Deck 12: Comparative Labor Relations

Question 1

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

Answer 1

False

Question 2

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

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Collective bargaining agreements are not legally enforceable in Mexico.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

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

Question 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

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

Question 10

The study of labor relations in different countries is known as comparative labor relations.

Question 11

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

Question 12

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

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

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

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

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 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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 23

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 24

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

Question 25

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

Question 26

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 27

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 28

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

Question 29

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

Question 30

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

Question 31

The concept of exclusive representation applies to Great Britain.

Question 32

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

Question 33

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

Question 34

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

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

Question 37

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 38

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

Question 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

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 44

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 45

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

Question 46

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

Question 47

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

Question 48

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

Question 49

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

Question 50

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

Question 51

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

Question 52

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

Question 53

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 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

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

Question 57

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

Question 58

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

Question 59

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

Question 60

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

Question 61

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

Question 62

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 63

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

Question 64

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 65

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 66

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

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

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

Question 69

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

Question 70

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

Question 71

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

Question 72

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 73

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

Question 74

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

Question 75

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 76

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 77

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

Question 78

New Zealand's labor movement can best be compared to that of Great Britain.

Question 79

Strikes and independent unions were illegal in the Soviet Union.

Question 80

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.