Authorization Cards Research Articles

Communication Regarding Union Authorization Cards

In light of the recent NLRB decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, 372 NLRB No. 130 (2023) (see News, page 1), now more than ever employers should address the matter of card signing in their union prevention strategies. Limiting the ability of union organizers to gain a sufficient number of signed union cards is important to restricting their ability to lawfully demand recognition. Gone is the day of dismissing recognition demands and simply relying on union‐filed election petitions. The demand for recognition, without a corresponding petition by the employer, can be sufficient to defeat a union prevention strategy.

How to Talk With Patients Interested in Cannabis

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual MeetingFull AccessHow to Talk With Patients Interested in CannabisNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:26 Jul 2022https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2022.08.8.10AbstractPsychiatrists can help patients who seem intent on using cannabis by educating them about steps to do so safely, a speaker at the Annual Meeting suggested.iStock/ZenkyphotoA patient comes to you who is interested in using cannabis or CBD (cannabidiol extract) to help reduce symptoms of a psychiatric disorder or another medical condition. How should you respond?During a comprehensive two-part session on the history, biology, therapeutic applications, and potential harms of cannabis at APA’s Annual Meeting, Henry Levine, M.D., pointed to numerous studies that suggest people with psychiatric issues should be steered away from these substances. Levine is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington.He noted that while there are enough promising data to warrant continued research into medical cannabis products for some conditions, there are unproven benefits but real risks to using these products as a treatment, including addiction or emergent psychosis in younger users. According to Levine, 25% of people with a psychiatric illness who use cannabis go on to develop cannabis use disorder, compared with 9% of the general population.All conversations with patients about cannabis should begin with active listening, Levine said. What symptoms is the patient hoping to alleviate with cannabis? For example, is she trying to lower anxiety? Reduce pain? Stimulate appetite?“It is important that we first listen to the patient and defer judgment,” he said. Once the psychiatrist understands the why, he or she can more accurately present the evidence and risks related to the patient’s history. Levine noted, for example, that cannabis can be a potent immunosuppressant, so it can be very risky in some cancer patients.There will be patients who decide they want to try cannabis and/or CBD anyway, Levine noted, and psychiatrists should educate these patients about ways to do so safely. For instance, physicians might encourage patients to use cannabis only when nothing important is on the horizon; that is, don’t take it before going to work or school, he said. Psychiatrists should also encourage patients to take breaks from use to avoid becoming recreational users. Patients should also be aware of potential legal consequences, such as loss of employment despite having a cannabis authorization card if they fail a drug screen.Some other helpful harm-reduction tips include telling patients the following:Avoid synthetic cannabinoids.Use high CBD/low THC marijuana strains.Do not mix cannabis with other substances, particularly alcohol or benzodiazepines.Store all cannabis under lock and key so kids and pets cannot access.Use of water pipes does not reduce the amount of smoke intake, only the temperature.Do not share joints, pipes, or other vaping devices.Though numerous CBD products including edibles, oils, and soaps are legal, available over-the-counter, and reportedly safe, Levine cautioned that CBD products are poorly regulated and pose numerous health risks. In particular, some laboratory analyses have found the basic requirement of legal CBD supplements—that THC levels must be below 0.3%—are not met 21% of the time. This could pose problems for some people who get drug tested, as their samples will turn up positive. Other purity factors are that hemp (the term for low THC cannabis plants) readily absorbs heavy metals from the soil, and many companies don’t adequately remove these toxic metals.Levine offered some steps to help patients choose safer CBD products:Look for something sourced in the European Union (EU) if possible, since the EU has stronger CBD regulations than the United States.Look for products where CBD was extracted using carbon dioxide and not organic solvents.Choose organic CBD products since those presumably were not exposed to pesticides.Verify that the manufacturer follows the FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Processes.For psychiatrists who are willing to go one step further, Levine suggested they could visit a couple of local cannabis dispensaries with good reputations and let the staff teach them about their products, so the psychiatrist may be able to offer more specific guidance on strains to avoid and safer alternatives.“Remember that our patients are more susceptible to the harms of this product,” Levine concluded. “And one part of our job is to reduce that harm as best we can.” ■ ISSUES NewArchived

A public health based vision for the management and regulation of opioids

Prohibition of the possession of opioids for non-medical purposes and medical/pharmaceutical commercialization of opioids are important contributors to the current opioid overdose epidemic. A new model of regulation is urgently required. Within the context of a public health framework, we explore supply control, demand reduction, health promotion, and harm reduction and describe an alternative regulatory model that includes access for medical and non-medical purposes. Oversight of this proposed new system would include a control structure with an explicit public health mandate to minimize harms and maximize benefits of opioids. Medical access would be achieved through multi-disciplinary teams who would prescribe a range of opioids for 1) pain, 2) treatment for patients who develop opioid use disorder, and 3) other medical indications. Non-medical access could be achieved through models that would allow adults to purchase and use opioids for either supervised or take-home use. We describe three possible models to support jurisdiction specific discussions around the world. The first includes education and training that could result in certification with a basic or advanced license or a purchase authorization card. The second includes mandatory training that allows general access to opioids, but excludes people with problematic opioid use. The third model has optional training and excludes people with problematic opioid use. Allowing for inclusion of people dependent on the current illegal market during transition is highlighted. With any of these models, this approach, while attending to illegal market drivers, would result in a greatly reduced illegal opioid market and its attendant toxic products, reduced violence and corruption, and at the same time, provide a sharper focus for medical use with more appropriate prescribing and indications.

Task 1 for the Union Organizer: Identify Leaders

In attempting to organize the workplace, a union organizer starts by looking for a leader among the employees and supporting formation of an in house organizing committee. Then, with the committee's aid, the organizer will seek to obtain the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of fellow employees. Employees who have signed authorization cards will be asked to solicit their coworkers’ signatures.

Development and evaluation of a Basestock-CONWIP pull production control strategy in balanced assembly systems

In this study, a new pull production control strategy called Basestock-Constant Work-in-Process (B-CONWIP) is proposed. It is used to control the flow of materials and information in balanced assembly production systems. This proposed control strategy uses one type of authorization cards called CONWIP card that limits the work-in-process (WIP) in the whole system. It has been applied in a single-product and a mixed-product assembly system balanced by two efficient Genetic algorithms introduced in literature. The performance of this control strategy is compared with another pull production control strategy called Basestock Kanban CONWIP (BK-CONWIP), which is a very promising production control strategy found in literature. The proposed strategy has two control parameters, CONWIP authorization cards and basestock levels while BK-CONWIP has three control parameters Kanban authorization cards, CONWIP authorization cards and basestock levels. The comparison is based on three performance measures average system WIP, percentage of satisfied customer demand (service level) and WIP variation between workstations. The performance of the proposed strategy B-CONWIP and BK-CONWIP is mainly similar in both types of assembly systems when mean demand rates are low with respect to mean service rates with the proposed strategy being easier to control and optimize. On the other hand, when mean demand rates are high with respect to mean service rates; B-CONWIP is preferable if service level is more important, while BK-CONWIP is preferable if WIP level is more important. Regarding WIP variation, it mainly depends on the efficiency of the balancing approach. The more efficient the balancing approach, the less WIP variation. Treating demand as lost instead of backordered results in decreased average system WIP and does not affect service levels in both PCSs. It is also shown that S-KDP is more flexible in dealing with situations of variable product mixes than d-KDP because control parameters can be used by any product which minimizes the effect of the unbalanced systems.

Validity of Authorization Cards

Management Report for Nonunion OrganizationsVolume 39, Issue 12 p. 8-8 Questions & Answers Validity of Authorization Cards First published: 15 November 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/mare.30234Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume39, Issue12December 2016Pages 8-8 RelatedInformation

NLRB Accepting “Electronic Signatures” on Authorization Cards

Management Report for Nonunion OrganizationsVolume 38, Issue 12 p. 1-2 News NLRB Accepting “Electronic Signatures” on Authorization Cards First published: 18 November 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/mare.30118Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract People will probably still call them authorization “cards,” but that name becomes inaccurate under new rules recently announced by the National Labor Relations Board. Now instead of signing an actual paper card, an employee may indicate his or her interest in joining a union by filling out a simple form online. The Board will view the completed form as the employee's “electronic signature.” “Effective immediately,” the NLRB General Counsel wrote in a recent memorandum, “parties may submit electronic signatures in support of a showing of interest.” Volume38, Issue12December 2015Pages 1-2 RelatedInformation

Authorization Cards

It is critical that supervisors be prepared to respond immediately if they hear rumors that union cards are being circulated. Often an organizing campaign can be nipped in the bud without the need for a time‐consuming or expensive election if the employer acts swiftly and convincingly as soon as there is a hint of card signing.

NLRB Finds Common Campaign Flyer to Be Illegal

During a union organizing campaign, a frequent management tactic is to show employees a blank union authorization card and urge them not to sign it. While this practice has occurred for many years, recently, the National Labor Relations Board found that it is an unfair labor practice!

NLRB Adds New Tests to Determine Whether Employer's Enforcement of No‐Solicitation Policy Was Lawful

In the midst of a prolonged union organizing drive, a supervisor for Conagra Foods gave a verbal warning to an employee, Haines, who had told two other employees where they could find union authorization cards. The conversation had occurred during the work time of all three employees. Because the employee did not have the cards with her and the break in the work time for this conversation was only for a few seconds, the majority of a Board panel held that the discipline was unlawful, even though the company had a lawful no‐solicitation policy that prohibited soliciting during work time (Conagra Foods, Inc., 361 NLRB No. 113 (2014)).

Avoiding the Solicitation of Grievances

After a union first starts to obtain signed union authorization cards, the employer is in new territory so far as National Labor Relations Board rules are concerned. Statements and questions that were perfectly lawful one day become unlawful overnight. Supervisors need to be ready to turn on a dime to act lawfully under the new rules. One rule that can be hard to understand at first makes it an unlawful labor practice after organizing begins to “solicit grievances.” In plain English, this means you may not ask employees questions about what issues might be driving them toward a union.

How to Make the Much-Needed Employee Free Choice Act Politically Acceptable

The proposed Employee Free Choice Act (AFCA) would make it easier for employees to select bargaining agents by allowing unions to become certified based upon authorization cards instead of secret ballot Labor Board elections. This practice would be similar to the practice employed by the Labor Board under the original NLRA from 1935 until 1947. To ensure that a majority of workers really desire representation, EFCA could require that 60% or 67% of employees in proposed bargaining units sign authorization cards before the designated union could be certified. EFCA would also require first contract arbitration in the many instances in which newly certified unions are unable to negotiate initial agreements.

A Framework for Analysis of Production Authorization Card‐Controlled Production Systems

A framework for the analysis of manufacturing systems operating under a production authorization card (PAC) system is outlined. The PAC system provides a single model, which encompasses a broad variety of control strategies, including Kanban and CONWIP. This paper describes a framework for the performance analysis and comparison of both specific and families of control strategies. The framework starts with system performance measures estimated by simulation. These simulations in turn provide training data for neural network metamodels. The metamodels allow for a variety of analysis and optimization approaches, including the construction of optimal policy curves, which can provide considerable insight into the systems under study.

The Proposed Employee Free Choice Act: Strengthening The American Middle Class Or Tyranny By Union Organizations?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Presently before Congress is the proposal <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Employee Free Choice Act</span> which would amend the National Labor Relations Act in the following ways:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">(1)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>By requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of employees sign authorization cards for union representation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Under the present system the employer is not required to recognize the union on the basis of authorization cards and can ask for a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">(2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Provide for mediation and arbitration if the parties are not successful in negotiating a first contract after the union is recognized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The present system does not provide for mandatory impasse resolution procedures for first contract negotiations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">(3)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Authorize civil fines of up to $20,000 per violation and awards to employees discharged for union activities of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">    </span>“three times back pay.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Under the present law fines for violating the law are much smaller than the proposed legislation and workers can only get back pay, les than what they earned from other employment, during the period after they were wrongfully discharged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Over the past thirty years there has been an increasing inequality of income distribution in the United States and an erosion of employer provided health care and pension benefits for non-union as well as union employees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Strengthening the ability of workers to unionize will have a spillover impact on the members of the middle class, non-union and union in terms enhancing real income gains, as well as preserving and enhancing existing pension benefits and health care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></p>

Employee Free Choice: Amplifying Employee Voice without Silencing Employers - A Proposal for Reforming the National Labor Relations Act

This Note investigates the effectiveness of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in balancing unions, employers', and employees' rights during the course of union organizing drives. After reviewing case law and commentary, it concludes that the NLRA's certification regime is ineffective and permits pressures that inhibit employees from expressing their real desires about whether or not to be represented by a union. This Note then examines proposed alternatives for certifying unions, and takes note of Canada's federal and ten provincial certification regimes. Finally, it concludes that the NLRA must be amended to protect worker free choice, and proposes reforms including limiting unions to a public sixty-day organizing campaign, designing a uniform authorization card to be submitted with a fee by employees desiring union representation, and establishing a verification process for these cards.

An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which is pending before the US Congress, would provide for union representation when an employee majority has signed union authorization cards and would create a system of mandatory arbitration if a collective bargaining agreement is not reached approximately 130 days after a union is newly certified. I critically assess the arguments presented for passing EFCA and consider the likely unintended consequences it will generate, should it be passed. I find that while card checks could be expected to increase union membership as hoped by EFCA proponents, EFCA is unlikely to achieve its main goal of improving social welfare, which should take into account possible consequences not only for union members but for all individuals. In particular, my quantitative analysis indicates that passing EFCA would likely increase the US unemployment rate and decrease US job creation substantially. The precise effect on unemployment will depend on the degree to which EFCA increases union density, but for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year's unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs. Thus, if EFCA passed today and resulted in an increase in unionization from the current rate of about 12% to 15%, then unionized workers would increase from 15.5 to 19.6 million while unemployment a year from now would rise by 1.5 million, to 10.4 million. If EFCA were to increase the percentage of private sector union membership by between 5 and 10 percentage points, as some have suggested, my analysis indicates that unemployment would increase by 2.3 to 5.4 million in the following year and the unemployment rate would increase by 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points in the following year.

OUTLINE OF A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS OF MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS USING THE PAC SCHEME

A framework for the analysis of manufacturing systems operating under a production authorization card (PAC) scheme is outlined. This framework enables the analysis of several well-known control strategies, such as Kanban and CONWIP, with a single model. System performance measures, such as cycle time or work in process inventory, are estimated by simulation. This model provides training data for neural network metamodels, which provide fairly reasonable approximations of the system performance measures. The metamodels allow for a wide variety of analysis, optimization approaches, and insight into the systems under study.

New Turf for Organizing: Family Child Care Providers

Child-care providers are among the lowest paid wage workers in the United States. Nationwide, less than 5 percent of child-care providers are represented by labor unions. This article addresses the question,: How can family child care providers be effectively organized? I describe and analyze Local 880 Service Employees International Union's effort to organize family child-care providers in Illinois. Adapting the grassroots-organizing model that they developed to organize homecare workers, Local 880 has over 2,200 signed authorization cards and over 1,500 members in the family child-care union. Even without formal recognition, the union won a pay increase for providers in 1999 and has filed numerous successful grievances about disputed back pay. Keys to 880's success in organizing family child-care providers were: (1) prior experience in homecare organizing, especially non-NLRB organizing, (2) experience with grassroots organizing, and maintaining unions without recognition, and (3) ability to influence state-wide elections and legislative issues by becoming involved in direct politics and joining coalitions.

New Turf for Organizing: Family Child Care Providers

Child-care providers are among the lowest paid wage workers in the United States. Nationwide, less than 5 percent of child-care providers are represented by labor unions. This article addresses the question,: How can family child care providers be effectively organized? I describe and analyze Local 880 Service Employees In ternational Union's effort to organize family child-care providers in Illinois. Adapting the grassroots-organizing model that they developed to organize homecare workers, Local 880 has over 2,200 signed authorization cards and over 1,500 members in the family child-care union. Even without formal recognition, the union won a pay increase for providers in 1999 and has filed numerous suc cessful grievances about disputed back pay. Keys to 880's success in organizing family child-care providers were: (1) prior experience in homecare organizing, especially non-NLRB organizing, (2) experi ence with grassroots organizing, and maintaining unions without recognition, and (3) ability to influence state-wide elections and legislative issues by becoming involved in direct politics and join ing coalitions.

Structure of a Simulation Model for a Manufacturing System Coordinated by Production Authorization Cards

Abstract This article presents a structure of a simulation model of a multicell multiproduct manufacturing system coordinated by Production Authorization Cards (PAC system). The PAC system provides a general framework for management and control of a production process because, through the appropriate choice of parameters, it can be specialized into a wide variety of well-known production policies. The article illustrates how this complex manufacturing control strategy can be simulated using a small number of event routines. The resulting program is fast and flexible enough to be used in other studies as a performance evaluation subroutine in an overall parameter optimization.