Union Terminology

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Secondary Activities:

Strikes, picketing, boycotts, or other activities directed by a union against an employer with whom it has no dispute, in order to pressure that employer to stop doing business with, or to bring pressure against another employer with whom the union does have a dispute.

Service Model of Unions:

The concept that the primary function of a union, its staff, and its officers is to service the members or solve the members' problems for them. This is in contrast to the Organizing Model of Unions.

Showing of Interest:

A requirement by the NLRB that must be met by a union when a union wishes to represent a group of employees. There are several showing of interest requirements used by the NLRB. A) A petitional union needs 30% of the eligible members in the union. B) Where a union has petitioned and another union wishes to intervene, the second union must have 30% of the unit it seeks. C) Where a union petitions and another union wishes to intervene in the same unit to the extent of blocking a consent election agreement, it must have 10%. D) Usually, a showing of one or two cards is enough for a second union to intervene only to have their name on the ballot or to participate in a hearing. E) A current or recently expired contract is also a criterion for showing of interest.

Sitdown Strike:

A work action which is currently illegal in which strikers refuse to leave the employer’s premises.

Sixty Day Notice:

The notice that, under the Taft-Hartley Act, must be given by either party to a collective bargaining agreement when desiring to reopen or terminate it. No strike or lockout may begin during these 60 days.

Speed Up:

Any system designed to increase worker productivity without a compensating increase in wages.

Split Shift:

Any form of shift work where there are semi-regular work hours. In some cases, workers may work three different shifts in a work week. In all the various types of shifts, there is usually a break of several hour between the reporting times of the workers.

Stewards Council:

An organization of the stewards within a local, stewards councils take some of the workload from the paid staff of the local and give the stewards an opportunity to compare their experiences and be more involved in the affairs of the union. Stewards councils are governed either by their own bylaws or by a clause in the local union’s bylaws.

Strategic Campaign:

See Corporate Campaign.

Strike Force:

A group of volunteer members who have agreed to help picket or leaflet in support of an organizing drive, strike, or other campaign which the local has initiated.

Strike Sanction:

In order for a Local Union to receive strike benefits from the International, the strike must be sanctioned by the General Executive Board.

Struck Work:

A term to define a product which is produced by an employer during the period of a labor dispute with his employees. An employee who refuses to handle struck work is engaged in a sympathy work action. Workers who refuse to do the work of workers engaged in a strike may be replaced; however, they generally cannot be discharged. A struck work clauses in some collective bargaining agreements protect the rights of workers not to handle goods of a struck employer. There are limitations on such clauses in Section 8(e) of the NLRA.

Subcontracting:

(Contracting Out) An employer's practice of having work performed by an outside contractor and not by regular employees in the unit.

Successor Employer:

An employer which has acquired an already existing operation and which continues those operations in approximately the same manner as the previous employer, including the use of the previous employer's employees.

Supervisor:

Those employees who have management rights such as the rights to hire, fire, or recommend such action. The employees who are defined as supervisors under the NLRA are not permitted to become members of the bargaining unit at the work location. In organizing campaigns, most employers will try to enlarge the ranks of their supervisory personnel. The employer will try to keep a certain group of supervisors as his anti-union workforce for future labor disputes.