Agency Shop: A union security contract clause requiring employees covered by the contract who decline to join the union to pay a service fee to the union equal to a percentage of the union dues. This fee is intended to compensate the union which, by law, must give full and equal representation to all bargaining unit members, regardless of membership status. (Also called "Fair Share")

Agent. A person acting for an employer or a union. Acts of the agent implicates the principal for whom the agent acts in matters of unfair labor practices or of conduct subject to court action whether or not specifically authorized or approved.

Arbitration. Where it is available, a method of settling a labor-management dispute by having an impartial third party hold a formal hearing, take testimony and render a decision. The decision is usually binding upon the parties (i.e., the University, the union and the employees).

Grievance arbitration. When the arbitrator interprets and applies the terms of the collective bargaining agreement--and/or, in the Federal sector, laws and regulations determining conditions of employment.

 Interest arbitration. When the arbitrator resolves bargaining impasses by dictating some of the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

 Binding arbitration. The law requires that collective bargaining agreements contain a negotiated grievance procedure that terminates in binding arbitration of unresolved grievances.

Arbitrator. An impartial third party to whom the parties to an agreement refer their disputes for resolution.

Authorization Card . A form voluntarily signed by an employee whereby the employee authorizes a labor organization (union) to represent him/her for the purpose of collective bargaining. Some cards will also state that the employee desires an election to be held to determine whether or not the union has the full support of the majority of the employees in the bargaining unit.

Award. The decision of an arbitrator in a dispute. The arbitrator's award is based upon the evidence presented, the wording in the collective bargaining agreement and the arguments of both parties. In labor arbitration, the arbitrator's reasons are generally expressed in the form of a written opinion, which accompanies the award.

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Business Agent/Rep. A full-time paid union official who handles grievances, helps enforce collective bargaining agreements and performs other tasks in the day-to-day operation of a union.

Bargaining Unit. A group of workers who bargain collectively with the employer [regardless of whether they are actually union members of not]. The unit may include all the workers in a single plant or in a number of plants, or it may include only the workers in a single craft or department. Final unit is determined by the NLRB or agreed to jointly by the union and the employer.

Bumping - Exercise of seniority rights by longer-service workers to displace junior employees when business conditions require temporary layoffs or the discontinuance of departments, or to obtain preference over junior employees in choice of shifts, runs, dates of vacation periods and the like.

Captive Audience Meeting: A union term for meetings of workers called by management on company time and property where the purpose of these meetings is to try to persuade workers to vote against union representation. Under the NLRA, employer-mandatory captive audience meetings within 24 hours of the NLRB-conducted election are prohibited.

Card-check: Procedure whereby signed authorization cards are checked against a list of employees in a prospective bargaining unit to determine if the union has majority status. The employer may recognize the union on the basis of this check without the necessity of a formal election. Often conducted by an outside party, such as a respected member of the community.

Card Check Agreement: An employer agrees to recognize a union as the official bargaining agent of its employees once a third party verifies that a majority of the entire group of employees has signed union membership cards; typically, the employer also agrees to begin negotiating for a first contract as soon as it recognizes the union.

Certification. A determination by the labor board that a particular labor organization has received a majority of the ballots cast in a representation election held among employees in a bargaining unit.

Cease-and-Desist Order. A written statement issued by the labor board requiring the employer or union to abstain from conduct which has been found to be an unfair labor practice.

Challenged Ballot: Process for identifying and segregating the ballot of anyone attempting to vote in an NLRB election whose name is not on the list of voters, or who one of the parties claims is not eligible to vote.

Charge--An allegation made by an individual, employer or labor organization of an unfair labor practice under the Act. Charges are filed at NLRB's regional offices

Checkoff. A provision, generally found in the collective bargaining agreement or MOU, that allows union dues, assessments and initiation fees to be deducted from the pay of union members who decide to use the check off. The employer then transfers the payments to the union on a scheduled basis.

Chief Steward. A union official who assists and guides shop stewards. The roles he or she plays within the union are determined by the union. The roles he or she plays in administering the contract are determined by the contract. For example, the negotiated grievance procedure may provide that the chief steward becomes the union representative if the grievance reaches a certain step in the grievance procedure.

Closed shop - A form of union security in which the employer obligates himself to hire and retain in employment only union members, declared illegal by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

Closed union - A union that restricts membership to a relatively few, selected members of a particular craft, trade or similar group of workers.

Collective Bargaining. A method of mutually determining wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment through negotiations between representatives of the employer and the union. The results of the bargaining are set forth in a collective bargaining agreement. Collective bargaining determines the conditions of employment for all employees holding jobs in a bargaining unit.

Collective Bargaining Agreement. A written agreement or contract that is the result of negotiations between an employer and a union. It sets out the conditions of employment (wages, hours, benefits, etc.) and ways to settle disputes arising during the term of the contract. Collective bargaining agreements usually run for a definite period--one, two or three years. Synonymous with Memorandum of Understanding or MOU.

Community of Interest: Factors, such as common supervision, job tasks, hours, working conditions, wages and benefits, etc., which determine which groups of employees the NLRB will include in an appropriate bargaining unit.

Complaint--If, after investigating a charge, the regional office finds merit and no settlement is reached, the Regional Director serves a complaint in the name of the Board stating the unfair labor practices and containing a notice of hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The complaint does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing but raises issues to be decided by the judge.

Conciliation. The efforts of a third-party aimed at finding compromise between opposite view-points in a labor dispute so that a voluntary settlement results.

Conditions of Employment (COE). Under title 5, United States Code, section 7103(a)(14), conditions of employment "means personnel policies, practices, and matters, whether established by rule, regulation, or otherwise [e.g., by custom or practice], affecting working conditions, except that such term does not include policies, practices, and matters--(A) relating to political activities prohibited under subchapter III of chapter 73 of this title; (B) relating to the classification of any positions; or (C) to the extent such matters are specifically provided for by Federal statute[.]" (Emphasis added.)

Confidential Employee. An employee whose job requires him/her to develop or present management positions on labor relations and/or collective bargaining, or whose duties normally require access to confidential information that contributes significantly to the development of such management positions. Confidential jobs are not in the bargaining unit and do not have the right to bargain collectively. Note: Under Maryland law, the Board of Regents has the authority to define this term.

Concerted activity - Activity by two or more employees as a group, which, if engaged in for mutual aid or protection, is a right guaranteed to employees by the National Labor Relations Act and protected against coercion by employers or unions.

Contract: A written agreement reached through collective bargaining that sets forth wages, hours and other conditions of employment. The contract normally is for a term as short as one year or as long as three or more; at the end of such a term, a new contract is negotiated.

Contract Bar: Period of a valid collective bargaining agreement during which no question concerning representation may be raised. The petition raising a question concerning representation must be filed from ninety to sixty days before the expiration of the contract or after it expires, except that a different time period controls timely filing in the health care industry. A contract may bar a representation election for up to three years, even if the contract does not expire at the end of three years. Compare Insulated Period.

Corporate Campaign: The use of strategic pressure on an employer's weaknesses to gain leverage during a contract campaign or organizing drive. These campaigns involve analyzing an employer's social, financial, and political networks and mobilizing union members and community members in a comprehensive approach which does not rely on the strike alone as the basis of the union's leverage.

Cost-of-living index - The Bureau of Labor Statistics "Consumers' Price Index for Moderate-Income Families in Large Cities," based on retail prices of consumer items in a representative group of large cities.

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Davis-Bacon Act - Federal law that provides for payment of minimum wages by contractors engaged in construction, alteration or repair of public buildings. These wage rates are fixed by the secretary of labor.

Decertification: Withdrawal by a government agency, such as the NLRB, of a union=s official recognition as exclusive bargaining representative. The NLRB will withdraw certification if a majority of employees vote against union representation in a decertification election.

Defined benefit pension plan. A retirement plan that uses a specific predetermined formula to calculate the amount of an employee’s future benefit. In the private sector, defined benefit plans are typically funded exclusively by employer contributions. In the public sector, defined benefit plans often require employee contributions.

Defined contribution plan. A defined contribution plan is a type of retirement plan in which the amount of the employer's annual contribution is specified. Individual accounts are set up for participants and benefits are based on the amounts credited to these accounts (through employer contributions and, if applicable, employee contributions), plus any investment earnings on the money in the account.

Dues - Misc. -

Duty of Fair Representation: The union's obligation, as the exclusive bargaining representative of a group of employees, to represent fairly all employees in the bargaining unit in grievance handling as well as contract negotiations.

Duty to Bargain. The mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. Such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making or a concession.

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Eligibility: Refers to whether employees in a bargaining unit are eligible to vote in an NLRB-conducted election; employees may be ineligible, e.g., if they are no longer employed on the date of the election or if they are supervisors or confidential employees.

Employee Organization. Any organization of University employees that exists either partly or solely for the purpose of dealing with the University over grievances, work disputes, wages, hours and other terms and con

Employer's last-offer ballot - A Taft-Hartley Act authorized election that is conducted by the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to give workers an opportunity to vote, before striking, on acceptance or rejection of an employer's final offer. additions of employment.

Escalator clause - Union contract provision for the raising and lowering of wages according to changes in the cost-of-living index or similar standard.

Escape clause - A provision in maintenance-of-membership union contracts giving union members an "escape period" during which they may resign from membership. Members who do not resign must remain members for the duration of the contract.

Excelsior List: Established in the case of Excelsior Underwear, the list of names and addresses of employees eligible to vote in a union election. It is normally provided by the employer to the union within 10 days after the election date has been set or agreed upon at the NLRB. The Excelsior list is used as the list of voters during the NLRB-conducted election.

Exclusionary Process. Discussions and, if necessary, a labor board hearing to determine which employee positions should be excluded from a bargaining unit because the positions are managerial, supervisory or confidential.

Exclusive Representative. An employee organization that has the right to solely represent the bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining.

Exempt Employee - To be exempt from the FLSA, and not entitled to overtime, an employee must meet certain job duty requirements, generally involving the use of independent judgment and discretion, and be paid on a “salary basis.”  The FLSA provides for five broadly used classifications of exemptions, including: 

1. bona fide administrative employees,

2. bona fide executive employees,

3. bona fide professional employees,

4. outside sales employees, and

5. highly skilled computer-related employees.

Salary basis is defined as the payment on a weekly or less frequent basis of a predetermined amount that constitutes all or part of compensation, without reductions for variations in the quality or quantity of the work performed.  Under this definition, exempt employees generally must receive their full salary for any week in which they perform work, without regard to the number of days or hours worked.  Deductions may be made from their salary, but only in limited circumstances.

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Fair Labor Standards Act - The federal wage-hour law that establishes minimum wage and Overtime pay requirements and child-labor restrictions.

Fair Share. A fee (usually called an agency fee) paid to the union by members of a bargaining unit who have not joined that union. The fee pays for services and benefits that the union has negotiated for all members of the bargaining unit.

Featherbedding: Receiving payment for work which has not been performed and which will not be performed.

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service - Independent agency created by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 to attempt to settle labor disputes that substantially affect interstate commerce. It is a successor to and took over the functions of the U.S. Conciliation Service

Free Riders. A term used by unions to designate non-members within the bargaining unit who obtain, without cost, the benefits of a contract/MOU gained through the efforts of the dues--paying members.

Flexible benefits . This type of plan provides employees a choice about their level of coverage among a number of different kinds of benefits, or gives employees pretax reimbursements for certain expenses related to employee benefits.

Full-time employees. Employees who usually work more than 35 hours per week (at all jobs within an establishment) regardless of the number of hours worked in the reference week.

Full-time worker. A full-time worker is one who usually works 35 hours or more per week.

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General Counsel: The official at the NLRB who is ultimately responsible for deciding whether each case should be pursued. If the Region decides to dismiss a charge, an appeal may be filed with the General Counsel’s office. The Regions also may ask the General Counsel’s office for an advice memo if a novel issue is presented. The General Counsel also decides whether or not to seek a preliminary injunction. The General Counsel, through the Regional attorneys, also acts as prosecutor in unfair labor practice cases before the Board.

Good Faith Bargaining. A statutory duty to approach negotiations with a sincere resolve to reach a collective bargaining agreement, to be represented by properly authorized representatives who are prepared to discuss and negotiate on any condition of employment, to meet at reasonable times and places as frequently as may be necessary and to avoid unnecessary delays, and, in the case of the agency, to furnish upon request data necessary to negotiation. (NLRB good faith bargaining--Section 8(d) of the Act states in part: "To bargain collectively is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement or any question arising thereunder, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession..." )

Grievance. A formal complaint usually lodged by an employee or the union alleging a misinterpretation or improper application of one or more terms in a collective bargaining contract/MOU. The method for dealing with grievances is through a grievance procedure negotiated in the union contract/MOU. If a grievance cannot be settled at the supervisory level, it can be appealed to higher levels of management.

Grievance Arbitration. The appeal of grievances to an impartial arbitrator for final and binding determination. Sometimes called arbitration of "rights." The arbitrator determines the meaning of the contract/MOU and clarifies and interprets its terms. Arbitration, where it is available, is usually the last step in the grievance procedure.

Grievance Procedure. The steps established in a collective bargaining contract/MOU for the handling of grievances made by or on behalf of employees

Guaranteed wage plans - Systems under which the employer states, in advance, that for a specific period he will pay a predetermined amount to, or retain in service at some employment or in any event with pay, a previously specified number of his workers, whether or not they have work to do.

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Hatch Act - Federal law that, as amended by the Taft-Hartley Act, forbids corporations or unions from making contributions or expenditures in connection with elections for certain federal offices.

Hiring Hall: Union=s place of business where it receives employer requests for employees and refers workers to jobs.

Hourly compensation costs. Hourly compensation costs, as measured in the BLS international comparison series, are defined as:

(1) all payments made directly to workers--pay for time worked (basic time and piece rates plus overtime premiums, shift differentials, other premiums and bonuses paid regularly each pay period, and cost-of-living adjustments), pay for time not worked (such as for vacations and holidays), seasonal or irregular bonuses and other special payments, selected social allowances, and the cost of payments in kind--before payroll deductions of any kind, and

(2) employer expenditures for legally required insurance programs and contractual and private benefit plans (such as retirement plans, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and family allowances).

The BLS definition of hourly compensation costs used in its international comparisons series is based on the International Labour Office standard definition of total labor costs. However, it does not include all items of total labor costs; the items excluded are the costs of recruitment, employee training, and plant facilities and services, such as cafeterias and medical clinics. Hourly compensation costs include all the items of compensation covered in the BLS series Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, the Employment Cost Index, and index of hourly compensation (published with the index of labor productivity); hourly compensation costs also include the costs of payments in kind and other taxes and subsidies, which are not included in the other BLS compensation series. The classification of the compensation items and the terminology used in the definitions differ among the series.

House Visits, Homecalls and Housecalls: Terms used to describe visits by union staff, volunteers or employee organizing committee members to the homes of workers they are attempting to organize.

Hours worked. There are two different concepts measured in the hours series of questions in the CPS, usual hours and actual hours.

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Impasse. A deadlock in negotiations. After bargaining in good faith, the parties have failed the reach an agreement on one or more issues.  (NLRB impasse--A deadlock in negotiating between management and officials over terms and conditions of employment. Whether and impasse in bargaining exists "is a matter of judgment," the Board said in its 1967 decision in Taft Broadcasting Co. v. AFTRA, and depends on such factors as "bargaining history, the good faith of the parties in negotiations, the length of the negotiations, the importance of the issue or issues as to which there is disagreement, the contemporaneous understanding of the parties as to the state of negotiations."  )

Independent union - A labor organization, not company dominated, that is not affiliated with the AFL-CIO and remains independent of any federation.

Inflation. Inflation has been defined as a process of continuously rising prices, or equivalently, of a continuously falling value of money.

Informational picketing - Picketing to publicize either the existence of a labor dispute or information concerning the dispute.

Initiation Fee. A fee required by many unions of all new members or of employees who have left the union and wish to return. Initiation fees may serve several union purposes, including an additional source of revenue.

Injunction - A court order that either imposes restraints upon action or, if in mandatory form, directs that action be taken, and that is, in either case, backed by the court's power to hold disobedient parties in contempt.

Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB). A bargaining technique in which the parties start with (or at least focus on) interests rather than proposals; agree on criteria of acceptability that will be used to evaluate alternatives; generate several alternatives that are consistent with their interests, and apply the agreed-upon acceptability criteria to the alternatives so generated in order to arrive at mutually acceptable contract provisions. The success of the technique depends, in large measure, on mutual trust and a willingness to share information. But even where this is lacking, the technique, with its focus on interests and on developing alternatives, tends to make the parties more flexible and open to alternative solutions and thus increases the likelihood of agreement.

Interference - Under the National Labor Relations Act, action or non-action by employers or unions that infringes upon the rights of employees to join together or to refrain from combining for purposes of self-organization and collective bargaining.

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Job action - A concerted action by employees on the job that puts pressure on an employer without striking. Slowdowns, in which workers deliberately reduce productivity, and work-to-rule actions, in which employees perform the minimum of what is officially required of them, are examples.

Journeyman - Workers in a traditional craft who have gone through an apprenticeship and mastered the type of work involved in the craft: qualified craftsman

Jurisdictional dispute - A conflict involving a dispute between two unions as to which shall represent a group of employees in collective bargaining or as to which union's members shall perform a certain type of work.

Labor Board. Defined by the Maryland higher education collective bargaining law as the State Higher Education Labor Relations Board (SHELRB), an independent State unit. The SHELRB is a five-member panel appointed by the Governor after July 1, 2001, and approved by the Senate. The SHELRB is responsible for establishing procedures for and overseeing elections for exclusive representatives, as well as investigating and taking action regarding unfair labor practices.

Labor dispute - A controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment. The term is expressly defined in various laws, such as the Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act.

Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act) Federal law that amends the National Labor Relations Act to regulate some union activities, authorizes damage suits for collective bargaining violations and certain strikes and boycotts and sets up procedures for trying to settle national emergency strikes.

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (Landrum-Griffin) - Federal statute that imposes controls on unions to protect rights of individual members; requires the filing of reports by unions, employers and labor relations consultants: and amends the National Labor Relations Act to impose tighter restrictions on strikes, picketing and boycotts.

Labor Organizer. A person usually employed by a union (usually the regional or international union), whose function it is to enlist the employees of a particular employer to join the union.

Labor productivity. Labor productivity refers to the relationship between output and the labor time used in generating that output. It is the ratio of output per hour.

Local union - The basic unit in union organization. The local adopts its own constitution and by-laws and elects its own officers, but it is chartered by the international with which it is affiliated.

Lockout - Shutdown of a plant by the employer to discourage union membership or activity or to force employees to meet the demands or economic terms of the employer.

Long term disability insurance. Provides a monthly benefit to employees who, due to injury or illness, are unable to perform the duties of their normal occupation or any other, for periods of time extending beyond their short-term disability and/or sickness and accident insurance.

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Made Whole: A catchall phrase used in grievance and other legal action where a remedy is sought from an employer. Often used in discharge and discipline cases where the union seeks to have a worker, who had been wrongly discharged or disciplined, returned to work and reimbursed all wages, benefits, or other conditions lost due to an employer's unjustified action.

Maintenance of membership - A union security system under which an employee is not required to join the union, but if he does, or, if already a member and if he fails to resign during the escape period, he binds himself to remain a member for the duration of the union contract.

Majority representation - Designation of a union by a majority of employees in a bargaining unit or by a majority of employees voting in a representation election, as the bargaining agent for all employees within the unit

Management Rights.  Certain rights that management maintains as fundamental to the ability to manage and operate the organization. They are not required, negotiable subjects of collective bargaining. These rights are often expressly reserved to management in the management's rights clause of the bargaining agreement. They include the right to hire, promote, suspend or discharge employees; to direct the work of employees; and to establish operating policies. (title 5, United States Code, section 7106(b)(1) permissive subjects of bargaining)

MANAGEMENT RIGHTS 2. Refers to types of discretion reserved to management officials by statute.

_ Core rights. Consists of the rights "to determine the mission, budget, organization, number of employees, and internal security practices of the agency[.]"

_ Operational rights. Consists of the rights to hire, assign, direct, layoff, and retain employees in the agency, or to suspend, remove, reduce in grade or pay, or take other disciplinary action against such employees; to assign work, to make determinations with respect to contracting out, and to determine the personnel by which agency operations shall be conducted; with respect to filling positions, to make selections for appointments from-- among properly ranked and certified candidates for promotion; or any other appropriate source; and to take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency mission during emergencies.

_ Three exceptions. The three title 5, United States Code, section 7106(b) exceptions to the above involve (1) title 5, United States Code, section 7106(b)(1) permissive subjects of bargaining (e.g., staffing patterns, technology) on which, under the statute, agencies can elect to bargain,

(2) procedures management will follow in exercising its reserved rights, and (C) appropriate arrangements for employees adversely affected by the exercise of management rights.

1. "Permissive" subjects exception. This exemption to management’s rights “staffing patterns”--i.e., with "the numbers, types, and grades of employees or positions assigned to any organizational subdivision, work project, or tour of duty" and with "the technology, methods, and means of performing work." Under the statute such matters are, moreover, 13 negotiable “at the election of the agency” even if the proposal also directly interferes with the exercise of a title 5, United States Code, section 7106(a) right.

2. Procedural "exception." Title 5, United States Code, section 7106(b)(2), dealing with procedures, really isn't an exception to management's rights as the Authority has held that a proposed "procedure" that "directly interferes" with a management right is not a procedure within the meaning of title 5, United States Code, section 7106(b)(2).

3. Appropriate arrangement exception. Title 5, United States Code, section 7106(b)(3) applies only if the proposal is intended to ameliorate the adverse effects of the exercise of a management right. Where such is the intent of the proposal, the Authority applies a balancing test in which it weighs the extent to which the proposal ameliorates the expected adverse effects against the extent to which it interferes with the management right and determines whether or not the specific proposal "excessively" interferes with management rights. If the interference is "excessive," the proposal isn't an "appropriate arrangement" and therefore is nonnegotiable. If otherwise, the proposal is a negotiable appropriate arrangement, even though it interferes with management's rights.

To qualify as an “arrangement” to which it would be proper to apply the excessive interference balancing test, the proposal has to be “tailored” so that it applies only to those employees who would be adversely affected by the proposed management decision.

Managerial Employee. An employee who has significant responsibilities for formulating or administering policies and programs.

Market basket (Consumer Price Index). The market basket is package of goods and services that consumers purchase for day to day living. The weight of each item is based on the amount of expenditure reported by a sample of households.

Mass layoff . A situation that involves at least 50 persons at the same establishment, each of whom has filed an initial claim for unemployment insurance benefits during a consecutive 5-week period.

Master agreement - A union contract usually associated with industry-wide or near-industry-wide bargaining. Usually the master agreement settles major issues but does not necessarily control all points, thus leaving room for local adjustments.

Mean wage . An average wage. An occupational mean wage estimate is calculated by summing the wages of all the employees in a given occupation and then dividing the total wages by the number of employees.

Median days away from work (Safety and Health). Is the measure used to summarize the varying lengths of absences from work among the cases with days away from work. Half the cases involved more days and half involved less days than a specified median.

Median wage . A boundary. An occupational median wage estimate is the boundary between the highest paid 50% and the lowest paid 50% of workers in that occupation. Half of the workers in a given occupation earn more than the median wage, and half the workers earn less than the median wage.

Mediation - The efforts of a third party to suggest to the parties to a labor dispute possible solutions for their controversy

Medical care coverage. Type of insurance coverage that provides for the payment of benefits as a result of sickness or injury. Medical care coverage can be provided in a hospital or a doctor's office. The three major types of medical care plans are: fee-for-service (FFS), preferred provided organization (PPO), and health maintenance organization (HMO).

Medium and large private establishments. Establishments employing 100 workers or more.

Membership Card. A form voluntarily signed by an employee whereby the employee joins the labor organization and agrees to abide by its constitution and bylaws and to pay its dues and fees.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Labor Contract. The resulting agreement reached by the parties during the negotiations/bargaining process. Also known as a collective bargaining agreement or contract.

Minority union - A union that has members in a bargaining unit but not enough to give it majority representation.

Most Favored Nation Clause: Clause in a collective bargaining agreement whereby the union agrees that if it signs a contract with another employer containing more favorable terms such terms will automatically apply to the present contract. Sometimes the term is applied where the union only agrees that it will not execute a contract with more favorable terms with another employer, or that the contract is reopened for negotiation if a more favorable clause is granted to another employer.

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National emergency strikes - Strikes that would imperil national health or safety and are, therefore, subject to special cooling-off procedures under the Taft-Hartley Act

National Labor Relations Act - Federal statute enacted in 1935, originally known as the Wagner Act and now a part of the Taft-Hartley Act, that guarantees to employees in industries affecting interstate commerce the right to self organization, to bargain collectively and to engage in concerted activities, Amended in 1947 by the Labor Management Relations Act and in 1959 by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.

 Section: 7 Rights: “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 or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as authorized in section 8(a)(3).”

Section: 8(a)(1): The Section of the NLRA which makes it a violation to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights under the Act. All Board charges against an employer are considered 8(a)(1) charges, even if they also violate other sections.

Section: 8(a)(3): The Section of the NLRA which makes it illegal to discriminate against employees to encourage or discourage membership in a union.

Section: 10(j): The Section of the NLRA which empowers the NLRB to petition a federal district court for an injunction to temporarily prevent unfair labor practices by employers or unions and to restore the status quo, pending the full review of the case by the Board. In enacting this provision, Congress was concerned that delays inherent in the administrative processing of unfair labor practice charges, in certain instances, would frustrate the Act's remedial objectives. In determining whether the use of Section 10(j) is appropriate in a particular case, the principal question is whether injunctive relief is necessary to preserve the Board's ability to effectively remedy the unfair labor practice alleged, and whether the alleged violator would otherwise reap the benefits of its violation.

National Labor Relations Board - Board established by National Labor Relations Act to conduct representation elections and hearings and determine unfair labor practice charges arising under the statute.

NLRB Petition: Official NLRB form which must be filled out and filed with the NLRB to initiate the NLRA representation process.

No-raiding pact - Agreement between unions not to seek to organize workers within each other's specified jurisdiction

No-Strike Clause. A provision found in most collective bargaining agreements in which the union pledges that there will be no strikes during the life of the agreement. It is illegal in the state of Arizona for Police Officers and Firefighters to strike.

Non-Exempt employee. non-exempt employees receive hourly wages; they are subject to wage and hour laws, i.e. overtime pay; usually applies to non-professional employees. A non-exempt employee is one who does not meet the exemption standards under the FLSA Act. Nonexempt employees typically perform clerical duties, maintenance work, operate machinery, etc. Nonexempt positions are subject to overtime pay.

Non-mandatory subject of bargaining:  Which means either side can refuse to bargain the issue.

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Objections to Election: Either party to an NLRB-conducted election may file objections to conduct affecting the outcome of the election and seek a re-run election; objections must be filed within five working days of the election and must allege, as objectionable, conduct which occurred between the date of the petition filing and the date of the election.

Observers: Each party to an NLRB-conducted election may designate at least one non-supervisory employee to be present during the polling and act as an “observer.”

Occupational groups. Defined occupations selected for study classified in one of the following groups: Professional, technical, and related, Clerical and sales, and Blue-collar and service.

Occupational illness. Any abnormal condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to factors associated with employment. It includes acute and chronic illnesses or disease which may be caused by inhalation, absorption, ingestion, or direct contact.

Occupational injury.Any injury such as a cut, fracture, sprain, amputation, etc., which results from a work-related event or from a single instantaneous exposure in the work environment.

Open shop - A shop in which union membership is not required as a condition of obtaining or retaining employment.

Organizer (union or labor organizer): Employee of a union or federation (usually paid but sometimes a volunteer) whose duties include recruiting new members for the union, assisting in forming unions in nonunion companies, leading campaigns for recognition, etc.

Organizing Committee: The employees in a nonunion shop who are volunteer to assist in the organizing campaign. Organizing committee members, among other things, sign up their co-workers on authorization cards or petitions, hand out leaflets, attend meetings and visit workers at home in support of the union effort.

Organizational picketing - Picketing to persuade employees to join a union or to accept the union as bargaining agent. Organizational picketing is subject to certain restrictions under the 1959 amendments to the National Labor Relations Act.

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Part-time employees. Employees who usually work between 1 and 34 hours per week (at all jobs within an establishment) regardless of the number of hours worked in the reference week.

Pattern Bargaining: Collective bargaining in which the union tries to apply identical terms, conditions, or demands to a number of employers in an industry although the employers act individually rather than as a group.

Pay Equity: A term covering the idea that female-dominated jobs or professions have been traditionally undervalued, based on levels of responsibility and required education, and that pay for these jobs should be raised to pay levels of comparable jobs which are traditionally held by men.

Pay period that includes the 12th of the month:Standard measurement period for all Federal agencies collecting employment data from business establishments; time unit that employers use to pay employees that overlaps the 12th of the month; length of the pay period does not matter, as long as the 12th of the month is included in the pay period; for establishments with a Monday through Friday pay period, if the 12th of the month falls on a Saturday, it should be taken as the last day of the requested pay period, and if the 12th of the month falls on a Sunday, it should be taken as the first day of the requested pay period

Percentile wage estimate. Shows what percentage of workers in an occupation earn less than a given wage and what percentage earn more. For example, a 25th percentile wage of $15.00 indicates that 25% of workers (in a given occupation in a given area) earn less than $15.00; therefore 75% of workers earn more than $15.00.

Permanent Replacements: Under current labor law, when employees engage in an economic strike, the employer has the right to hire permanent replacements. After the strike has ended, if no back-to-work agreement is reached between the union and the employer, employees replaced during the strike are put on a preferential hiring list and must wait for openings to occur.

Picketing - Union's patrolling alongside the premises of a business to organize the workers, to gain recognition as a bargaining agent or to publicize a labor dispute with the owner or with whom the owner deals.

Pre-Election Hearing: Hearing conducted by an NRLB Hearing Officer over the appropriateness of the unit or employee eligibility or other issues, prior to conducting an election, when the parties cannot reach an election agreement.

Preferential hiring - System under which employers agree to hire only union members as long as the union is able to fill demands for workers.

Premium pay - An extra amount over straight-time rates sometimes a flat sum, sometimes a percentage of the wage rate paid to workers to compensate them for inconvenient hours, overtime, hazardous or unpleasant conditions or for their undesirable circumstances. See also definition of "shift differential."

Price Index. A price index is a tool that simplifies the measurement of movements in a numerical series. Movements are measured with respect to the base period, when the index is set to 100.

Primary Activity: Concerted action such as a strike or picketing directed against the employer with which the union has a dispute.

Primary Boycott: Action against an employer with which the union has a dispute with the object of preventing the use, purchase, or handling of the products or services of the employer.

Primary Employer: The employer with which the union has a labor dispute.

Producer Price Index/PPI . The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a family of indexes that measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. PPIs measure price change from the perspective of the seller. This contrasts with other measures, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), that measure price change from the purchaser's perspective. Sellers' and purchasers' prices may differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs.

Productivity. Productivity is a measure of economic efficiency which shows how effectively economic inputs are converted into output. Productivity is measured by comparing the amount of goods and services produced with the inputs which were used in production.

Professional Employer Organization (PEO). A business that supplies management and administrative services with regard to human resource responsibilities for employers; serves as the co-employer of the client’s employees for payroll, benefits, and related purposes; referred to as employee leasing companies in the SIC manual

Professional, technical, and related occupations. Includes professional, technical, executive, administrative, managerial, and related occupations.

Protected Activity: Conduct of employees which neither an employer nor a union may interfere with. Section 7 of the Act lists protected employee rights. See also Unprotected Activity.

Public Employee. A person who is employed by a municipal, county, state, or federal agency or state college or university.

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Question Concerning Representation (QCR): Question whether one or more unions represents a majority of employees in a bargaining unit.

Raiding - A union's attempt to enroll workers belonging to or represented by another union.

Railway Labor Act of 1926 - Federal statute recognizing the right of collective bargaining in the railroad and airline industries.

Rank and File: The members of a union.

Ratification: Formal approval of a newly negotiated agreement by vote of the union members affected.

Real wages - Wages in terms of goods and services that those wages will buy

Recognition - Employer acceptance of a union as the exclusive bargaining representative for all employees in a bargaining unit

Recognition picketing - Picketing to persuade or coerce an employer to recognize a union as the bargaining agent of his employees. Recognition picketing is subject to certain restrictions under the 1959 amendments to the Nat ional Labor Relations Act.

Reinstatement - Placing a worker back in a job he has lost without loss of seniority or other job benefits. Usually ordered by the National Labor Relations Board, together with back pay, as a remedy in discrimination cases

Reopening clause - Clause in a collective bargaining agreement providing for reopening negotiations as to wage rates, etc., during the term of the agreement.

"Right-to-work" law - State law prohibiting a union shop, closed shop or any other union-security arrangement that requires employees to join a union as a condition of retaining employment.

Run-off election - A second election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board in which no choice receives a majority of the ballots in the first poll. The run-off allows a selection between the choices receiving the largest and second largest number of votes cast in the original balloting.

Regions. Data are presented for four major regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.

Midwest - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Northeast - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

South - Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

West - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Regional Director: The official in charge of an NLRB Regional Office. The Regional Director has the final say over most decisions that are made at the Regional level in both representation and unfair labor practice cases. Most decisions are appealable to the General Counsel’s office at Headquarters.

Representation Election. Secret balloting by employees in a bargaining unit for the purpose of selecting a bargaining agent or no representation.

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Scab - A union term generally applied to a worker who refuses to join coworkers in a strike. Sometimes applied to members of a non-striking union who pass through a striking union's picket line.

Secondary activities - Strikes, picketing or other activities directed by a union against an employer with whom it has no dispute in order to persuade or coerce that employer to stop doing business with, or to bring other pressure against, another employer with whom the union does have a dispute..

Secondary boycott - Refusal to deal with a neutral party in a labor dispute, usually accompanied by a demand that he bring pressure upon the employer involved in the dispute to accede to the boycott's terms.

Seniority: A workers length of service with the employer. Seniority often determines promotions, recall or transfers.

 Dovetail Seniority: Combination of two or more seniority lists (usually of different companies being merged) into a master seniority list, with each employee keeping the seniority he had previously acquired even though he may thereafter be employed by a new employer.

Endtail Seniority: Combination of two or more seniority lists (usually from a merger of different companies) into a single seniority list with the group of employees from one company being placed at the bottom of the new seniority list.

Service Fee: An assessment of non-members in a bargaining unit to help defray the union's costs in negotiating and administering the contract (see Agency Shop)

Shop Steward/Steward. The union representative of a group of fellow employees who carries out duties of the union within the workplace. Example: Handling grievances, collecting dues, recruiting new members and monitoring compliance with the contract.

The steward usually is either elected by other union members or appointed by higher union officials. The steward usually remains an employee while handling union business. Some release time (with or without pay) may be available to stewards under specific language in many collective bargaining contracts.

Short term disability insurance. Provides income protection to employees who are unable to work due to a non-work related accident or illness.

Showing of Interest: Dated signatures on union authorization cads of petitions which indicate that workers want to be represented by a union.

Shift differential - Premium paid to workers on other than the day shift to compensate them for their inconvenient working hours, See also "premium pay.

Sixty-day notice - The notice that, under the Taft-Hartley Act, must be given by either party to a collective bargaining agreement when desiring to reopen or terminate it, no strike or lockout may be begun during the sixty days.

Solidarity - A unanimity of attitude or purpose between members of a group or class, captured in the slogan, "All For one, and one for all."

Steelworkers Trilogy: Three Supreme Court decisions which emphasized the importance of arbitration as an instrument of federal policy for resolving disputes between labor and management and cautioned the lower courts against usurping the functions of the arbitrator. See Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 US 574 (1960); Steelworkers v. American Manufacturing Co., 363 US 564, (1960); United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 US 593 (1960).

Stipulation by Consent Agreement (stip): An agreement between the employer and the union, which must be approved by the NLRB, that establishes the terms of the election and scope of the bargaining unit for an NLRB-conducted election.

Strike: Temporary stoppage work by a group of employees (not necessarily members of a union) to express a grievance, enforce a demand for changes in the conditions of employment, obtain recognition, protest an unfair labor practice, or resolve a dispute with management. A Awildcat strike@ is one not sanctioned by a union.

 Economic Strike: A work stoppage by employees; all strikes are designated as economic strikes unless they qualify as unfair labor practice strike, regardless of whether their purpose is economic gain, i.e., a wage increase.

Illegal strike - A strike that is called in violation of law, such as a strike that ignores cooling-off period restrictions or some absolute statutory ban, or a strike that disregards the no-strike agreement of the union.

Sit-down strike - A strike in which the workers refuse to work but stay inside the employer's premises.

Sympathetic strike - Concerted work stoppage by employees of Employer A to express sympathy for striking employees of Employer B and to exert indirect pressure on B.

Whipsaw Strike: A work stoppage against some, but not all employers in a multi-employer bargaining group. The purpose is to apply pressure to one or more emp loyers in the group and obtain bargaining concessions from them. That agreement is then used by the union as a pattern to obtain similar terms from the other employers, one by one, by threatening to strike them.

Wildcat strike - A strike called without the consent of the union.

Strike benefits - Sums paid by a union to its striking members, and sometimes to nonmember strikers, to help finance them during a strike.

Strikebreaker - Workers hired during a strike primarily for the purpose of defeating the strike.

Strike vote - A vote conducted among employees in the bargaining unit on the question of whether they should go out on strike.

Successorship. Where, as the result of a reorganization, a portion of an existing unit is transferred to a gaining employer, the latter will be found to be the successor employer (thus inheriting, along with the employees, the exclusive representative of those employees and the collective bargaining agreement that applied to those employees) if: (a) the post-transfer unit is appropriate, (b) the transferred bargaining unit employees are a majority in the post-transfer unit, (c) the gaining employer has "substantially" the same mission as the losing employer, (d) the transferred employees perform "substantially" the same duties under "substantially" similar working conditions in the gaining entity, and (e) it is not demonstrated that an election is necessary to determine representation.

Supervisor . An individual (regardless of his/her job description or title) having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline other employees of the employer. A supervisory employee is also one who has responsibility for directing employees, answering their grievances, or recommending disciplinary action, if authority is not merely clerical but requires independent judgment.

Supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB) - Payments by employers to laid-off workers (usually through trust funds) to supplement state unemployment compensation benefits.

Sweetheart contract - Term of derision for an agreement negotiated by an employer and a union granting concessions to the employer or the union, the usual purpose being to keep a rival union out or to promote the individual welfare of the union officers rather than that of the employees represented.

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Test of Certification Case: Process by which an employer can appeal an NRLB election decision. After the NLRB certifies the election results, the employer refuses to bargain and the union files an 8(a)(5) unfair labor practice charge alleging that the employer has refused to bargain; the NLRB issues a complaint and the Board decides on a motion for summary judgment; the Board’s Order is appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals, which considers the underlying representation issues in the course of deciding the refusal to bargain allegation.

Total compensation. All types of employee compensation: wages and salaries, non-wage cash payments and fringe benefits. Total compensation in the Employment Cost Index is defined as the employer's cost of wages and salaries and employee benefits.

Unemployed persons. Persons 16 years and over who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.

Unemployment rate. The unemployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labor force.

Unfair labor practice-proceeding - National Labor Relations Board proceeding to determine alleged employer or union unfair labor practices.

Unfair Labor Practice. An act or omission on the part of either the union or management which violates the regulations set forth by the State Higher Education Labor Relations Board.

Unfair Labor Practice Strike: A strike caused, at least in part, by an employer=s unfair labor practice. During an unfair labor practice strike, management may only hire temporary replacements, who must be terminated at the end of a strike to allow the return to work of the strikers.

Unfair lists - A boycott device used by unions, involving the circulation, by publication in union papers or by other means, of the names of employers with whom a union is disputing or with whom the union seeks to force to take certain action, such as ceasing to deal with a party to a labor dispute.

Unilateral action - Action by only one of the parties involved in the collective bargaining relationship. Often it is designed to undercut the other side.

Union Label or Bug: A stamp or tag on a product or card in a store or shop to show that the work is done by union labor. The bug is the printers symbol.

Union membership (statistics). Data refer to wage and salary workers who report they are members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.

Union security clause - Provision in a union contract requiring employees, as a condition of employment, to maintain union membership or pay union dues or requiring an employer to check off dues from employees' wages.

Union shop - Form of union security that employees must, within a certain time after they are hired or after a compulsory-unionism contract is executed, join the union and maintain their membership as a condition of employment.

Unit labor costs. Unit labor costs are calculated by dividing total labor compensation by real output or, equivalently, by dividing hourly compensation by productivity.

Unprotected Activity: Any conduct for which employees may be discharged or disciplined by an employer which is not protected by the NLRA. For example, a "sit-down" strike is not protected because it consists of taking over the employer's property and preventing it from running the business; a partial strike is the refusal to do some but not all assigned work, such as the refusal to work overtime. An employee must either perform the work assigned [and file a grievance, if available] or strike. Performance of only some of the work assigned is a partial strike and is unprotected.

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Volunteer Organizing Committee (VOC): Term sometimes used to describe union members who volunteer to perform certain activities during organizing campaigns. Volunteers may donate their time or be compensated for lost wages while they assist the campaign by visiting workers at their homes, leafleting and attending meetings.

Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors.

Wages and salaries. Hourly straight-time wage rate or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours. Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends and holidays, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses such as lump-sum payments provided in lieu of wage increases .

Wage differentials - Different rates of pay for the same general type of work, the variations resulting from differences in conditions under which the work is done, differences in performance standards or differences in the types of workers.

Weingarten Rights. Under title 5, United States Code, section 7114(a)(2)(B), an employee being examined in an investigation (an investigatory examination or interview) is entitled to union representation if the examination is conducted by a representative of the agency, the employee reasonably believes that the examination may result in disciplinary action, and the employees asks for representation. Such examinations are called Weingarten examinations because Congress, in establishing this right, specifically referred to the private sector case establishing such a right.

Yellow dog contracts - Agreements signed by workers as a condition of employment in which they promise not to join or remain in a union. The National Labor Relations Act, the Norris-LaGuardia Act and the Railway Labor Act all prohibit them.

Zipper Clause -

A provision in a collective bargaining agreement stating that the written agreement is the complete agreement between the parties and often includes language waiving the parties’ obligation to bargain during the life of the agreement.

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