5TH EDITION
INTERNATIONAL
& COMPARATIVE
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Globalisation and change
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury and Nick Wailes
CHAPTER 3
Employment Relations in the United States
Harry C. Catz and Alexander J. S. Colvin
© Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition. Lecturers using the
book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on
any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Lecture Outline
Key themes
Historical context
The role of the state
US employers
US unionism and revitalisation
Collective bargaining
The 2000s
Variations in employment practices
The Employee Free Choice Act
Conclusions
Chapter 3:
2 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Key themes
• High diversity of employment conditions in US
system
• Relatively low levels of unionisation compared to
other DMEs
• Significant differences between union and non-union
sectors
• Recent union revitalisation and changed strategies
• Decentralisation of collective bargaining structures
and strategy
• Possible regulatory intervention
Chapter 3:
3 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Historical context
• Early unions were formed by and were exclusive to
skilled craftsmen
• The dominance of Taylorism or ‘scientific
management’ undermined the rationale for
mainstream workers to act collectively to negotiate
pay and conditions
• Further, early capitalists were politically powerful
and vigorously opposed the union movement
• Even the early successes of the craft unions were
hampered by the organised opposition of employers
and anti-union employment laws
Chapter 3:
4 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Historical context
• It was not until the Great Depression of the 1930s that
unions first began to organise factory workers
• Many circumstances led to successful organisation during
the 1930s including the Wagner Act 1935 which gave
employees the federally guaranteed right to organise and
strike for the first time
• In the 1940s and 1950s the unions continued to grow
although federal legislation restricted and regulated them
• Collective bargaining arrangements secured during the
war continued in peacetime
• The1960s and 1970s saw much of the public sector
unionise
Chapter 3:
5 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The role of the state
• The US state influences industrial relations beyond its role as
an employer in two main ways:
– Direct regulation of terms and conditions of employment
– Regulation of the manner in which organised labour and
management relate to each other
• Federal and state wage and hour laws provide for minimum
levels of pay and overtime rates, although many workers are
excluded from the operation of these laws
• ‘Employment at will’ operates in the US – employers do not
have to provide just cause for dismissal, reasonable notice or
severance pay on dismissal of an employee
Chapter 3:
6 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The role of the state
• The National Labor Relations Act (also called the NLRA or
Wagner Act) provides a structure of rules establishing
employee rights with respect to collective action
• Some of these rules include union certification (by secret
ballot) and the requirement for certified unions and
employers to bargain in good faith
• There is debate over whether union certification procedures
unfairly restrict the right of workers to organise into unions
• Employment disputes in the US are resolved through the
general court system or agreed arbitration procedures and
not through specialist tribunals (results are high costs, long
waiting times, greater variability in outcomes)
Chapter 3:
7 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Employers and their organisations
• Employer organisations are relatively unimportant in
the United States as there have never been national
employers’ confederations engaging in a full range of
industrial relations activities
• However, a number of employer organisations have
focused on union avoidance measures including antiunion litigation, lobbying and publicity campaigns
• In contrast to the relative weakness of employer
associations, management consultants and law firms
that represent employers play an active role in US
industrial relations
Chapter 3:
8 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
US union movement
• In 2007, union density was approximately 36% in the
public sector and 7.5% in the private sector
• US unions are unique in their approach to ‘business
unionism’, where they focus narrowly on providing
benefits to existing members
• American unions have focused mostly on collective
bargaining with an accompanied strike threat
• US unions have not formed a political labour party
but often financial contribute to other major political
campaigns, most frequently those of Democratic
Party candidates
Chapter 3:
9 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Public sector unionism
• There was a rapid increase in public sector unionism in
the 1960s and 1970s
• Federal, state and local government employees are
excluded from coverage under the NLRA. Separate legal
relations govern collective bargaining in each of these
sectors
• As of 2006, all but nine states had legislation providing at
least some of their state or local government employees
with the rights to organise and bargain collectively
• The public sector is the most heavily unionised sector in
the US, with just over one-third of employees unionised
Chapter 3:
10 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Structure of the US union movement
• National unions are very powerful as they dictate
strategy, control strike funds and can establish and
disestablish local unions
• Local unions usually carry out day-to-day activities of the
union movement including the enforcement of
employee rights under the collective agreement and
usually conduct bargaining over the terms of new
agreements and any resulting strikes (although this is
sometimes carried out by national unions)
• The national centralisation of strike funds has meant
that unions have been able to develop common rules
and to strike effectively
Chapter 3:
11 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The AFL-CIO
• The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a federation of national unions that
includes a substantial share of union members
• The role of the AFL-CIO is:
– to provide a national political and public voice for the US union
movement
– to resolve jurisdictional disputes among members
– to enforce codes of ethical practices and policies against racial and sex
discrimination
– to provide a link to the international labour movement
• In recent years the AFL-CIO has championed new organising
methods which led to the 2005 breakaway of a number of key
national unions, resulting in a new union federation called Change
to Win
Chapter 3:
12 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Union revitalisation
• One of the purposes of the AFL-CIO organising initiative is to diffuse
throughout the labour movement successful organising strategies used by
affiliated unions
• These strategies include using young, well-educated organisers and
involve extensive direct communication with prospective members and
links to community groups such as churches
• The AFL-CIO tried to modernise and broaden issues that attract union
members (e.g. child care, equal pay)
• During the 1990s and early 2000s there was little evidence that these
strategies were working, although in 2007 US union membership numbers
increased by the largest amount in over 25 years and it was the first time
that union membership rate had increased in 50 years
• This growth in service sector unions suggests that some of these strategies
may be having a positive effect on membership numbers, although it is too
early to tell whether this trend will continue
Chapter 3:
13 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Formation of the
‘Change to Win’ Coalition
• Declining membership rates have led to divisions within the labour
movement about how best to rebuild union strength
• In 1995, John Sweeney was elected AFL-CIO President after challenging
the existing strategy and direction of the union movement
• In 2005, Sweeney’s leadership was similarly challenged as major unions
called for more resources to be directed to organising and to encouraging
the merger of smaller unions into larger, more powerful unions
• In May 2005, four of the major unions – the SEIU, UNITE-HERE, the IBT and
the LIUNA – issued a joint proposal for reform of the AFL-CIO
• These proposals were rejected and in June 2005 the four dissenting unions
formed the rival Change to Win Coalition (CTW)
• Today the CTW Coalition represents some 6 million US workers and the
AFL-CIO represents 9 million US workers
Chapter 3:
14 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Implications of the split
• A major concern following the split was that the two
federations would compete with each other and the
strength and voice of the union movement would be
weakened
• Initial experience suggests that the CTW Coalition
and the AFL-CIO have been able to work together in
some areas, such as political campaigns
• Early assessments of the impacts of the spilt are
divided and the effect on membership numbers and
other indicators of success remains to be seen
Chapter 3:
15 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Collective bargaining
• In the non-union sector, pay rates and conditions are
generally imposed unilaterally by the employer
• In the union sector, the structure of collective bargaining is
highly fragmented and this fragmentation is increasing, with
most bargaining taking place at the single workplace level
• Despite this fragmentation, there are some common features
of collective bargaining agreements:
– They are very detailed
– They cover issues of pay, hours of work, holidays, pensions, health and
life insurance, union recognition, management rights, the role of
seniority in determining promotions and layoffs and paid time off
– They detail the handling and arbitration of grievances
– Most have a limited duration of one to three years
Chapter 3:
16 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Decentralisation
of collective bargaining structures
• Until the early 1980s, the structure of unionised collective
bargaining was a mixture of multi-employer, company-wide
and plant-level bargaining
• Since that time, collective bargaining structures have been
progressively decentralised with the locus of bargaining
shifting away from company-wide agreements to the plant
level
• Where company-wide agreements exist, corporate strategies
and product markets have resulted in greater diversity across
companies (reducing pattern bargaining)
• Varying work practices and pay systems have also contributed
to collective bargaining decentralisation
Chapter 3:
17 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Collective bargaining initiatives
• In recent years, unions have made significant changes to the
process and outcomes of collective bargaining in an
innovative effort to extend their membership base
• Corporate campaigns use media, political, financial,
community and regulatory pressures to build bargaining
power
• Other strategies link collective bargaining to organising and
political strategies – triangulation strategies link organising,
politics and collective bargaining
• Cross-national unionism remains an ongoing challenge for
unions to counteract the power of multinational enterprises
(MNEs), outsourcing and international economic pressures
Chapter 3:
18 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The 2000s
• US-based MNEs have faced increasing economic competition
• Rising healthcare costs and benefits have resulted in tensions
in the union sector where employers have not been able to
unilaterally change benefits and/or increase employee
contribution payments as they have in the non-union sector
• Retirement benefits were also a major issue for industries
with sizeable retiree ‘legacy’ costs
• Outsourcing of services to overseas providers was a growing
concern
• Despite these various pressures, the US employment relations
system remained relatively stagnant in the 2000s
Chapter 3:
19 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Variations in employment practices
• Employment practices in the US are diverse due to
– varying economic pressures across industries
– the presence of a large low-wage, non-unionised sector
where managerial prerogative is high
– differences between the union and non-union sectors
including growth in non-union employment
– imported employment practices of US-based MNEs
• Diversity in employment practices is often linked to
diversity in pay systems
Chapter 3:
20 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The Employee Free Choice Act
• The labour movement’s major labour law reform initiative, the
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is yet to be passed and, in the event
that it becomes law, its impact on union density and power is
presently unclear
• The EFCA’s major provisions involve:
–
–
–
–
allowing unions to organise through card check recognition
facilitation of speedy processing of unfair labour practice claims
increased penalties on employers who unlawfully discharge employees
provision of interest arbitration if the parties are unable to negotiate a first
contract
• Whilst some of these changes are significant, they do not signal a
fundamental departure from the current system and they would not
reverse long term trends in decentralisation, the adversarial nature of
the US system or the lack of mandated employee
participation/consultation schemes
Chapter 3:
21 United States
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Conclusions
• Diversity in US employment relations is high and
increasing due to growth in non-union employment and
the wide variety of union and non-union employment
and pay practices
• There is wide variation in recent collective bargaining
practices and outcomes
• Union revitalisation has resulted in various organising
and bargaining strategies as unions attempt to extend
membership in the face of increasing income inequality
and international pressures
© Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition. Lecturers using the
book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on
any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.