Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining (review)

This book is intended as an introductory text which aims to provide a "practical working knowledge of labor relations and collective bargaining," integrating both theory and practice in its chapters. It offers a number of case studies and combines text material with timely news clippings on the topics discussed. Although the book focuses primarily on the private sector, it does cover the basics of public sector labor relations. Each chapter usually ends with a quick look at "labor relations around the world," concerning the chapter topics.

The authors define labor-management relations in the U.S. broadly as the set of interactions between employers and employees. The book opens with a labor relations overview that includes a history of the American labor movement and a discussion of current issues facing unions and employers.

The chapter on issues facing labor-management relations starts with a discussion of work force changes and the decline of union membership, followed by some challenges of global competition and the impact on unions. The authors stress "changes in the way the world does business," including the rise of global consumer demand, higher quality standards, a manufacturing "revolution," and changes in the doctrine of comparative advantage, as causes of today's challenges. This reviewer felt the discussion lacked a realistic treatment of the process of deindustrialization and its devastating impact on good jobs, union membership, and earnings in the goods-producing industries. The role of the drive for higher profit margins and higher stockholder value, and the accompanying shift by many employers to a union-avoidance labor relations strategy were not covered.

The second part of the book deals with the legal aspects of collective bargaining, focusing on the negotiating and enforcing of the collective bargaining agreement. The organizing process and the various procedures and structures for representation are described, and they briefly discuss different types of unions, including a formalistic distinction between craft unions and industrial unions.

The authors do not consider, though, the notions of the bargaining power of labor and of how unions must generate and maintain bargaining power in the face of the employer's inherent power as owners of the business. As well, the role of the National Labor Relations Board in government regulation is described, but the political nature of the Board is not.

The third segment of the book focuses on the cost of labor contracts, which includes a technical discussion of the issues of wage and salary, employee benefits, job security, and seniority. Costing economic proposals and the key benefit issues--health care, retirement, premium pay, and paid time off--are discussed in detail. The authors then examine the concept of seniority, employee alcohol and drug testing, and contract language protections from management changes like mergers, subcontracting, and outsourcing.

The final section deals with implementing the collective bargaining agreement, as it explains contract enforcement through the Board, the courts, and the negotiated grievance and arbitration procedure. It discusses management rights, but without any mention of the historic compromise from World War II that codified the concept.

Unfortunately, in their review of the grievance process, the authors fail to discuss either the inherent problem of over-using the grievance procedure or the rising need for unions that must deal with hostile employers to use alternative grievance resolution channels like member mobilization and direct, protected actions.

As mentioned earlier, the authors intend this book as a text for a labor relations class. Given its orientation, it is more suited as a text in a human resources program where the emphasis is more on the orderly handling of employer-employee relations, and obtaining and maintaining labor peace is the ultimate goal. In a workplace where the realities of daily life require a union to operate as a power organization in order to represent its members, learning about labor relations and collective bargaining requires knowledge about...