Commonly Used Union Words and Phrases and Their Meanings
As a steward, you will hear a lot of acronyms, terms, and phrases used. Below are just a few of the terms you may hear and what they generally mean.
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.
Duty of fair representation: The legal obligation for a union to fairly represent all employees in the bargaining unit without regard to factors such as union membership or membership in a protected class.
Duty to bargain: The legally enforceable obligation of each party in a collective bargaining relationship is to meet at reasonable times and places and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment.
Just cause: Referenced in many collective bargaining agreements, a widely-used term that requires the employer to use good and sufficient reasons to discipline employees. There are generally accepted elements of just cause that an employer must prove to an arbitrator in order for a disciplinary action to be upheld.
Management rights: The inherent rights of an employer to make decisions regarding its business. These may be expressly reserved to management in a collective bargaining agreement.
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding (also known as a Memorandum of Agreement or MOA). This is the contract or collective bargaining agreement between the Union and an employer.
Past practice: The history of the way parties have behaved toward one another in the past that bears upon the expectations the parties have regarding negotiations in the future. Such practices, sanctioned by use and acceptance, are not specifically included in the collective bargaining agreement. To constitute a past practice the issue must be: 1) clear to the parties; 2) consistent in its application over a period of time; and 3) condoned by the parties. Arbitrators use past practice to interpret ambiguous language in the collective bargaining agreement.
Union Label or Bug: A stamp or tag on a product or card in a store or shop to show that the work is done by union labor. The “bug” is the printer’s symbol.
Union Shop: Under this, the employer agrees to either only hire labor union members or to require that any new employees who are not already union members become members within a certain amount of time.
Weingarten Rights: The rights of employees covered by the NLRA to request union representation during investigatory interviews if they reasonably believe that the interview could result in their being disciplined. Weingarten rights also guarantee the rights of union representatives to assist and counsel employees during interviews that could lead to discipline