees, but in the public sector you earn better benefits and have better job security. This is no longer the case as Republican led legislators are fighting to cut public sector benefits and the right of public sector employees to collectively bargain. Public sector unions are still very strong, and the union members need to trust these unions to bargain for them. To put the union topic in perspective, back in 1974, most of the biggest unions--except for the National Education Association--were private-sector unions. However, by 2007, most of the biggest unions were public-sector union. Second, both the biggest union in 2007 (the NEA) and the fifth-biggest union in 2007 (the UFCW) were substantially larger than the first- and fifth-biggest unions in 1974. This trend has shifted as we see almost no private sector unions, and the ones in the public sector constantly under attack. Throughout this paper, I will argue for the need for public sector employees to be allowed to strike as part of the negotiation process. I will also go over the history of collectively bargaining laws, how they apply to the public sector, and talk about unions in general throughout the process. ...
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...Labor Relations -Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector I. Union Membership II. Union Organization A. Unfair Labor Practices B. “Friendly Societies” III. Public Sector Unions A. Early Organization 1. Ten hour workday 2. Postal Workers 3. Boston Police Strike B. Legislation 1. Wagner Act 2. New York Executive Order 49 IV. Collective Bargaining A. Wisconsin B. Executive Order 10988 C. Taylor Law D. PATCO E. Opposition F. Advocacy V. Summary VI. Bibliography Labor Relations Today, union membership is at an all time low. It has been steadily declining since the 1980’s. Private sector union membership has been affected the most, while that of the public sector has remained relatively strong. Collective bargaining allows employees a voice regarding their wages, benefits and working conditions. The need for unions was a direct result of the unfair labor practices employed during the Industrial Revolution beginning in the late 18th century and continuing on into the early 20th century. During the Industrial Revolution, government adopted a hands-off attitude towards business. Therefore, business owners could treat their workers however they wished. It is largely due to the unsafe conditions, abuse of workers, and the employees’ lack of a voice over their employment that...
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...As a manager, they know that their employees work for a pension to retire from. Pensions change over years, which can benefit or may not benefit them, but as part of a manager’s job, it is their duty to keep up the morale of the employees, to support them and to boost their spirits of change to pensions and to ensure that employees attitudes don’t affect their work. “Members of the NHS and teachers’ scheme would the value of their benefit fall from 23% to 14%” (http://www.theguardian.com). As changes to the pension scheme change, this affects employees, as they are paying more into their pension scheme and receiving less for when they retire. Leadership & Ethics If applying the Rational Choice Theory to pension reforms then they are ethical because It is the ‘companies’ main objective to increase profits, increasing the amount people pay in to pensions and giving them less in their pensions boosts profits therefore may be viewed as ethical. Managers must use certain skills which are required for improvements which will therefore be viewed as ethical such as; * Profit driven mentality- If a manager has an aim for increasing profits etc they must have the mentality to drive their employees forward and to increase their working spirit to make these improvements. A manager should use techniques, good planning, strong will and making sacrifices. * Confidence (in the decision)- A manager should be able to think of new ideas for changes which will benefits the company...
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...labor unions is that most of them are enterprise unions, in other words they are attached to a company, while in France they speak in the name of an occupation or an industry as a whole. That is why labor unions are an important feature of the management system in Japan. In response to the 1950s and 1960s’ huge waves of labor protests and struggles, union leaders relationships operated a shift from confrontation to cooperation and collaboration. In the same time, to resolve the problem of stagnating productivity, the companies started to follow the guidance of the Japan Productivity Center by improving the relationship between workers and management. The establishment of this relationship of trust led to a decrease in the number of strikes, as it enabled both parties to reach an agreement without using force . Thanks to this relationship of collaboration, most management executives have a high opinion of the labor union, and think it contributes to the...
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...my paper on Starbucks because I love their company and get my coffee there every morning of the work week. I was interested in finding out whether the company I was supporting was being ethical to its employees or not. I will research Starbucks and who they get their products from and find out just how ethical of a company they are. Thesis: Starbucks claims that they are very ethical and have won awards for being so ethical. But, are they really as ethical sense day one till present as they claim to be. The question is does Starbucks do all their business from grower to a cup of coffee ethically. I start my paper by telling you, the public; about when Starbucks started business and how many stores around the world they have at this current moment. I will show you how Starbucks tries really hard as a large company to come across to their investors and the public as being an ethical company and how they are fair to all their employees and the farmers that grow their coffee beans. I will show you how they are unethical in the way they treat their farmers. I will also show you how they became known as unethical by the way they treated their unionized workers in Chile. This unfair pay that the Chilean workers were receiving was not a fair wage. Starbucks workers in Chile went on strike and Starbucks hired nonunion workers to replace them which were unethical and Starbucks was fined for doing so. I will provide an interview that I had with a Starbucks manager of a store here in Salem...
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...Process……………………………………………………………………….. a. Prepare b. Discuss c. Propose d. Bargain e. Settlement The Collective Bargaining Tactics………………………………………………………………………………… a. Intra-Organizational Bargaining b. Attitudinal Restructuring c. Integrative Bargaining d. Distributive Bargaining Issues of Collective Bargaining……………………………………………………………………………………. a. Wages b. Benefits c. Work Conditions Bargaining Deadlocks ……………………………………………………………………………………………… a. Strikes 1. Economic Strikes 2. Sympathetic Strikes 3. General Strikes 4. Wild Cat Strikes Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Introduction Collective Bargaining has been used as a tool for improving working condition; increasing workers income and making sure the employees are being treated fairly. It is the process of negotiating between the employers and employee to reach an agreement that regulates working conditions and it processes involves preparation, negotiation and implementation. The employees are represented by the Labor Union to ensure fair act treatment from the employer. We will talk about the history and important acts that took place in Collective Bargaining, the importance of Collective Bargaining from both the employee and employer, the bargaining tactics, the 5 Collective Bargaining Process, issues...
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...Lessons from the local union struggles From the two most recent teachers’ strikes, we have learned that no public interest were gained after these unfortunate events. Despite the union having full supports from teachers, students, and parents, their collective bargaining efforts still failed to reform our education system. The results of the Chicago teachers’ strike raised some important strategic considerations for education activists. All the parties involved also studied and gained experience from the consequences of this event. 1. Union gather the alliances with employees, communities and parents. The power of the group can make great improvement of the reform. In the past, teachers’ strikes or conflicts of teachers’ union was all related...
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...The ongoing negotiations between The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA), the government and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) have once again broken down. Negotiations and disputes between teachers, management and the government can get heated, especially when all parties have different views. Craig’s model provides a more systematic approach to IR issues than that of Dunlop and can be used to examine the temporal effect though the feedback loop. Craig presented the input-output model of industrial relations system in the late 1960s. In his model, the actors and the context are similar to those of Dunlop’s model. The main components of Craig’s model are: (a) the inputs or the goals, and the values and power of the actors; (b) mechanism for the conversion of inputs into outputs; (c) the outputs of the system are the financial, psychological and social rewards for the workers. The output is in the form of the rules, which govern matters such as pay, working conditions, and hours of work. In essence, Craig’s model proposes that external inputs from the environment (e.g., legal, economic, political, etc.) impact the actors of the IR system (e.g., labour, management, government) and that through a series of conversion mechanisms (e.g., collective bargaining, third-party interventions, etc.) the parties convert the external inputs as well as the internal inputs (e.g., the goals and values of the actors) into both organizational (e.g., management...
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...a real standard of living, while the employer will comply as to not want any workplace interruptions. In this case, with the rise in value of the Canadian dollar, the attendance of US patrons has declined, having an effect on total revenue. The inflation rate is predicted to only rise between 1-2% the following year, making the demand for significant wage increases impractical. With the unemployment rate still fairly high at 7.8% in Ontario, it is unlikely the union would wish to go on strike for risk of job loss. The employer is currently in a stronger bargaining position, as focus will be made on budgetary cuts, therefore looking for wage freezes and concessions from the union. The union’s main concern will be with job security. • Inventory Levels – This is a service type industry where there is an inability to stockpile a product for sale on a later date. This is an immediate demand type service; therefore the company is in a weaker bargaining position in the case the union is to strike. However,...
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...characterized by the numerous strikes and news reports of the actions and statements of the principal actors involved. The recent TCL strike (Newsday, 2012), statements threatening strike action by PSA president (Guardian, 2010), and threats to the government for a nationwide strike (CARICOM News Network, 2011) all give credence to the concerns of the ECA “that the industrial relations climate will become increasingly adversarial”(Business Guardian, 2011). This type of conflict and balance of power issues in the long-term can have adverse economic consequences as well as a negative effect on international competitiveness. The term ‘Industrial Relations’, in a broad sense, covers the employment relationship between employers and employees either directly or through their representatives. An explanation of Industrial Relations which clearly identifies the principal actors is:- “the relationships between employees and employers within the organisational settings. The field of industrial relations looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a union. Industrial relations are basically the interactions between employers, employees and the government, and the institutions and associations through which such interactions are mediated” (Naukrihub.com). Actors and their roles A key actor identified in the definition is the employer. The employer according to Burchill, 2008 may be from the Public or Private Sector, and...
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...COURSE PROJECT Anal Patel UPS STRIKE Date: - 10/10/2011 Table of Content:- INTRODUCTION……………………………….……………………………PAGE 3. BACKGROUND……………………………………………………………...PAGE 3. STRIE SETTLEMENT…………………………………………..………….PAGE 7. RECOMMENDATION / STAND POINT……….………………………….PAGE 10. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….PAGE 13. REFERENCE…………………………………………………………………PAGE 13. INTRODUCTION:- The strike against United Parcel Service conducted by the Teamsters was seen as both disruptive and successful. It was disruptive to the national shipping patterns and so to business in general, yet the public supported the strikers over the company by a wide margin. This might have changed had the strike continued any longer than it did, but the Teamsters, as led by President Ron Carey, managed to make good use of public sentiment to pressure UPS to settle the strike. From the first, the Teamsters had the high ground given the nature of the dispute and the fact that the public was also concerned about the issue of part-time work and the way companies were using part-time workers to avoid paying full price for full-time employees in the same jobs. UPS said the strike cost them about $650 million in lost business. The union paid about $10 million in strike benefits to members who got $55 a week for manning the picket lines. An analysis of the UPS strike shows that it is a case of hard bargaining in which the Teamsters benefited from being able to generate public support and also from the good fortune...
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...Labor Economics Research Subject: Labor Strikes Date: 6th July 2012 Done By: Hala Aziz Heba Elgendy Presented to: DR.Doaa salman Contents Introduction Definition How does the strike develop? Why a strike? Causes of strikes Types of strike Strike affect in Diff Countries Strikes number in Different Countries How Were the First Labor Unions Formed? Who wins in strike? Case study Conclusion and recommendation Bros and Cons of Strike Action References Introduction: This study is about strikes phenomena, its definition, reasons, types, and whether these strikes are for good or bad, and also who will benefit from it. Also we’ll discuss a real case study that shows the real effect of strike and whether it’s for good or bad. Definition A strike is a very powerful weapon used by trade unions and other labour associations to get their demands accepted. This is done through a process called Collective Bargaining Process (CBP), which includes negotiations between the two parties (employees’ representatives and employer’s representatives). Often employees are represented in the bargaining by a union or other labour organization. The main responsibility of the CBP is to resolving individual or group disputes. How does the strike develop? A strike generally involves quitting of work by a group of workers for the purpose of bringing the pressure on their employer...
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...a) Either party can terminate at any time C. Exceptions 1. Limited statutory exceptions to employment at will 2. Unions a) If in one, may only be fired for just cause under labor K Wrongful Discharge Cause of Actions A. Common Law 1. Can’t order reinstatement if employees are fired and they sue for breach of K 2. Reinstatement is a traditional remedy only under statute B. California Causes of Action 1. Generally a) Tort claims—get damages including emotional distress, punitive damages. 1) Can’t get those through breach of K 2) Easier to find a lawyer to take case under tort claims b) Whistle blowing 1) Under statute, must complain to a govm’t official, not just internally c) Affects private employees 1) Public employees can’t be deprived of their jobs without due process and just cause 2. Discharge in violation of public policy a) Employee can have tort action if fired in violation of public policy b) Must be fundamental public policy violated, or policy tethered to a statute c) SOL—one year 3. Implied/Express K a) May sue for breach of K if companies behavior gives implied promise that he can only be fired for good cause b) Needs sufficient facts—this COA is fact sensitive...
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...to Air India Submitted By : Sapana Sarawagi (MS-49) Sonam Gensapa (MS-52) Sandeep Jorasia ( MS-46) Case: Air India employees go on a strike after their grievances regarding parity in wages, delay in payment of their salaries and issues relating to working conditions could not be resolved. Currently the issue is going on as they have threatened to go on a strike on March 9, 2011. Background: In May 2007, India's Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that Air India Limited (AI), India's national flag carrier and Indian Airlines Limited (IA), the government owned domestic airline, would merge with effect from July 15, 2007.1 The new airline formed by the merger was to be called 'Air India,' and would operate in both the domestic and international sectors. The AI-IA merger was expected to create one of the biggest airlines in the world in terms of the fleet size. According to information posted on IA's website, the increasingly intense competition faced by AI and IA from private and global airline companies, was the main reason for the merger of the two airlines. . However, the proposed merger was not without its share of critics. Initially there was opposition from the employees of the two airlines as they feared that the merger would result in job cuts. The Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, had allayed their fears and assured the employees unions of the two airlines that employment conditions, wages, seniority and career progression, would largely remain unchanged...
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