Union Terminology
- "Right-to-Work" States
- States which have passed laws prohibiting unions from negotiating union shop clauses in their contracts with employers covered by the NLRA. In 1997 there are 21 "right-to-work" states. Unions often refer to these as "right to work for less" states.
- Accretions
- Employees added to the bargaining unit once a union is certified as a representative of the bargaining unit.
- ADA
- See Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
- A civil service appointee of the National Labor Relations Board who conducts unfair labor practice hearings in the region where such cases originate.
- Advisory Arbitration
- Form of arbitration often referred to as fact finding where the decision of the arbitrator is not binding.
- Agency Shop
- A contract provision under which employees who do not join the union are required to pay a collective bargaining service fee instead. This service fee is usually the same as monthly dues. In some states public workers choose to pay service fee based on a percentage of the Union’s budget spent on representing the bargaining unit’s time and money spent on organizing and political action, not considered to be directly representing members.
- ALJ
- See Administrative Law Judge.
- Alter Ego Employer
- An employer who changes the name and outward appearance of a business but is in fact the same employer. An employer cannot rid himself of his obligation to recognize the legitimate bargaining representative through an alter ego.
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- National law forbidding discrimination against employees on the basis of disability and requiring reasonable accommodations for qualified disabled employees. The ADA is enforced by the Equal Opportunities Employment Commission (EEOC) and by private lawsuit.
- Annuity
- A form of investment plan usually provided as a retirement plan that provides for income for a specified period of time, such as a number of years or for life.
- Annuity
- A form of investment plan usually provided as a retirement plan that provides for income for a specified period of time, such as a number of years or for life.
- Annuity
- A form of investment plan usually provided as a retirement plan that provides for income for a specified period of time, such as a number of years or for life.
- Arbitration
- A method of settling a labor-management dispute by having an impartial third party decide the issue. The decision of the third party (arbitrator) is usually binding.
- Area Standards Picketing
- A form of picketing with the purpose of encouraging an employer to observe the standards in that industry in that locality. This kind of picketing has formed legal restrictions than picketing to force an employer to recognize a union or to impress employees noneconomic benefits.
- Areawide Bargaining
- Collective bargaining agreement which covers all the unionized employers and their employees in a specific geographical and industrial setting.
- Association Agreements
- A collective bargaining agreement which governs a group of employers who ban together for mutual aid when bargaining with labor organizations. All employers belonging to the association are bound by the agreement that was negotiated by the association and the union.
- Attrition
- Reduction in the labor force of a company through natural causes such as voluntary quits, retirement, or death as opposed to layoffs.
- Authorization Card
- A union card filled out by pro-union workers during a representation campaign. The card usually specifies the union as a collective bargaining agent of the employees and must be dated and signed. The NLRB will accept 30% of the employees signatures on cards or petitions as the "showing of interest" required to conduct an election. Usually unions will not file for an election unless a majority of the bargaining unit members have signed authorization cards.
- Award
- The final decision of an arbitrator which is binding on both parties.
- B.A.
- See Business Agent.
- Back Loaded
- Providing a greater wage increase near the end of a contract.
- Bargaining Agent
- Union designated by a government agency, such as the National Labor Relations Board, or recognized voluntarily by the employer, as the exclusive representative of all employees in the bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining.
- Bargaining Rights
- The rights outlined in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. Rights of workers to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment through chose representatives. The bargaining agent is designated by a majority of the workers in a bargaining unit to represent the group in collective bargaining.
- Bargaining Unit
- A group of workers who bargain collectively with the employer. The unit may include all the workers in a single location or in a number of locations, 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.
- Base Rate
- The straight time rate of pay, excluding premiums and incentive bonuses.
- Benefits Cafeteria Plan
- A benefit program that offers a choice between taxable benefits, including cash, and non-taxable health and welfare benefits. The employee decides how his or her benefits dollars are to be used within the total limit of benefit costs agreed to by the employer.
- Blocking
- An NLRB decision not to proceed with an election in a bargaining unit where there are unresolved unfair labor practice charges.
- Boycott
- A concerted refusal to work for, purchase from, or handle the products of an employer. Where the action is directed against the employer directly involved in the labor dispute, it is termed a primary boycott. In a secondary boycott, the action is directed against a neutral employer in an attempt to get him/her to stop doing business with the company with which the union is having a dispute. Secondary boycotts are illegal under the Taft Hartley Act.
- Business Agent (B.A., Union Representative)
- A full-time representative of a local union whose job is to represent members in the local.
- Call-in Pay
- Compensation to workers who report for work and, for a variety of reasons, the employer decides to send back home. Examples of call in pay include: "show up pay" when a worker is called into work by error for overtime work and is sent back home; or, wages paid when the worker is required to report and there is insufficient work for a full day.