Labor Relations Training

Seminar Delivery and Content

This six-hour seminar introduces participants to the collective bargaining process in the private sector, acquaints them with the growing body of legislation, federal regulation, and case law which govern labor-management relations, and familiarizes them with the terminology, concepts, and procedures by which labor agreements are administered. Special attention is devoted to identifying management dos and don'ts during organizing campaigns to reduce employer exposure to unfair labor practice complaints.

Individuals requiring continuing professional education units for PHR and SPHR recertification will receive 5.5 CEU credits for completing this seminar.

Introduction to Labor Relations (approximately 1 hour of instruction)

1. Types of unions
2. Trends in union membership
3. The National Labor Relations Board and its jurisdiction
4. Why employees organize
5. Terms and technical language

How Unions Organize (approximately 1 hour of instruction)

1. Initial contacts
2. Obtaining a "critical mass"
3. The certification process
4. The recognition process
5. Authorization cards
6. Showing of interest
7. Decertification issues

The National Labor Code (approximately 1 hour of instruction)

1. Unfair labor practices by management
2. Unfair labor practices by the union

Management Dos and Don'ts (approximately 1 hour of instruction)

1. Proactive management countermeasures
2. Legal reactive management countermeasures
3. Illegal reactive management countermeasures
4. Right-to-work laws
5. Compulsory union membership

Strikes and Slowdowns (approximately ½ hour of instruction)

1. Economic strikes
2. Unfair labor practice strike
3. Sympathy strikes
4. Wildcat strikes
5. Employer responses to strikes

Bargaining Units (approximately ½ hour of instruction)

1. Employees who can be excluded
2. Community of interest
3. Union's duty of fair representation

Collective Bargaining Agreements (approximately 1 hour of instruction)

1. Wage issues
2. Nonwage issues
3. Constraints on management prerogatives
4. Rights arbitration
5. Question and answer period