Mgt 610 - Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

Case Study

Angela Gardner

MGT 610

Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

November 28, 2015

Case Study

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND LABOR RELATIONS

Introduction and Thesis Statement

Collective bargaining is a basic right for each and every individual mainly, rooted in the International Labor Organization (ILO) Constitution and confirmed in the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Collective bargaining is a major path to which employers and their trade unions organizations can establish working conditions and fair wages. Collective Bargaining also gives the basis for sound labor relations. The most common issues on the bargaining agenda include wages, training, working time, occupational health and safety and equal treatment. The main goal of these negotiations is to arrive at a collective agreement, which determines the terms and conditions of employment. Collective agreements or rather bargaining may also address the rights and responsibilities of the parties thus building a harmonious and productive workplaces and industries.

 Enhancing the inclusiveness of collective bargaining and collective agreements is a key means for reducing inequality and extending labor protection. Based on the above information, the following paper will focus on collective bargaining and labor relations based on the case study, which brings about the new changes being implemented by the new president at AAUP in the university. AAUP is a union at the University that represents the welfare of the employees and has faced the consequences of the new leadership at the University.  Currently at the University, AAUP Members are concerned with the new changes being implemented by the new President and because of these new changes, the Union have approached the President with their concerns.

As the Human Resource Director at the University, the president requires advice and the way forward regarding his concerns with AAUP (Collective bargaining and labour relations, 2015). According to the him, the president key decision as the new head in the University is to remove the Union from the University. Therefore, the following part of the paper identifies the major problems surrounding the union, and thus this part will answer questions like, what is the underlying problem within the faculty that the president feels should change? What is the current situation in the faculty? How and what is it happening within the department and among employees? Who is involved and why is it happening (Cox & Dunlop, 2015).

Problem Statement

According to the new elect president, the major problem is the formation of the AAUP, a union at the university that represents the welfare of the teaching staff at the university. The president believes that, the faculty formed the union years ago because of poor leadership exercised by the previous president at the university. Highlighting this problem, the president feels that, the union should be removed from the university as it challenges his strategic initiatives and the changes he wants in the university. Unfortunately, from his own observations, the teaching staff feels that, the newly elect president is making lots of changes without consulting them thereby triggering a disagreement (Herman, 1998).

On the other hand, the president feels that, the teaching staff should trust him and his plans of changing the university. Since both parties are in disagreement, the following part focuses on the above issues, considering that, the newly elect president has no experience working with unions in his previous position as the Vice President of Academic Affairs from another institution (Leap, 1995).

Following his appointment, the president decided to increase the number of student from 10,000 to 18,000 at the university (Leap, 1995). The president also figured out that, due to an increase in number of students, the need for more lecture halls was a better idea as this would handle the additional number of students and thus improve the efficiency. However, due to increased capacity at the institution, the teaching staff received a heavy workload due to increased number of students and classes (Mabry, 1966). This according to the staff does not improve efficiency, rather, the move decrease efficiency through heavy workload. The major problem here is that, the president increased the student’s population while on the other hand refused to increase the number of teaching staff. The new restructuring on the university now brings the disagreement between the teaching staff and the president.

Based on the information available, the new president seems to violate workers’ rights and the International Labor Unions rules, which allows organizations to form unions and labor unions. In early 1900, the government of the United States enacted The National Labor Relations Act under the National Labor Relations Board required workers from various organizations to use collective bargaining in times of disagreements. The following part focuses on problem solving between the president of the university and the teaching stuff of the university. How could the two disagreeing party resolve the underlying problems at the University that seems to hamper development and efficiency of running the institution?

In early 1900s, American laborers faced rough times with their employers back at their organizations. Therefore, workers formed organized groups to bargain for and secure wages, workplace safety, and their working hours. The International Labor Organization later incorporated these groups, now referred as Unions into National Labor Relations Act so that workers could get help from their abusive bosses at work (University of South Florida, 2015). During the Great Depression and the Industrial Revolution times, employers treated their employees with unfairness and disrespect. There were frequent disagreements between employers and employees and Union members conflicted with employers because employers interrogated, spied on, fired, and disciplined their union members (Leap, 1995).

Could this be a similar case with our president and the teaching staff members at the university? According to the case study, the body of labor union in the university differs greatly with the newly elect president and both parties have to come with a solution that would favor both parties. Since the Labor union is an independent body following the legislature of International Labor Organization, the president of the university has no mandate of dissolving the organization. As a new president and a former vice president in the previous institution, the president should come to agreement with the staff to foster a good relationship and development at the university. Since the conflict lies between the faculty’s labor union and the president, the best approach to resolving the prevailing problem is the use of collective bargaining to come with a solution (University of South Florida, 2015).