Deck 5: Labor and Management: Strategies, Structures, and Constraints

Question 1

Industrial unionism seeks to organize workers of a single occupation, in the same industry, into the same union.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Business unionism works within the capitalist system by focusing on securing labor's "fair share" of profits, rather than seeking broad scale social change.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Social unionism sees labor unions as important participants in determining the political and civil outcomes in society.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Job control unionism developed as a response to tight managerial control and arbitrary decision-making that was common in mass production settings during much of the 20^th century.

Question 5

Job control unionism values worker participation in management decision making.

Question 6

When one talks about the "scope" of representation, one is referring to the number of different activities a union is involved in at the workplace.

Question 7

The servicing model of unionism is one in which employees play an active role in voicing their opinions and making decisions about how the union should expend its energies and resources.

Question 8

The organizing model of unionization sees unions as a collection of empowered workers who are involved in decision making and union activism.

Question 9

The predominant model of unionism in the U.S. is business unionism.

Question 10

"Occupational unionism" is another name for "craft unionism".

Question 11

A key difference between the European and U.S. models of unionism is that the European model sees the scope of unionization as limited to the workplace.

Question 12

The "soul" of union representation refers to the degree of participation that union member's have in their own union representation decisions and actions.

Question 13

Craft unionism is well-suited to a stable, industry-oriented workforce.

Question 14

One criticism of the social unionism model is that it can sometimes create a passive union membership who expect to be led by others rather than to lead themselves.

Question 15

Union density is significantly higher for men than it is for women.

Question 16

Union density in the U.S. is approximately 13.0% of the workforce.

Question 17

Social movement unionism is one that encourages and embraces union member activism in working toward broader social goals.

Question 18

Rather than establishing standardized job outcomes, employee empowerment unionism establishes processes and parameters that guide workers in one-on-one discussions with their employers to determine their job outcomes.

Question 19

Employee empowerment unionism is focused on developing standardized outcomes for workers within the same occupation.

Question 20

Supporters of the labor movement have criticized the servicing model of unionism for creating a union membership that is uninterested and unwilling to play an active role in their own representation.

Question 21

Each national union has a collective bargaining agreement that spells out the union's bylaws and procedures.

Question 22

Union avoidance is the extent to which an employer will work to become or remain a "union free" establishment.

Question 23

U.S. labor law mandates basic democratic procedures within unions, including free speech and election provisions.

Question 24

An amalgamated union is a federation of unions from a variety of industries and occupations.

Question 25

In most unions, the first person contacted when a grievance arises in the workplace is the union steward.

Question 26

An international union federation will typically be involved in union organizing, negotiating, and grievance handling for a national or local union.

Question 27

Companies pursuing a differentiation strategy are likely to embrace the human resource management school of thought.

Question 28

In the U.S., local union leadership is usually appointed by the regional or national president.

Question 29

The lowest union densities in the U.S. can be found in the Southwest and Northeastern states.

Question 30

National unions usually have final authority over local union actions such as negotiating, organizing, and striking.

Question 31

Though national unions are available to provide research assistance, the majority of union organizing, training, lobbying, and supervision of collective bargaining is done by the local unions.

Question 32

Change to Win was a federation of seven of the U.S.'s largest unions which left the AFL-CIO in 2005. It now consists of just three unions.

Question 33

Southern and southwestern states generally have the lowest union densities in the U.S.

Question 34

Theory X is a management theory that sees workers as fundamentally disliking work and being unwilling to put forth effort unless they are threatened and controlled.

Question 35

A union constitution is a document that spells out election procedures, by-laws, and other procedures for each national union.

Question 36

Due to the decline in manufacturing in the U.S., manufacturing has one of the lowest union density rates among industries.

Question 37

The substantive dimension of union democracy refers to the responsiveness of a union's leadership to its members.

Question 38

A union suppression strategy sees employees as assets so policies are designed to train and reward employees to prevent them from wanting a union.

Question 39

When comparing the democratic processes of unions and corporations, one can conclude that they are comparable.

Question 40

The split in the AFL-CIO, which led to the creation of the Change to Win federation, occurred over concerns about the amount of money that the AFL-CIO was putting into union organizing at the expense of political lobbying.

Question 41

Jenna is a new recruiter for a large staffing agency. Her trainer has told her to let candidates know that they will "get back to them" within two weeks of a interview date. Jenna notices, however, that the staffing agency rarely lives up to this promise and often never gets back to candidates. Jenna finds this unethical - she knows that if she were the candidate, she would not want to be lied to. Jenna's ethical analysis illustrates the ethics of duty.

Question 42

Financialization refers to the pursuit of increased profits through financial transactions rather than through the delivery of a business' core goods and services.

Question 43

Companies pursuing a strategy of low cost are more likely to employ union suppression tactics than companies pursuing a strategy of differentiation.

Question 44

The ethical perspective that emphasizes individual duty or responsibility to respect human dignity over other goals (such as profit maximization) is known as Rawlsian justice.

Question 45

The servicing model of unionism can be best described as:

A) A passive form of employee representation in which unions are put in place to solve problems for workers.
B) An active form of employee representation in which unions facilitate problem-solving by workers.
C) An active form of employee representation in which the union plays a key role in facilitating management of the business.
D) A passive form of employee representation in which the union is controlled by management and used to achieve business objectives.

Question 46

A partnership between management and the union in addressing workplace problems and issues is most likely to arise in a paternalistic organization with a union acceptance strategy.

Question 47

When asked what he saw the role of the union to be in the coming years, one union representative replied, "To administer the contract for my members." This reply best illustrates:

A) The servicing model of union representation.
B) The organizing model of union representation.
C) Employee empowerment unionism.
D) Social unionism.

Question 48

Union substitution tactics are always legal.

Question 49

The ethical perspective that is most closely aligned with mainstream economic values of welfare maximization is the utility perspective.

Question 50

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Teamsters Union used strikes and boycotts along with physical intimidation and obstruction to win changes in wages, hours, and working conditions. This is an example of:

A) Business unionism.
B) Uplift unionism.
C) Jungle unionism.
D) Social unionism.

Question 51

The departments of Justice and State, as well as anti-trafficking groups, estimate there are about 27 million people worldwide in modern-day slavery. Considering the various theories of ethics, modern-day slavery is an example of an extreme violation of the ethics of liberty.

Question 52

When unions take advantage of favorable economic conditions and union strength to win whatever you need or can win, by any means is necessary - including those that may be illegal, they are engaging in:

A) Business unionism.
B) Jungle unionism.
C) Uplift unionism.
D) Social unionism.

Question 53

In the ____________________ model of representation, a union is like an insurance company, where workers pay dues and are in turn protected against bad times.

A) Unionism
B) Servicing
C) Organizing
D) Business

Question 54

Forcing individuals to use themselves or their property against their will is an immoral act according to the ethical framework of virtue.

Question 55

Tom is a human resource intern for a staffing agency. One day, Tom get a call from a client requesting that they send "white only" applicants. Tom's boss does not want to lose the client because times are tough and profits are tight. He tells him to follow the customer's request, even though he knows it violates equal employment opportunity laws. After considerable thought, Tom decides complying with his boss' instructions to place profits before equal opportunity violates his personal code of ethics and quits. Tom's ethical values illustrate the ethics of virtue.

Question 56

Closing unionized plants, moving unionized plants to a nonunion location, outsourcing jobs, and opening nonunion operations to compete with union operations are all examples of union substitution.

Question 57

Although the labor market has a significant influence on labor relations, the product market, by contrast, has relatively little influence.

Question 58

The key problem with financialization, from a labor relations perspective, is that it places too much emphasis on investing in new technology and equipment, rather than on investing in employee training and development.

Question 59

In concession bargaining, economic pressures push unionized workers to give up gains they have made in wages, benefits, and work rules.

Question 60

Over the past 40 years, the earnings gap between educated and uneducated workers has declined.

Question 61

A union that pursues the social unionism model, will try to achieve equity and voice:

A) in the workplace .
B) in society.
C) in workplace but also in society as a whole.
D) only if it benefits the union leadership.

Question 62

Social movement unionism is most closely aligned with which school of thought?

A) Mainstream economics.
B) Human resource management.
C) Industrial relations.
D) Critical industrial relations.

Question 63

A local union may represent all of the following except:

A) Many workers from a single workplace.
B) Workers in a single occupation from several workplaces.
C) Multiple occupations in multiple workplaces.
D) Workers in a single occupation already represented by an industry union.

Question 64

Job control unionism, which has dominated U.S. unions since WWII, is characterized by all of the following except:

A) Detailed and legalistic union contracts.
B) Informal grievance procedures.
C) Narrowly defined jobs.
D) Low levels of employee input.

Question 65

European social partnership arrangements are characterized by:

A) Local union member activism over broad social and economic goals.
B) National union leadership to achieve broad social and economic goals.
C) Local union activism over workplace goals.
D) National union leadership to achieve workplace goals.

Question 66

The United Auto Workers represents all workers at a large auto parts manufacturing company. Included in the bargaining unit are welders, electricians, factory line workers, and workers who load and unload stock. This model of unionism is best described as:

A) Business unionism.
B) Industrial unionism.
C) Job control unionism.
D) Craft unionism.

Question 67

The traditional model of job control unionism which dominated the U.S. workplace in the 20^th century has been criticized for encouraging or creating all of the following except:

A) Lack of flexibility in production processes.
B) Inattention to quality of production.
C) Worker apathy toward work and business.
D) Subjective and arbitrary treatment in the workplace.

Question 68

A business unionism approach to collective bargaining typically has a scope of representation focused on:

A) The workplace.
B) Society.
C) The government.
D) Management authority.

Question 69

A model of unionism which adopts a scope of representation confined to the workplace but which encourages active participation by union members is:

A) Job control unionism.
B) Business unionism.
C) Employee empowerment unionism.
D) Social movement unionism.

Question 70

A type of unionism that is well-suited to individuals that identify more with their occupation than they do with a particular company or industry is:

A) Business unionism.
B) Industrial unionism.
C) Craft unionism.
D) Job control unionism.

Question 71

Under a model of social unionism, the labor movement's influence comes from:

A) Strong bargaining power in the workplace.
B) The ability to control workplace decisions.
C) Social and political power.
D) Government mandates regarding union rights.

Question 72

Which state is most likely to have a low union density rate?

A) Wisconsin.
B) New York.
C) Oregon.
D) Georgia.

Question 73

A form of unionism in which there are clearly defined roles where management makes all business decisions while the union negotiates strict work rules to determine wages and job rights through the collective bargaining agreement is called:

A) Business unionism.
B) Job control unionism.
C) Social unionism.
D) Employee empowerment unionism.

Question 74

Which of the following groups typically has the highest union density rate?

A) African American workers.
B) Hispanic workers.
C) White workers.
D) Asian workers.

Question 75

The ________________________ model of representation views unions as institutions of worker participation, empowerment, and mobilization.

A) Unionism
B) Servicing
C) Organizing
D) Business

Question 76

Union density rates are highest for:

A) Teachers.
B) Blue-collar manual laborers.
C) Sales and managerial workers.
D) Service workers .

Question 77

Some states have passed legislation granting university professors the right to unionize. At some schools, rather than negotiating a rigid wage schedule that applies to all professors, the union has negotiated a set of rules to govern individual wage negotiations between each professor and the university administration. This approach is best described as:

A) Job control unionism.
B) Employee empowerment unionism.
C) Social movement unionism.
D) Business unionism.

Question 78

The servicing model of representation sees the relationship between workers and their union as:

A) A narrow economic exchange that develops only weak ties between leaders and union members
B) A narrow economic exchange that rests upon strong ties between leaders and union members
C) A social exchange that develops only weak ties between leaders and union members
D) A social exchange that develops strong ties between leaders and union members

Question 79

Which of the following represents a model of unionism where the scope of representation includes the social arena but there is only passive participation by union members?

A) Job control unionism
B) European social partnerships
C) Employee empowerment unionism
D) Social movement unionism

Question 80

Which of the following is not consistent with a model employee empowerment unionism?

A) Skill-based pay system where workers negotiate pay premiums with management.
B) Stronger authority for union representatives.
C) Union involvement in establishing standards for team composition.
D) A negotiated framework for employees to resolve their own workplace issues.