Deck 7: Economic Issues

Question 1

The majority of private sector union contracts contain a two-tier pay plan.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The monetary value of employee benefits provided by unionized employers exceeds the value of employee benefits provided by nonunion employers.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The majority of private sector union contracts do not contain a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)clause.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Skill-based pay sets the wage rate according to a job's title (type).

Question 5

If a union wishes to encourage solidarity within its membership at a particular firm,it should not negotiate for a two-tier pay plan.

Question 6

The majority of private sector employees participate in a profit sharing plan.

Question 7

The global economy of today has made it easier for employers to pass labor cost increases on to consumers by raising product or service prices.

Question 8

A higher degree of labor intensiveness increases management negotiators' resistance to bargaining proposals designed to increase wage rates.

Question 9

Most labor agreements specify daily or weekly work schedules and most provide premium pay for hours worked beyond the normal hours.

Question 10

The majority of union contracts include a pension plan that can best be described as a defined contribution plan.

Question 11

Unions generally favor the use of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)as a basic pension plan for employees.

Question 12

Most unions consider gain sharing plans as an adequate substitute for traditional negotiated hourly wage gains.

Question 13

A Scanlon plan,Rucker plan,and Improshare plan are all examples of gain sharing plans.

Question 14

Labor market wage surveys are not used to ensure that a firm's wage structure is externally equitable.

Question 15

Supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB)are payments made by the federal government to unemployed workers during a layoff.

Question 16

The term "value added" refers to the contribution of factors of production to the value of a final product or service.

Question 17

Wages and other economic benefits represent income to employees,costs to an employer,and a basis for tax revenue to the government.

Question 18

Union leaders often view job evaluation with disfavor because it tends to limit bargaining opportunities and freeze wage structure.

Question 19

Union leaders favor job evaluation more than managers for use in designing the wage structure.

Question 20

Wage comparability is a fairly easy concept to apply to set wage rates for different jobs.

Question 21

The labor relations term for a written clause in a labor agreement that adjusts wages periodically in accordance with some predetermined formula tied to the rise in consumer prices is:

A) Cost-of-living adjustment.
B) Wage re-opener.
C) Lump sum pay adjustments.
D) Wage spread.
E) Spillover effect.

Question 22

The labor relations term for a written clause in a labor agreement which permits the parties to negotiate wage rates at some predetermined date during the life of the agreement is:

A) Lump sum pay adjustments.
B) Cost-of-living adjustment.
C) Wage re-opener.
D) Open-ended contract.
E) Spillover effect.

Question 23

The most common formula for adjusting wages to the cost of living is:

A) wages increased 3 cents for each 0.1 rise in the CPI.
B) a percentage increase in wages for each percentage increase in the CPI
C) wages increased 1 cent for each 0.3 rise in the CPI.
D) wages increased 1 cent for each 0.2 rise in the CPI.
E) none of these

Question 24

Approximately what percentage of union contracts contain a temporary two-tier wage agreement?

A) 21%
B) less than 5%
C) 32%
D) 40%
E) 52%

Question 25

Under a cliff vesting schedule,an employee is considered fully vested after completing ____ years of service.

A) 10
B) 5
C) 15
D) 20
E) 30

Question 26

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 covers private sector employers with:

A) 50 or more employees.
B) 25 or more employees.
C) 100 or more employees.
D) 500 or more employees.
E) 1,000 or more employees.

Question 27

The average number of paid holidays provided under union contracts was ___,although
40 percent of bargaining unit members receive 11 or more.

A) 8
B) 6
C) 10
D) 12
E) 13

Question 28

Which of the following preliminary conclusions can be reported based on a research on the effects of ESOPs?

A) employees' attitudes about motivation, absenteeism, and job satisfaction are automatically affected
B) employees identify more with the company and have greater information about its operation
C) the actual role of the union changes after the ESOP
D) the firm will become more productive, efficient, and profitable
E) employees want to take over companies with ESOPs

Question 29

In 2010,___ percent of private-sector union members participated in some type of employer- or union-sponsored pension plan compared to 57 percent of nonunion employees.

A) 33
B) 28
C) 56
D) 82
E) 93

Question 30

In a _________,firms make monetary payments to a specific group or groups of employees for producing more output or generating cost savings beyond some established goal.

A) gain-sharing plan
B) profit sharing plan
C) fee-for-service plan
D) graded vesting schedule
E) all of these

Question 31

Lump sum pay adjustments appeared in ____ percent of labor contracts in 2010.

A) 15%
B) 10%
C) 21%
D) 30%
E) more than 40%

Question 32

Which one of the following represents a process for systematically securing information and facts about a job to be evaluated?

A) Job evaluation
B) Job description
C) Job analysis
D) Job survey
E) Job specifications

Question 33

A widely recognized group incentive plan based on labor cost savings is the:

A) Merit savings plan.
B) Profit sharing plan.
C) Piece rate plan.
D) Scanlon plan.
E) Premium pay plan.

Question 34

The labor relations term for a one-time payment made to adjust wages which does not affect an employee's hourly base wage rate is:

A) Holiday pay.
B) Wage re-opener.
C) Vacation pay.
D) Lump sum pay adjustment.
E) Spillover effect.

Question 35

Federal legislation has been enacted to protect workers against wage discrimination (e.g.,Equal Pay Act of 1963,Civil Rights Acts of 1964and 1991,and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967).These laws prohibit paying male employees more than female employees unless the wage difference is justified on the basis of:

A) seniority.
B) skill, effort, responsibility.
C) performance.
D) working conditions
E) all of these

Question 36

The relative influence of job evaluation can be seen in the ___________,which represents the internal distribution of the proposed or negotiated wages.

A) skill-based pay
B) skill pay differential
C) wage spread
D) management's ability to pay
E) skill-based pay and wage spread

Question 37

Which federal agency is responsible for computing and reporting the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

A) Department of Agriculture
B) Department of Commerce
C) Department of State
D) Department of Labor
E) Department of National Statistics

Question 38

The federal agency responsible for enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act is:

A) Family and Medical Leave Administration.
B) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
C) Department of Labor.
D) Federal Standards Board.
E) National Labor Relations Board.

Question 39

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 provide eligible employees up to ____ weeks of unpaid leave for a serious illness,birth or adoption of a child,or care of a seriously ill child,spouse,or parent.

A) 4
B) 2
C) 6
D) 8
E) 12

Question 40

All of the following are group incentive plans except:

A) Improshare.
B) Scanlon plan.
C) Piece rate plan.
D) Rucker plan.
E) All of these are group incentive plans