9.9 Key Terms

Authorization card: authorizing the union to certify the group of employees as a union. (10.5)

Bargaining impasse: When the two parties are unable to reach consensus on the collective bargaining agreement. (10.5)

Boycotting: in which union workers refuse to buy a company’s products and try to get other people to follow suit. (10.4)

Business unionism: which means to improve working conditions for unions, protect the employee’s interests, improve wages and benefits, and improve working conditions. (10.2)

Collective bargaining: the process of negotiations between the company and representatives of the union. (10.5)

Grievance: a formal procedure when the union and management disagree on the interpretation of the collective agreement. (10.6)

Group grievance: occurs if several union members have been mistreated in the same way. (10.6)

Individual/personal grievances: in which one member of the union feels he or she has been mistreated. (10.6)

Labour union or union: can be defined as employees banding together to meet common goals, such as better pay, benefits, or promotion rules. (10.1)

Lockout: which essentially means closing the workplace to workers. (10.5)

Locals: serve workers in a particular geographical area. (10.2)

Management rights: which allows the company to operate with complete freedom such as reassigning employees to different jobs, make independent hiring decisions, and any other matters that pertain to management. (10.5)

Mediator: may be called in, who acts as an impartial third party and tries to resolve the issue. (10.6)

Mutual gains bargaining: This model is not about “us and them” or ‘win and lose” approach, rather a win-win approach. (10.5)

Picketing: a tactic when workers parade with signs outside a factory or an office building (or even a school). (10.5)

Principle grievance: deals with basic contract issues surrounding seniority or pay, for example. (10.6)

Rand Formula: ensures employers deduct union dues from an employee’s wages. (10.6)

Replacement workers: non-union workers who are willing to cross picket lines to replace strikers. (10.5)

Social unionism or reform unionism: some of these issues include influencing social policies at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal). (10.2)

Stewards: members designated to serve as go-betweens in disputes between workers and supervisors. (10.2)

Strike: workers walk away from their jobs and refuse to return until the issue at hand has been resolved. (10.5)

Union or policy grievance: when the union files a grievance on behalf of that individual or group. (10.6)