The increase in the workplace bullying and violence results in unfair labor practices which make employees file charges against unions and management. Typically an Unfair Labor Practice occurs when management or union violates the eighth section of the National Labor Relations Act. According to Landry (2016), some of the reasons why employees file Unfair Labor Practices against their management or union officials entail coercion, intimidation or even violence. Contractual grievances, on the other hand, entail complaints, concerns, and problems that are raised by employees regarding their employers.
The Railway Labor Act’s contractual negotiation process entails several stages, and the first stage is the direct negotiations or discussions between the union and the management concerning the intent to change (Zhou et al., 2017).Collective negotiation or bargaining is also a vital aspect of the Railway Labor Act’s negotiation process as it ensures the contract is amendable. Unions should also establish mediation strategies as mediation is mandatory for the procedure. The union should also bind arbitration using a neutral party which makes significant decisions that are final and those that binds both entities.
The contractual negotiation process also entails the cooling off period if either the management or union fails to agree to the National Mediation Board’s offer of binding arbitration. As postulated by Strecker (2016), the next step of the Railway Labor Act’s negotiation process is intervention by the president and fact-finding procedures by the board. After the board investigates and presents its recommendation to the president, the management or union observes another thirty days cooling off period. The final step of the Railway Labor Act’s contractual negotiation process is self-help where the management and unions are free of legal restraints after the cooling off period.
References
Landry, J. R. (2016). Fair Responses to Unfair Labor Practices: Enforcing Federal Labor Law
Through Nontraditional Forms of Labor Action. Colum. L. Rev., 116, 147.
Strecker, D. E. (2016). Labor Law: A Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act. CRC Press.
Zhou, L., Xi, M., Zhang, X., & Zhao, S. (2017). Labor Relations Conflict in the Workplace: Scale
Development, Consequences and Solutions.