Deck 12: Comparative Labor Relations

Question 1

In Canada,strike replacements are often not considered part of the bargaining unit and are not,therefore,entitled to vote on union matters.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Mexico's constitution was the first to address both social and economic rights of workers.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In many industrialized countries,most employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement even though they are not members of a union.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The degree of hostility toward unionization that is present in the U.S.is unique among democratic,industrialized countries.

Question 5

The most influential union federation in Mexico is called the Confederacion de Trabajadores Mexico or the Confederation of Mexican Workers.

Question 6

Mexican workers are well protected by strong enforcement of Mexican labor laws as outlined in the Mexican Constitution.

Question 7

Establishing and maintaining a union is easier under Canadian law than under U.S.law.

Question 8

The Confederation of Mexican Workers was a strong opponent of the longtime ruling party in Mexico.

Question 9

Although more of a social movement in the past,Canadian unions are moving toward the American business unionism model.

Question 10

In Canada ,each province has its own labor laws that governs their labor relations.

Question 11

While globalization,decentralization and the need for greater flexibility are important pressures in U.S.industrial relations,they are relatively unimportant issues for most other industrialized countries.

Question 12

The labor relations system in Canada has generally been more stable that the labor relations system in the U.S.

Question 13

In Mexico,a union does not need to represent a majority of employees before it can engage in collective bargaining but it does need majority representation if it wishes to use the strike weapon.

Question 14

In most industrialized countries,there is little support for unionization,significant employer resistance to unions,and weak support for a socialist movement.

Question 15

Collective bargaining agreements are not legally enforceable in Mexico.

Question 16

There is a common set of labor laws governing labor relations across each of Canada's provinces.

Question 17

Outside North America,collective bargaining is dominated by employer associations,rather than individual companies.

Question 18

Collective bargaining agreements in Mexico automatically include the minimum provisions that are set in the Mexican constitution.

Question 19

Canadian union representation elections are conducted in the same manner as those in the U.S.

Question 20

Many Canadian workers are represented by U.S.unions in their dealings with their employer.

Question 21

As their power has declined with the legal reforms of the Conservative government,British unions are starting to look more toward the European Union as a way to improve labor standards and public policy favoring workers and their representatives.

Question 22

In Great Britain,collective bargaining agreements are not legally binding.

Question 23

The Irish system of labor relations was built on the U.S.model following World War II.

Question 24

Labor legislation passed by Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s resembled many of the provisions included in the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin Acts passed in the U.S.20 to 30 years earlier.

Question 25

The Trades Disputes Act of Great Britain gives labor unions immunity from lawsuits over breach of contract and striking.

Question 26

Just like in the U.S. ,company dominated unions are illegal in Great Britain.

Question 27

Mexican workers have more rights under law than U.S.workers.

Question 28

In Mexico,collective bargaining agreements are sometimes said to be more a function of government economic policy than independent union collective bargaining.

Question 29

Contrary to the experience of the U.S. ,union membership in Great Britain has risen substantially since the 1980s.

Question 30

The influence of the government on labor unions in Mexico is minimal.Most Mexican unions operate independent of the federal and local governments.

Question 31

In Great Britain,collective bargaining has traditionally occurred only when both management and labor voluntarily agree to engage in negotiations.

Question 32

The social partnership arrangement in Ireland provides significant voice opportunities for workers at the workplace level.

Question 33

For Great Britain to move toward a works council model and a more European style of labor representation,significant changes would need to be made to its current labor law and culture.

Question 34

The key difference between Great Britain's labor relations system and that of Ireland is that Ireland includes peak-level negotiations on social and economic issues.

Question 35

Britain's system of labor relations is particularly susceptible to swings in economic conditions that favor either the employer or employees.

Question 36

The concept of exclusive representation applies to Great Britain.

Question 37

Voluntarism is an institutionalized system of employee voice in which employees are entitled to participate in workplace decision-making.

Question 38

Although the social partnership and peak-level negotiations in Ireland address a variety of issues,the result is greater instability and unpredictability for the economy as a whole,as well as the workplace.

Question 39

Company dominated unions are a particular problem for Mexican Labor relations.

Question 40

Ireland's system of centralized bargaining through social partnership addresses broad social and economic concerns rather than more immediate economic or workplace agreements.

Question 41

Codetermination includes employee representation on corporate supervisory boards and workplace level committees appointed by management.

Question 42

For a German works council to be put in place,a labor union must have won representation rights of workers at a given company.

Question 43

In Germany,sector bargaining takes place at the regional level in a pattern bargaining fashion.

Question 44

In France,employees have several forms of workplace-level employee representation such as employee delegates and work committees.

Question 45

French union federations have a business unionism philosophy that is much like that of the U.S.

Question 46

In Germany,each major industry has a dominant employer association and union that conduct industry-wide bargaining for all companies in the industry.

Question 47

Collective bargaining and workplace representation have increased in France since the 1980's but they have declined in the U.S.

Question 48

Strikes during the life of a contract are illegal in Germany.

Question 49

To protect the interests of workers,French unions use political pressure to get the government to enact favorable labor policies,rather than participating directly in policy-making.

Question 50

Codetermination is a formal system of employee voice that entitles employees to participation in workplace decision-making.

Question 51

French law mandates exclusive representation as a condition of collective bargaining.

Question 52

A key feature of the labor-management relations in France is the stability of the social partnership arrangement between labor,management,and the government.

Question 53

Communist and socialist unions have not always supported collective bargaining because signing a contract limits worker freedom and legitimizes capitalism.

Question 54

French labor law includes industry level agreements that can be extended to all companies in the industry regardless of the bargaining unit size.

Question 55

French unions tend to be more militant and reformist than unions in other industrialized countries.

Question 56

The fundamental purpose of German co-determination is to provide national stability and consistency in labor contracts.

Question 57

Under French labor laws,collective bargaining takes place solely at the company level.

Question 58

The German labor relations system has responded to the competitive pressures of globalization by increasing its standardization of contracts within and across industries.

Question 59

Due to concerns about monopolistic power,French law does not allow industry level agreements to be extended across companies within the same industry.

Question 60

The German labor relations system includes industry-wide bargaining between employer federations and employer associations.

Question 61

Stalinist unionism refers to a labor relations system in which unions are controlled by the government and play a dual role to protect state and labor's interests.

Question 62

In the United States,unions occasionally obtain a single seat on a company's board of directors,but significant board-level representation is mandated by law in Germany.

Question 63

Works councils have a clear,positive impact on economic efficiency of German companies and the German economy as a whole.

Question 64

German works councils have the right to information about the firm's financial situation,including investing and marketing plans.

Question 65

In general,labor relations systems in Sweden and other Nordic countries are similar to those in Germany.

Question 66

For Europeans,the decision to join a union is often driven by the need or desire for higher pay and better benefits than a demonstration of worker solidarity.

Question 67

Lifetime employment,job rotation,seniority based pay,and broad job classifications increase Japanese employees' sense of identification with their employer,rather than with their job

Question 68

When a works council has been granted codetermination rights,the employer must work with it to determine work rules,discipline,daily work hours,and other conditions of employment.

Question 69

The main feature of labor relations in Australia has been a centralized system of arbitration awards that specify minimum standards for pay and working conditions.

Question 70

Based on the Swedish experience,it can be hypothesized that U.S.unions might be less resistant to workplace change if U.S.unions were more protected both culturally and as a matter of law.

Question 71

Traditionally,all workers in Japan enjoy the security of lifetime employment which prohibits employee layoffs.

Question 72

In the Japanese system of enterprise unionism,unions represent all employees in a single company,including white-collar workers and low level managers.

Question 73

Shunto refers to an annual wage negotiation process in Japan where uniform wage increases across companies are bargained.

Question 74

Japanese labor law was established by the U.S.and occupation authorities at the end of World War II and based on the U.S.and model of labor relations.

Question 75

According to German labor law,works councils must meet with employers on a regular monthly basis,at a minimum.

Question 76

Since the 1980s,Australian labor relations has become more centralized,focused more on national labor policy than on individual company-level bargaining.

Question 77

Strikes and independent unions were illegal in the Soviet Union.

Question 78

The Japanese system of enterprise unionism is embedded in a broader system of lifetime employment,seniority and firm-based wages,and broad job classifications.

Question 79

Labor relations systems in the former Soviet Union are beginning to take on characteristics similar to the U.S.labor relations system.

Question 80

Japanese employers are far more likely to utilize collaborative bargaining and joint consultation than U.S.employers.