1984-11 November IBEW Journal.pdf - International Brotherhood of ...

departl11ent of Research
and Education
The Relapse of Labor-Management Relations
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DUring the laS[ four years, the atmos·
phere for labor-management relations In
thiS country has deteriorated markedly.
With the firing of the al T trafAc controllers
in the Professional Air Traffic Controllers
Organization (PATeDI, the Rcag:ln
AUl1linistratioLl, in essen ce, sellt a
signal lhtlt it would condone management's
irresponsible conduct in laborm:mllg~mcnt
relations. 111c dud executive
officer at Greyhound was therehy
cncoura,.gcd to demand concessions from
the company's orgamzed employees under
threats of hiring strikebreakers. Such
threa ts have been ea rned even further by
management at Phelps Dodgel and a fullfledged,
union·blIStingcamp:ugn, aCcom ·
pamed by the busing-in of scabs escorted
by sute police and the nauonal guard, IS
bemg waged against ItS orgamzed workers.
Continental Alllmcs used bankruptcy
as a pretext for dlscardmg the
comract It had negotiated with its work·
ers. Long-established labor·management
relauonships and even la ws se tting the
boundanes of such rei;ltlonshlps arc un·
der severe strain.
[t IS the law of this land that workers
have the nglll to orgamze and to ba rga m
collectively. The National Labor Rela·
tions Act of 1935 (the Wa.gner Act) establi
shed the principle that employees
should be protected in their rights to
organize into labor organlzauons and to
bargall1 collectively conce ming their
wages and working eondilions. The act
forbids cmployers to engage m five spe­
Cific unfall lalxJI plolctices: I ) mlerfenng
with, restraining. or coe rcing employees
111 the exerci se of their n ghts to organize,
h:lrgrun collectively, and engage in other
concerted activities for thelf mutual aid
Of protecllon; 2) donunallng or mterfer-
109 with the formation or admlfllStratlon
of any labor organization or conmbullng
financial or other support to it; 3) encouraglOg
Of dlscouragmg membership
10 any labor org:l0l7 ..1Ilon hy discrimination
with regard to hlflng or tenure or
conditions of employment, subject to an
exceptton for valid uOion-securlty agreementsj
4) dlschargmg or otherwise msenmmaungagainsl
an employee because
he has flied charges or given lesllmony
under the act; and 51 refusmg to bargain
coll ectively with the m310my representat
ive of hiS employees.
The National Labor Rcl:ltlons Act sct
lip election machmery to pernul em-
111 1 IBEW JOURNAL I NOVEMBER t 984
ployees to choose their collecllve bargammg
represcmatives, and it created
the Nallonal Labor Relations Board
IN LRB! to adnllOlster and enforce the
acl. Passage of the act led to a r3pld
increllse in union membershIp and a
betterment of 111 bor-mana.gement rebltions
that ex is ted until the current envi
ronment of dI sregard for labor legisla.­
lion and a concerted effort at Uluonbusung
began.
NLR8
11le N LRB, contr,lrY to ItS purpose, has
become a tool of management-dclaylOg,
denymg. and destroYlllg the nghts of
workers to organi ze and to bar':;3m col­
Iccuvcly. The Reagan-:tPPOI Oled malor­
It y has overturned ea rlier deCISIons and
has shown ItS antl-uOlon bias III case
after case. The pfc~ent bal..klog of NLRB
cases IS more than double that of fiv e
years ago. The lengthy decislon·makmg
proccs:'l iii causlOg economic hardships
for many workers and theIr families and
is discouraglllg other workers. Employers
count on delays In the NLRB process to
dishearten workers and to work III management's
favo r agalOst UIIIUIIS. The de·
lays hold up certifications, glvmg m3nagement
excuses for not ba rgalll lOg new
contr3cts Wnrhrll arc left 10 the lurch,
awaiting final decisions on their charges
of the same unfair labor practices that
arc prohibited by the National LlIbor
Relations Act. ~ome Iald-off and fired
workers arc stili Without theIr jobs, yeMs
after their cases were presented to the
NLRB. Some workers are stili waIting
for a lIOIon and a first contract after
electIOns that were won twO, three, and
four years ago. Union leaders and sup·
porters who were fired for union aCll vlty
become frust rated because they have nOt
been retnst:Hed after NLRB deC ISIOns
upholdmg theIr unton's posItion
In the past, many Republtcans and
Democrats have served Impartially on
the boa rd and ha ve contributed to peaceful
and endunng labor-management re-
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX-CANADA AVERAGE
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
AUGUST, 1904
19B1 = 100
Heallh & Rller .. -
AU 110m, Tran.por- PerlOnal lion &
Month 'n. Combined 'ood Ho .... lng Clo,hlng Ull10n Cara R .. dlng
August t984 122.9 118.5 1247 112.6 125.5 123.5 1209
July 1984 122.9 119.4 1244 11~ , 1 12S.1 123.0 120.4
June 1984 122.2 118.3 124.1 112.5 124.8 122.9 118.8
May 1984 121.7 11S.8 124.2 112.5 123.4 122.9 11 9.0
Aprit 1984 121.5 117.2 124.1 112.4 123.0 122.7 11 8.1
March 1984 1212 116.8 123.8 112.5 122.8 121.3 117.S
February 1984 120.9 115.9 123.2 111 .5 124.1 121.0 117.5
August 1983 1185 11? fi 120.8 1103 122.6 119.0 117.3
August 1982 112.3
August 1981 101 .6
August 1980 90.1
August 1979 614
NOTE Canada', Consumer Price Inde_1oI allle"" remalt\8d unc:hanged al 122 9 lor tne monIl'I 01 Augusl.
'964 The inctea5CI In CPI durv'lg the past year was"" poInItI or 3 7"10
Percent chaI1Qe between two dales II calculated by &Ublractlng 1M lode_ rLlmbef lor tne 88fIief dale
!rom thaI lor !he later date and dMdlng 1M resuh by the Iodex fIIIIT1bef lor Itle earfie< de". IIlen
mulbp1ylng by 100
EXAMPlE: For Itle period 01 August. 1983IO.-.ugust. 1!184 1229 '185 "" lnde~pu."I!J . .... dtv.:led
by 118.5 - 037" ' 00 - 3~
Prapared by: Department 01 Rese8/ch and Edueallon. IBEW. 5eplembef, '934
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