...AT&T’s Settlement with Union Workers: A Review of Distribute Bargaining Negotiation Jeff Chon HRM595, Course Final Keller Graduate School Prof. Yeung Aug. 2, 2012 Introduction The negotiation between AT&T management and the labor union representatives showed clear distribute bargaining techniques. The framing, and various negotiation styles and techniques, changed constantly throughout the many months and the resistance and target points for each parties had to change in order for a mutually beneficial settlement. One particular negotiation made news. AT&T Wireless, one of the largest mobile telecomm companies locked itself in a hotly debated negotiation internally with its labor union force. The labor union workers make up over half of the entire AT&T employee population. So it was crucial for AT&T to negotiate an effective and lasting settlement with its work force. However, it became clear either parties were willing to budge on their resistance and target points. It turned into a classic win/lose distribute bargaining negotiation and AT&T came out firing. When the labor union workers threatened to walk out for a strike, AT&T management responded with equal force by training its full time employees as replacements for the striking union workers. Project managers and software engineers were now training to be customer care reps and fiber cable technicians. Full time AT&T employees flew down to places like California and...
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...MG 420 Labor Relations 29 April 2012 Labor Relations Research Assignment 1. Define and discuss the term "collective bargaining." Include and discuss [showing relevance or applicability] at least one reference found in our text, along with a current web-based news item/magazine article about a real life example of a collective bargaining action. Write a succinct and complete summary on the contents of the article you've provided along with your critical comments about that article. Support your findings with referenced research. (5 points) Collective Bargaining allows employees and union workers to negotiate certain terms and conditions of the workforce such as (compensation) salary benefits, hours, vacations and holidays; (policies and procedures) layoff, promotions, overtime, medical ,safety, etc) and (employee rights) seniority rights, job standards, workplace rules. Other collective bargaining compensation items will generally include employer rights and responsibilities, union rights and responsibilities and dispute resolution. Thereby allowing employees an opportunity to address negotiation terms in their own behalf gives working people a voice in bettering their quality of live for themselves and their family. “Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining...
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...They did so because of a reduction in wages, almost without notice.’ This shows that many employees were desperate to get the governments attention in order for them to get involved and increase labour wages as they had no active involvement where factory workers liberty was concerned. Source D also agrees with this at it too states ‘The Plug Plot of 1842 began with reductions of wages’ hence why many people in 1842 rebelled, in some cases, striking workers stopped production by removed the boiler plugs from the steam engines in their factories. The Anti Corn Law was first introduced in Britain in 1804, when the landowners wanted to protect their profits by imposing a duty on imported corn. Source B also states ‘This was taken as the intention of employers everywhere.’ This shows how many workers were affected by these cut backs which could have caused the plug plot disturbances as many people believed that by encouraging more people to join Chartism they could get enough names on the petition to get their concerns heard such as the 1834 Poor Law factory conditions and church taxes on Nonconformists. Farmers feared that when the war came to an end in 1815, the importation of foreign corn would lower prices. This fear was justified...
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...1. I once read that the “concept of human rights has not been an important influence in the making of United States labor policy. In this country, workers are considered to have only those rights set forth in specific statutes or collective bargaining contracts and those statutes and contracts are subject to shifting political and bargaining power.” Discuss the validity of these statements by using each of the four schools of thought about employment relationship discussed in chapter 2 as your basis. A typical worker may experience just this; discrepancies and complications. “Understanding and appreciating the basic assumptions of these four schools are essential for understanding not only labor relations, but also the entire field of human resources and industrial relations.” (Budd, 2013) The deliberations of labors and the human rights associated have varied insights and interpretations based on the four school of thoughts. These are as such: The first school is the Mainstream Economics School. This school “focuses on the economic activity of self-interested agents, such as firms and workers, who interact in competitive markets.” (Budd, 2013) Various activities of Union groups such as strikes are considered as roadblock as per this school of thought. Therefore, the bargained contracts that the Union group gets are justified by the balancing dynamics of this school of thought. The thought is that no one can be better off without making the other worse. The second school...
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...ASSESSMENT FRONT SHEET Programme: BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Unit Number: Unit 24 Unit Title: Employee Relations Unit code: (F/601/1271) QCF Level: 5 Tutor Name: Email: Key dates Distribution date: 25/04/2016 Submission date: Return date: 4 weeks after submission Introduction The term ‘employee relations’ has replaced that of ‘industrial relations’ Industrial relations are generally recognized as relations between an employer and a collective workforce, typically through a recognized union. Employee relations means the relationship between an employee and employer, and this is largely controlled by legislation and is being revised and updated continuously. It is important for learners to appreciate how good employee/employer relations contribute to the success and effectiveness of a business. In this unit they will investigate how cooperation between employers and employees leads to the development of good working relations against a changing background. The success of a business often relies on its relationships with its employees. Learners will investigate and explore different types of industrial conflict and the procedures for resolving this. It is important that learners are aware of change and keep up to date with developments in dispute procedures in relation to employment law. Legislation and EU directives play a major role in employee relations and learners will examine how these are...
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... Student name Course code Course name Date Flexicurity refers to an European policy agenda, which seeks to increase flexibility and security in labor markets nationally. Much as it is a different approach from one centered solely on flexibility, flexicurity has been highly opposed right from its onset. Now it is being reviewed in light of the crisis that occurred in 2008 (Marsden and Hugh, 2008). Apart from letting go of this agenda, the European Commission announced a “second phase of flexicruity’, though it was highly suggested that flexicruity needed to be re-made independent of the crisis. Nevertheless, flexicruity envisages changing the work life and lifestyles of Europeans, and much as it is justified by the needs of the workers, it is void of a clear and democratic justifiable idea to back up its impact on the society. This report explains how flexicruity can be applied in the labor market and social policy. With reference to the European Commission (EC) (cp. 2007a, 7), flexicurity may contribute to the restoration of competitiveness in European economies and the maintenance of the European social model, both of which are perceived to be under immense pressure. On the contrary, this reform has been greatly countered from its onset with the criticism gaining momentum after the crises in 2008. Nonetheless, the European Commission has relentlessly affirmed its determination to pursue the flexicurity objective (Marsden and Hugh, 2001). However...
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... Student name Course code Course name Date Flexicurity refers to an European policy agenda, which seeks to increase flexibility and security in labor markets nationally. Much as it is a different approach from one centered solely on flexibility, flexicurity has been highly opposed right from its onset. Now it is being reviewed in light of the crisis that occurred in 2008 (Marsden and Hugh, 2008). Apart from letting go of this agenda, the European Commission announced a “second phase of flexicruity’, though it was highly suggested that flexicruity needed to be re-made independent of the crisis. Nevertheless, flexicruity envisages changing the work life and lifestyles of Europeans, and much as it is justified by the needs of the workers, it is void of a clear and democratic justifiable idea to back up its impact on the society. This report explains how flexicruity can be applied in the labor market and social policy. With reference to the European Commission (EC) (cp. 2007a, 7), flexicurity may contribute to the restoration of competitiveness in European economies and the maintenance of the European social model, both of which are perceived to be under immense pressure. On the contrary, this reform has been greatly countered from its onset with the criticism gaining momentum after the crises in 2008. Nonetheless, the European Commission has relentlessly affirmed its determination to pursue the flexicurity objective (Marsden and Hugh, 2001). However...
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...THE founding principle of affirmative action was fairness. After years of oppression, it seemed folly to judge blacks by the same measures as whites. “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race,” President Lyndon B. Johnson said in a 1965 speech that laid the groundwork for affirmative action, “and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” Given this history, it was striking to watch the 80 minutes of Supreme Court oral arguments about affirmative action on Wednesday. With the courtroom overflowing, filled with people who have spent their careers fighting for or against affirmative action, only one side talked about fairness. And it was not the side defending affirmative action. The lawyer for Abigail Fisher, a young white woman rejected by the University of Texas, argued that she had been denied equal treatment. The conservative justices, sympathetic to Ms. Fisher’s case, expressed particular concern that affluent black students were receiving preferential treatment. Nobody on the other side — not the university’s lawyer, not the Obama administration’s, not the liberal justices — responded by talking about the obstacles that black and Latino students must overcome. The defenders of affirmative action spoke instead about the value of diversity. Without diverse college classes, they argued, students will...
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...FINAL EXAM: Chapters 6 - 9 You need to answer two of the first questions and both question 5 and 6. Make sure you provide clear, comprehensive, and convincing arguments based on your reading from chapter 6-9 as your model. You may refer to material from earlier chapters to strengthen your argument. 1. Bob Ulrich, CEO of nonunion retailer Target, justifies his company’s antiunion philosophy by saying that Target “simply doesn’t believe that third-party representation would add anything for our customers, our employees, or our shareholders. We just do not believe it’s productive and adds value.” Using information from chapter 6, evaluate this position. Target has built a reputation of being a high end discounted retail store that caters towards the urban trendsetting families. When a consumer hears the name of Target Stores, the association with low wages or anti-union statements typical do not come to mind. The statement made by CEO Bob Ulrich and the company’s antiunion philosophy is a common feeling most organization have towards unions. The company is entitled to have such viewpoints and has the authority to express them freely as long as the company does not participate in unfair labor practices that will intimidate an employee’s legal right of inquiring into unions. Target has a right to be vocal about the organization’s stance and sway employees not to join a union. The biggest reason for employees to form unions is collectively, “employees feel their employer...
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...Captains of Industry? Or Robber Barons? [pic] Overview: The thirty years plus, following the end of the Civil War, is often referred to as the “Gilded Age”. This was a term coined by Mark Twain, the most renowned American writer of the period. It refers to a superficial period of intense economic growth. During this time, businessmen created large business organizations known as trusts. The ingenuity of these entrepreneurs earned the titles of “Captains of Industry”. Yet, their ruthlessness in building wealth at the expense of their competitors, workers and consumers often earned them the title “Robber Baron”. This DBQ (Document Based Questions) asks you to decide whether these businessmen were “Captains of Industry” or “Robber Barons”. Background Essay During the post-Civil War period, an era commonly referred to as the Gilded Age, the economy of the United States grew at a fantastic rate. With the exception of a recession during the mid-1870s, and another during the mid-1890s, the economic growth was in unprecedented in United States history. Manufacturing output increased by 180 percent. Railroads, an important catalyst of growth, increased in miles by 113 percent. Steel production grew to over 10,000,000 tons per year by 1900. Every aspect of the American economy expanded from traditional activities to new enterprises brought about by the huge influx of cutting-edge technological inventions. The gross national product almost doubled during the period and the per...
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...Essay: The Health Care, Universal Insurance and International Comparison of Health Care Syetem Introduction In recent years, the availability and affordability of health insurance in United States has becomes the subject of much debate. About one in seven American has no health insurance at all, and for many people who are insured, the cost of coverage is a financial hardship. This situation has led some people to call for the government to provide health insurance for all citizens like other developed countries e.g. Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany etc. Under this type of system, the state government or the federal government would provide insurance coverage, fixed by taxes for everyone. Those who support government-run health care believe that it has many benefits, including universal coverage, lower costs, and greater efficiency. Opponents contend that such a system would require budgets controls, forcing the government to decide whether and when person can receive certain health service. They believe universal health care would lead to lower quality care, long delay, greater government bureaucracy, and greater tax increase. However, whether universal insurance or not, the current health care system needed a reform and I believe Most American will prefer Universal health insurance to any other health care system because it guarantee coverage for everybody. Thesis: the rising cost of health care is a very critical issue in public debate nowadays. The situation...
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...In the wake of Obama Care, United States battled with the questions of universal health care for all. Why do other countries less influential like Cuba have universal health care and we do not? What is the stakes behind not having that kind of coverage for all U.S. citizens? Investigating country of France, there are plenty of reasons why we should as Americans have universal health care. What are some pros and cons of universal health care? Pros of universal health care are the number of uninsured U.S. residents has grown to over 45 million. Health care has become increasingly unaffordable for business and individuals. We can eliminate wasteful inefficiencies such as duplicate paper work, claim approval, insurance submission, etc. Medical professionals can concentrate on healing the patient rather than on insurance procedures, malpractice liability, etc. Free medical services would encourage patient to practice preventive medicine and inquire about problems early when treatment will be light; currently patients often avoid physicals and other preventive measure because of the costs. Cons of universal health care are there is not a single government agency or division that runs efficiently; do we really want an organization that developed the U.S. Tax Code handling something as complex as health care? Free health care is not really free since we must pay for it with taxes, expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas...
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...PLEASE REVIEW THIS ARTICLE BASED ON EMBEDDED COMMENTS/QUESTIONS. Harvard Business Review January 1987 / February 1987 How to Measure Yourself Against the Best Frances Gaither Tucker; Seymour M Zivan; Robert C Camp ABSTRACT: The Logistics and Distribution unit of Xerox's Business Systems Group was gaining 3% to 5% a year in productivity not good enough in light of industrywide price cuts in business machines. One solution, benchmarking, measures L&D's warehouse and distribution performance against comparable activities in other industries. Comparing oneself with competitors (as well as with internal units) is useful, but doesn't necessarily get the benefit of the best practice, not to mention the benefit of cooperation. Benchmarking against non-competitors is the answer. After a search, L&D found the best warehousing and materials handling organization was at L.L. Bean, the outdoor-clothing retailer and mail-order house. With Bean's cooperation, L&D benchmarked its operation against the best and learned a lot. By looking closely at the operation of Bean and other noncompetitors, L&D has raised its productivity 10% each year and gained a better position against its real competition. BODY: One way to judge the performance of an organization is, of course, to compare it with other units within the company. But these measurements often merely reinforce complacency or generate "not invented...
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..." as it is known--to the tune of $400 million. The combination of exorbitant CEO pay and painfully high gas prices rubbed most observers the wrong way. A similar situation occurred in the case of Robert Nardelli of Home Depot. When Nardelli retired in 2007 with a pay package worth $210 million, the company he headed had just gone through several straight years of relatively poor performance. People wanted to know why the chief executive received such an exceptional payout. And yet these are just the extreme cases, say the proponents of substantial executive pay. True, they say, that at the peak of the trend toward higher pay around the turn of the millennium, some CEOs were earning up to 320 times the earnings of the average shop floor worker; however, if the calculation is adjusted by eliminating the extremes and looking at median CEO pay rather than mean pay,...
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...BUDDHIST ECONOMICS by E.F. Schumacher "Right livelihood" is one of the requirements of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. It is clear, therefore, that there must be such a thing as Buddhist economics. Buddhist countries, have often stated that they wish to remain faithful to their heritage. So Burma: "The New Burma sees no conflict between religious values and economic progress. Spiritual health and material well-being are not enemies: they art natural allies." Or: "We can blend successfully the religious and spiritual values of our heritage with the benefits of modern technology." Or: "We Burmans have a sacred duty to conform both our dreams and our acts to our faith. This we shall ever do." All the same, such countries invariably assume that they can model their economic development plans in accordance with modern economics, and they call upon modern economists from so-called advanced countries to advise them, to formulate the policies to be pursued, and to construct the grand design for development, the Five-Year Plan or whatever it may be called. No one seems to think that a Buddhist way of life would call for Buddhist economics just as the modern materialist way of life has brought forth modern economics. Economists themselves, like most specialists, normally suffer from a kind of metaphysical blindness, assuming that theirs is a science of absolute and invariable truths, without any pre-suppositions. Some go as far as to claim that economic laws are as free from 'metaphysics'...
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