Collective Bargaining Questions

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-List and explain the various duties of the national union president and executive board members, and illustrate how their remuneration is not always considered "fair compensation" as compared to their CEO-counterpart in the U.S. corporations.
The AFL-CIO is lead by Richard Trumka who was elected in 2009 as President of the organization by the collective unions (56 in total) and their members (over 12 million workers) represented under the AFL-CIO umbrella. In addition to Trumka's presidential post, there are also two other executive officers, the Secretary- Treasurer and the Executive Vice President, also elected by the members in addition to 43 vice presidents, together forming the executive council (Nelson, 2011).
The responsibility of the President and his executive council is to act as the governing body between the quadrennial conventions it represents. This requires that the executive council members meet a minimum of twice a year and more commonly up to 6 times a year to help pass member resolutions, administer the AFL-CIO's legislative program, and carry out the provisions contained in the organizations constitution.
In addition, the President and executives have a responsibility throughout the year to direct the affairs of the Federation and are charged with making decisions and taking appropriate actions that help to safeguard the best interests of the AFL-CIO and its members (Nelson, 2011).
From a compensation standpoint, the executives representing the AFL-CIO are publicly elected and their salary is determined by members' dues that are paid into their organizations each paycheck. The sum of the elected official's salary is then voted on and approved by the members along with the duties and expectations of the roles for which the executives are supposed to support to earn their salary (Nelson, 2011).
This equates to smaller salaries for AFL-CIO executives in comparison to the amounts paid to CEO's and executives in corporate America. For example, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has a salary and benefits package that is currently worth about $400,000 a year and has averaged a 4% increase each year since taking the post in 2009 (Nelson, 2011).
By comparison, the average CEO in the United States salary and benefits averages $1 million dollars a year (Nelson, 2011). This vast difference is also seen in executive pay between AFL-CIO executives and their corporate counterparts.
From an outsiders perspective it can appear unfair, however, upon studying the rational for this pay difference, it seems not as unfair. Union executives are not responsible for generating a profit, extending shareholder profits, or any other type of monetary responsibility. They are simply representative figures (similar to the U.S. president), therefore, their pay is not proportional to the overall budget and performance of their organization as is the case for CEO's over for profit corporations. This practice of paying a "modest" salary to Union executives that is not much greater than the salary of their top earning employees they represent is intended to fit the union narrative of a blue collar background and association (Nelson, 2011). So the job and expectations placed on Union executives as compared to corporate executives is vastly different and their pay represents this.

-What are activities that are carried out at a national union convention, and why does this type of venue allow for the Democratic process to have an opportunity of working?

Some of the more common activities that are carried out at a National Union Convention are:
-Elections
-Grievance settlements
-Passing of amendments or new laws and bylaws
-Contract negotiations
The convention / venue offered by the union offer members the opportunity to vote on substantial issues that impact their lives. This ability to debate opinions in an open format and then cast ballots to help determine the outcomes is in keeping with the truest form of democracy which is the empowering of the people, all people (Gramm, 2011).
-What are the disciplinary procedures at the local union level that would most commonly be followed when a member has a breach of the standards of conduct in the union's bylaws? What are six of these types of breaches? (200 words)
When breaches or problems occur at the local union level, they can be reported in writing or verbally to the local union by contractors, stewards, members, foreman, or any other union affiliated member. The complaint typically will need to be ...