Project: Union Avoidance
Your Mission, should you decide to accept it:
Answer the questions found below as a group
Hand in one answer with everyone's name
- First & last & in alphabetical order by last name
- Include only members who are present
Indicate the date:  _____________________
Indicate the name of the class
Indicate the name of the Project: 
Be thorough; write good answers
Use your time wisely. 
Be finished by the end of the allowed time

 
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Return to the Past

1.  Is the increasing resistance of firms to unionization new... or simply a return to the historic relationship that had existed in the US?
 
 
   Answer 1. 
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Mfr or Service?

2.  Would you expect a stronger anti union response from a firm in mfr or a service industry?
 
 
   Answer 2. 
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Philosophy-laden approach?

3.  In today's increasingly competitive employment env, would you expect to find many (or any) firms taking a "philosophy-laden" approach?
 
 
   Answer 3. 
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Guaranteed 1st contract?

4.  Should public policy change in some way so that unions who win rep have a better chance of neg the 1st contract?  How would this be done?
 
 
   Answer 4. 
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Return to the Past

1.  Is the increasing resistance of firms to unionization new... or simply a return to the historic relationship that had existed in the US?

ANSWER

Levels of union resistance, like many phenomenon, go in cycles

Like many facets of Labor / Mgt relationships, labor & mgt are now in a mgt dominated phase of the relationship

These are the same factors that also have lead to \/ membership, including: 

- /\ edu
- new tech
- strong econ
- skills in demand
- decline of mfr
- geographic mobility
 
 
  Return to Question 1.
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Mfr or Service?

2.  Would you expect a stronger antiunion response from a firm in mfr or a service industry?

ANSWER 2.

Service

Because it has a /\ % of costs in labor

If mfr is unionized, that typically only affects 20 - 30% of costs

Serv Ind has 80 - 100% of labor as it's costs

If mfr is unionized, it can often pass that smaller /\ onto consumers
 
   Return to Question 2. 
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Philosophy-laden approach?

3.  In today's increasingly competitive employment env, would you expect to find many (or any) firms taking a "philosophy-laden" approach?

ANSWER 3.

No

The idea of a benign (good) dictator in the wkplace is possible, but increasingly it is a romantic, unrealistic pt of view

Why?  competition means nice people finish last

Idea of benign dictator is itself arrogant & elitist:

Assumes wkrs are not sophisticated enuf to decide what is in their interest or who can best rep them

Idea of benevolent boss is still our most popular cultural ideal in the world of wk
 
 
   Return to Question 3.
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Guaranteed 1st contract?

4.  Should public policy change in some way so that unions who win representation have a better chance of negotiating the 1st contract?  How would this be done?

ANSWER 4. 

Depenfs on wheterh you think unions are unfairly or fairly weakened by the activiites of mgt

The union has the tools to deal w/ resistant firms, including:
- strike
- boycott
- corp campaigns, etc

To do so would be to give Labor total power

The heart of this questions goes to two questions:

How do we determine "good faith" bargaining?

Ultimately by comparing offers to the mkt place, ie the independent standard

But the problem here is that firms can stall for too long

Second question:  do unions now have enuf tools to effectively bargain? 

Can the ultimate answer be seen in the decline of unions?
 
 
  Return to Question 4. 
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The End