Course

Course Summary
Credit Type:
Course
ACE ID:
ICS-0201
Organization's ID:
HRM350
Organization:
Location:
Classroom-based
Length:
Self-paced (52 weeks)
Dates Offered:
Credit Recommendation & Competencies
Level Credits (SH) Subject
Upper-Division Baccalaureate 3 Labor Relations and Management
Description

Objective:

The course objective is to examine the interactions between organized labor unions and company management. These interactions between unions and management include rights and responsibilities, negotiations, and collective bargaining.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Discuss the current trends in labor organization in light of changes in the labor force
  • Discuss the historical relationship between the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), leading to their merger in 1955
  • Explain the concept of 'judge-made law' and its negative impact on organized labor
  • With respect to organized labor's voice within America's legal framework, explain and discuss key legislation, including the Norris-LaGuardia Act, the Wagner Act, the Taft-Hartley Act, and the Landrum-Griffin Act
  • Outline impacts on organized labor based on legislative trends under Presidents George H.W. Bush, BillClinton, and George W. Bush
  • Discuss and explain the complex relationship between national and local unions, focusing primarily on administrative and legal relationships between the AFL-CIO and local unions
  • Discuss the key characteristics of the collective bargaining process and, in that context, explain why early negotiations are marked by exaggerated demands
  • Outline and discuss the variables that impact labor management negotiations, including the state of the economy, advances in technology, and union rivalries
  • Define and explain the role of grievances and, in that context, the purposes and procedures of mediation and arbitration
  • Explain the two major approaches to wage adjustments: escalator clauses and wage reopeners
  • Explain why workers join unions
  • Outline reasons why management is less than enthusiastic about unions
  • Discuss the long struggle to establish the voice of organized labor in America from the nineteenth century to the present
  • Explain the concept of Boulwarism, comparing the perspectives of General Electric and the unions
  • Outline the three factors that determine the basic wage rate, including the comparative norm, ability to pay, and the cost of living
  • Explain and discuss the current trend toward two-tier wage systems
  • Describe the nature of concessionary bargaining on the part of organized labor
  • Discuss basic factors involved in providing for economic supplements under collective bargaining
  • Discuss and explain institutional issues under collective bargaining, including right-to-work laws and differing perspectives on managerial rights and prerogatives
  • Discuss and explain administrative issues under collective bargaining, including the role of seniority, affirmativeaction, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970

General Topics:

  • An overview and a historical perspective
  • The legal framework and structural factors in union behavior
  • Collective bargaining, part 1
  • Collective bargaining, part 2
Instruction & Assessment

Instructional Strategies:

  • Discussion
  • Practical Exercises

Methods of Assessment:

  • Examinations
  • Quizzes
  • Written Papers

Minimum Passing Score:

70%
Supplemental Materials

Other offerings from Penn Foster College

(ICS-0044)
(ICS-0208)
(ICS-0160)
(ICS-0240)