Labor Union and Management Tactics

Labor Union and Management Tactics
A labor union is an employee organization that has the main goal of representing members in employee-management bargaining over job-related issues. Unions were originally formed in the late nineteenth century to protect workers from intolerable work conditions and unfair treatment. Minimum wage laws and unemployment benefits were nonexistent with eighty hour work weeks being accepted as a norm. These were not short term issues that would easily go away (Dias and Shah). Many tactics have been used by unions and management to negotiate contracts and resolve labor disputes with union membership growing drastically since.
Unions negotiate for an employment contract through a process called collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a type of negotiation used by employees to work with their employers. During this period, workers' representatives approach the employer and attempt to negotiate a contract which both sides can agree with. Typical issues covered in a labor contract are hours, wages, benefits, working conditions, and the rules of the workplace. Once both sides have reached a contract that they find agreeable, it is signed and kept in place for a set period of time, most commonly three years. The final contract is called a collective bargaining agreement, to reflect the fact that it is the result of a collective bargaining effort (Wise Geek).
When an agreement can’t be accomplished through collective bargaining, a variety of tactics such as striking, boycotting, mediation and arbitration are used. Striking is powerful because of the financial loss imposed upon the employer when employees collectively refuse to go to work. A boycott is a refusal to buy services or goods from a business whose workers are on strike. Unions also try to get the general public involved to support their cause. Mediation is the use of a third party who encourages both sides in a dispute to come to an agreement. Arbitration is a more extreme...