1. Imagine that you are the newly hired HR Director for a mid-sized nonunion, home health care company that provides health and home maintenance services (e.g., medical care, house cleaning, laundry) to shut-ins. Your boss has heard rumors that unions in the area are beginning an aggressive campaign to organize workers in the home health care industry. He has asked you to put together a comprehensive plan to ensure your company does not unionize. Outline the key elements of your plan.

2. In 2012, Triple Play Sports Bar, was found to have committed an unfair labor practice when it unlawfully terminated the employment of two employees who had engaged in a Facebook conversation about the way their employer was handling tax withholdings. The National Labor Relations Board held that the discussion of their tax treatment was substantively related to wages, hours, and working conditions and therefore protected by the National Labor Relations Act. In what ways might the study of labor relations have prevented Triple Play from violating a federal law protecting worker rights?

3. Why has union density in the U.S. declined so dramatically since the 1950s?

4. Explain how each of the four schools of thought would respond to the following question: Are employer and employees equals in the labor market and legal arena?

5. What is welfare capitalism and how was welfare capitalism used to prevent unionization?

6. After so many years of craft unionism, what led to the rise of industrial unionism in the United States?

7. Explain the concept of a secondary boycott and discuss why it was made illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

8. You are a union representative for Teamsters Local 695 representing bus drivers, canning workers, police and firefighters, and truck drivers. An angry member calls the union hall because he has just learned the union has been paying for television ads supporting a presidential candidate he does not favor. What can you tell this union member about how union funding for political campaigns works and what can be done to address his concerns?

9. Explain the Wright Line test - what is it and how is it applied in practice?

10. Explain the key provisions of the Wagner Act of 1935.