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SOLUTION MANUAL FOR LABOUR RELATIONS STRIKING A BALANCE 6TH EDITION BY JOHN BUDD
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SOLUTION MANUAL FOR LABOUR RELATIONS STRIKING A BALANCE 6TH EDITION BY JOHN BUDD
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,SOLUTION MANUAL FOR LABOUR RELATIONS STRIKING ABALANCE 6TH EDITION BY JOHN BUDD
CHAPTER 1
Contemporary Labor Relations: Objectives, Practices, and Challenges
Chapter Overview
This chapter begins with a brief description of what students will encounter as they begin their
study of labor relations. Seeing labor unions is their most fundamental sense (a group of workers
seeking collective influence) is important, as is grounding an understanding of labor relations in
three major objectives of the employment relationship (efficiency, equity, and voice). Each
objective is defined and the examples help illustrate how these objectives can either work
together or conflict with each other. That these objectives can conflict raises the fundamental
labor relations issue of finding a balance. Students are also introduced to the current state of the
U.S. labor relations, including the major pressures and concerns emphasized by corporate and
labor union leaders. The chapter closes with a reminder of the many reasons why labor relations
has continued relevance.
Lecture Tips
To get students thinking and to establish a culture of participation, even before passing out the
course syllabus, at the beginning of the very first class, jump right in and ask: ―What is a union?‖
If students need prompting, follow with: ―What do you think of when I say ‗union‘?‖ Most
responses will refer to large, bureaucratic organizations (Teamsters, teachers, UAW) and perhaps
conflict, work rules, and so on. Urge a more fundamental conception: a group of employees, at a
plant or work site, who wish to act together to try to determine their wages and working
conditions—a group of workers seeking collective workplace protection, influence, and voice.
Alternative, take this one step further and start with a ―quiz‖ in which students write down
answers to the following:
1. List your learning goals for this course.
2. What do you think of when you hear the phrase ―labor union‖?
3. How many union members are there in the United States?
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, 4. What fraction of U.S. workers are represented by unions?
5. Briefly, are unions good or bad?
After they are done, ask for responses to question #1, and put them on the board. You can even
ask for a show of hands to get a rough idea of how widespread each one is. Then establish
expectations by indicating which will be addressed in this course, and which won‘t be (and why
not). Question #2 is used as indicated above. Question 3 can be eye-opening to the students in
that there are millions of union members. But, on average, density is low (question #4).
Solicit a number of responses for question #5. I then tell them that the correct answer is ―this is
complex!‖ which will be a theme running through the course. I then follow-up with one
additional question: where did you get these answers from? And can probe further: How reliable
are these sources? Do these sources consider multiple perspectives? I then integrate this with the
course goals: A key objective of this course is understanding labor unions and unionized
employment relationship from a variety of informed perspectives rather than narrow stereotypes
or from prior experience that might be limited to a specific occupation or country.
Continuing on the theme of course goals, this can also be a good time to explain the types of
learning expected in the course:
a. Understanding key terms and laws
b. Participating in legal analyses, bargaining, and grievance handling
c. But also a deeper analytical understanding
This connects to dimensions of higher learning:
(1) Declarative Learning: Learning WHAT
(a) Facts and rules
(2) Procedural Learning: Learning HOW
(a) Skills and procedures
(3) Conditional Learning: Learning WHEN and WHERE
(a) Applications
(4) Reflective Learning: Learning WHY
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, (a) Understand one‘s values and the values of others
(5) Metacognitive Learning: Learning HOW to LEARN
(a) Directing and managing one‘s own learning
The course will involve 1-4, and they are also responsible for #5.
Next, ask the following questions:
Q1. What do you want to get out of working?
(a) Money
(b) Benefits
(c) Sense of accomplishment
(d) Feeling of self-worth
Q2. How do you want to be treated?
(a) Like a machine
(b) Like a raw input (muscle or brains)
(c) With dignity and respect
(d) Fairly
Students often admit that organizational and individual performance are important (efficiency),
but also want to be treated with respect and would like to have some input (equity and voice).
Moreover, they typically want more than just salary and benefits—in other words, work is not
purely an economic transaction.
Q3. How do you want your job conditions determined?
(a) Do you always want someone telling you exactly what to do?
Q4. What does the employer want?
(a) High-quality work
(b) Productivity
(c) Team players
From the students‘ responses, pull out: Efficiency, Equity, and Voice. Argue that the most
difficult HR problems occur when these conflict with each other. In this case, a balance is
needed. There are various ways to achieve this balance: labor unions are only one.
Labor relations is the study of how employee representation—typically through labor unions—
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