Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999 5

Workplace Violence Provisions in the Private Sector

GEORGE R. GRAY

DONALD W. MYERS

PHYLLIS S. MYERS

Workplace Violence

Provisions in

Private Sector Collective

Bargaining Agreements

Although violent acts perpetrated against employees at

work are a major cause of workplace mortality, research

reveals a relative absence of collective bargaining provisions dealing with workplace violence.

George R. Gray is an associate professor of human resources management; Donald W. Myers

is a professor of human resources management

and industrial relations, Department of Management; and Phyllis S. Myers is director of insurance studies and an associate professor of finance

and insurance, Department of Finance, Insurance

and Real Estate, all in the School of Business,

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond,

Virginia. The authors’ views are their own and

do not necessarily reflect those of the Bureau

of Labor Statistics or the U.S. Department of

Labor.

Telephone: (804) 828-7122

E-mail: dmyers@busnet.bus.vcu.edu

Violent acts perpetrated against

employees at work are a major cause of workplace mortality. In 1997, 856 homicides and 212

suicides occurred at work.1 Combined, these violent acts constituted the

major cause of work-related deaths. In

addition to being a humanitarian concern, violent acts are a major cost for

employers. One study estimates that

workplace violence costs employers

between $6.4 and $36 billion in lost

productivity, diminished public image,

insurance expenses, increased security,

and other related factors.2

Homicide is the second major cause

of death at work for both men and

women.3 It should be noted, however,

that outsiders perpetrate most homicides in industries with direct public

contact. This is reflected in occupations at high risk for violence such as

employees and owners of small grocery and convenience stores, hotel

clerks, gas station workers, law enforcement officers, and other publicly

linked occupations.4

Assaults are also a major problem

in the workplace. In 1996, 18,592

nonfatal assaults occurred at work,

resulting in injuries and illnesses with

days away from work. According to

the National Crime Victimization Survey, during the 1992-96 period, 2 million people each year were the victims

of violent crime or threatened by violent crime in the workplace.5 Included among these 2 million annual

violent acts were 1.5 million simple

assaults, 396,000 aggravated assaults,

84,000 robberies, and 51,000 rapes

and sexual assaults. Approximately

12 percent of these violent acts resulted in personal injury to the victim

and one-half of these necessitated

medical treatment.

Workplace violence data do not include off-duty employees who are on

their employers’ premises or non-employees who are victimized in the

workplace. For example, the homicide of a customer during a store robbery (or an off-duty employee picking

up a pay check) would not be counted

as workplace violence.

Industry differences

The types and frequencies of violent

acts at work differ among industries

in the ratios of homicides and nonfatal assaults to employment levels.

These differences are highlighted in

the following tabulation that presents

ratios of violent acts to employment

in 1997 for retail trade, manufacturing, and health service industries.
6 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999

Employer and union

involvement

Employers. The importance of workplace violence as a human resource

issue has grown steadily over the past

several years. Corporate security directors consider the prevention of

workplace violence to be a highly important security issue. In 1997, workplace violence was the second ranked

concern of security directors. For the

period 1994-96, it was their top concern.6

Human resource directors have not

historically perceived workplace violence as a major area of concern. For

example, in a 1993 survey conducted

by the Society for Human Resource

Management, 71 percent of the respondents indicated their organization

had neither policies nor procedures to

respond to the possibility or effects of

workplace violence.7 Even in more

recent surveys, workplace violence is

not among the top 25 concerns they

expect to face in 2005.8 However, a

recent survey of human resource directors by Workforce9 found that human resource personnel are increasingly the targets of violence. The

survey noted that 1 in 4 respondents

experienced some form of violence at

work and a majority felt the problem

was getting worse. Human resources

professionals are targeted for violence

because of their involvement in developing and implementing policies that

may motivate employee dissatisfaction—such as work schedules, layoffs,

wages, career development, and perceived discriminatory practices.10

Unions. Unions represented 15.6 percent of employed wage and salaried

workers in 1997.11 Within industries,

there were significant differences in

the percent of employees represented

by unions, ranging from 2.8 percent

in the finance, insurance and real estate industry to 33.7 percent in the

transportation equipment manufacturing industry. Union representation

has been relatively low in industries

with high frequencies of workplace

violence. For example, unions represent 6.1 percent of the employees in

retail trade, but as noted above, this

industry accounts for 45.6 percent of

the homicides. Also, unions represent

8.8 percent of health service workers,

but, also as noted previously, 44.2 percent of all nonfatal assaults are perpetrated against workers in this industry.

Unions can make important contributions in efforts to prevent workplace

violence. In most labor agreements,

union and management are already

committed to a safe work environment

and the prevention of workplace violence would be a logical extension of

this commitment to safety.12 Union

representatives assist aggrieved employees who use organizational grievance procedures to seek redress of their

dissatisfactions arising at work.

Oftentimes, employees are agitated

about the issue motivating them to file

a grievance. In extreme situations,

they may not wait until the eventual

settlement of their grievance before

they act out their frustrations in violent ways.13 If union representatives

became part of the internal communication network to prevent workplace

violence, they might see their responsibilities in a broader scope, including both protecting the rights of employees and preventing employee

violence.

Also, employees often confide their

dissatisfactions and feelings about organizational matters to union representatives. These representatives are

not expected to compromise confidential relations; however, they may be

able to help agitated employees seek

peaceful solutions to their grievances

or treatment for personal problems that

may be contributing to their animosity. Another reason to include union

representation in violence prevention

programs is because union disputes,

particularly strikes, may result in violence or threats of violence.

Unions and management. Traditionally, unions and management have

negotiated clauses in collective bargaining agreements on subjects affecting the safety and health of employees.14 Little is known, however, about

the extent of such cooperation on the

subject of workplace violence. What

is known is that management has

tended to treat certain subject areas,

such as employee altercations, horseplay, abusive language, and other hostile actions, within the context of “employee discipline” and, as such, has

tended to exclude union involvement

in dealing with workplace violence.

That alternative places unions in the

position of becoming involved in

workplace violence problems after

employees complain of unfair treatment by management. From a practical standpoint, one justification for

early union involvement in workplace

violence is to look at what happens

when these types of issues are taken

to arbitration. According to a major

study of these types of cases, arbitrators have overturned nearly 70 percent

of disciplinary cases involving workplace violence.15 Union involvement

in dealing with these issues up front

might mean that fewer cases go to arbitration.

A few unions and employers have

agreed to procedures to address workplace violence. The United Automobile Workers (UAW) and the Ford

Motor Company agreed to develop

teams to respond to violence occurring

at the local level.16 However, the

Retail trade ............................ 16.9 45.6 2.7 17.5 1.0

Manufacturing ........................ 17.4 5.0 .3 2.6 .1

Health services ...................... 8.3 1.6 .2 44.2 5.3

1

 Ratio of the percent of homicides to the percent of total employment.

2

 Ratio of the percent of assaults to the percent of total employment.

Violent acts

Industry

Percent of

total

employment

Percent of

all

assaults

Ratio2

Percent of

all

homicides

Ratio1
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999 7

Workplace Violence Provisions in the Private Sector

present collective bargaining agreement between Ford and the UAW,

which expires September 14, 1999,

does not contain any clauses on workplace violence.

In the public sector, the U.S. Postal

Service and several postal unions have

implemented programs to address

workplace violence.17 Some public

sector unions have called upon employers to establish workplace violence

prevention policies and take other

measures to make workplaces less violent.18 In Canada, the Canadian

Union of Public Employees, which

represents 410,000 employees, has

achieved acceptance from employers

to include clauses in collective bargaining agreements and to expand labor-management safety and health

committees to cover workplace violence.19

Occupational Safety and Health

Administration

The Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) has sought to

address violence in the workplace.

Part of this initiative included developing a set of guidelines for health care

and human service workers. In addition to a policy statement for the total

organization, guidelines for the following were developed:

• Employee involvement

• Work site analysis

• Hazard control and prevention

• Employee training and education

• Record keeping and program

evaluation20

The OSHA guidelines are broad

and encompass most points an organization might consider in attempting

to prevent workplace violence. They

provide a rationale for the inclusion

of union representation in the prevention of workplace violence. Union involvement could be easily accomplished because joint labor-management safety committees already exist

in many contracts and their duties

could be broadened to include threat

assessment.

The sample

The data used for this study of workplace violence provisions in collective

bargaining agreements (covering

1,000 or more workers) are from the

Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) file

of approximately 1,200 private-sector

collective bargaining agreements. To

obtain a contemporary perspective on

how workplace violence issues are being formalized in collective bargaining agreements, only contracts expiring between September 1, 1997 and

September 30, 2007 (the latest expiration date in the BLS file) were used.

Within this time interval there were

1,168 agreements covering 5.2 million

employees.

Of the 1,168 agreements, 14 contained one or more provisions involving workplace violence. The number

of employees covered by each of the

14 agreements ranged from 975 to

34,100. The number of contracts in

the research sample, by industry and

covered employees, is shown in table

1. Also shown is the same information for the 14 contracts containing

provisions on workplace violence.

Incidence of workplace violence

clauses. Almost 70,000 workers were

covered by the 14 agreements that contained at least 1 provision on the subject of workplace violence. As noted

previously, in 1997, 45.6 percent of

workplace homicides occurred in the

TABLE 1. Incidence of workplace violence and collective bargaining agreements1 with clauses pertaining to workplace violence by

industry

Total ................................ 18,592 100.0 856 100.0 114,533 100.0 16,110 14.1 1,168 5,215,724 14 69,565

Construction .............................. - - 14 1.6 5,739 5.0 1,067 18.6 386 1,161,874 1 2,700

Manufacturing ............................ 499 2.6 43 5.0 19,961 17.4 3,243 16.3 319 1,255,690 6 50,490

Paper ................................... - - - - 670 .1 188 28.0 31 38,085 2 2,290

Electrical .............................. - - - - 1,909 1.7 231 12.1 38 148,220 3 14,100

Transportation equipment ..... - - - - 2,247 2.0 757 33.7 58 574,941 1 34,100

Transportation ............................ 724 3.8 111 12.9 4,212 3.6 1,177 27.9 6 121,000 0 0

Wholesale trade ......................... - - 21 2.4 4,296 3.8 284 6.6 3 3,800 0 0

Retail trade ................................ 3,264 17.5 391 45.6 19,379 16.9 1,186 6.1 110 684,532 1 1,000

Finance, insurance and

 real estate ................................ 541 2.9 28 3.2 7,070 6.2 199 2.8 18 97,209 0 0

Health services .......................... 8,224 44.2 14 1.6 9,573 8.4 847 8.8 35 141,284 5 14,400

Other services ........................... 4,851 26.0 130 15.1 21,131 18.4 1,146 5.4 27 140,581 1 975

Other industries ......................... 489 2.6 104 12.1 23,172 20.2 6,961 30.0 264 1,609,754 0 0

Incidence of workplace violence 1997 workers (thousands)

Industry

Collective bargaining agreements

1996 nonfatal

assaults

All workers Covered by

union contracts

With workplace

violence

clauses

Total

1997 homicides

Number of

workers

covered

Number Percent Number Number Number Percent Percent Percent

Number

of

workers

covered

Total

1

 Private sector collective bargaining agreements covering 1,000

or more employees and expiring September 1997 – September 2007.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that data were not available. Because of

rounding, sum of individual items may not equal totals.
8 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999

retail trade industry. In that same year,

6.1 percent of the workers in that industry were covered by a collective bargaining agreement. There are 110

agreements in the BLS file, covering

684,532 workers in the retail trade

industry. Only one of those agreements, however, has even a single

clause on the subject of workplace violence. Similarly, 44.2 percent of workplace nonfatal assaults occurred in the

health services industry, where 8.8

percent of the workers are covered by

collective bargaining agreements. Of

the 35 agreements covering 141,284

health service workers, only 5 agreements covering 14,400 workers had at

least one clause on the subject of workplace violence.

Workplace violence clauses

Twenty different clauses pertaining to

workplace violence were identified in

the 14 agreements that contained at

least 1 workplace violence clause.

These 20 clauses were grouped into 5

categories: Violence-free environment,

prevention and security, prohibitions,

labor-management safety and health

committees, and responses to violence.

The clauses by category, industry, and

number and percent of employees covered are shown in table 2.

Violence-free environment

An important first step in preventing

workplace violence is an unequivocal

statement of the intention of the union

and management to ensure that the

workplace is violence free. Two types

of clauses can accomplish this. The

first would state the intention of the

parties to agree that such an environment must be established and maintained. The second would state each

employee’s responsibility toward

achieving such an environment.

Violence-free workplace. Only one

of the 14 agreements has a clause titled

“Violence-free” and the language

stipulates that the employer is responsible for ensuring employee safety in

dangerous situations. Several other

agreements mention the term violence-free within the context of other

subjects, such as the responsibilities of

employees to help achieve such an

environment by obeying safety rules

and being active in safety management

through participation in safety and

health committees. Other agreements

also use the term in clauses involving

management procedures to assure

employee safety while working alone

in high-risk crime areas or other dangerous situations.

Employee responsibilities. Three

agreements have clauses recognizing

the importance of employee cooperation in preventing—and, if it should

occur, stopping—workplace violence.

Some clauses stipulate that employees

and supervisors are encouraged and

expected to help promote a violencefree workplace. Some language includes the importance of work rules

and rules of conduct to reinforce the

expectation of non-violent behavior.

Employee cooperation in maintaining

a non-violent workplace includes employee participation on committees

dealing with the subject. They are also

encouraged to report workplace hazards,

crime, or behavior which might lead to

violence, and to suggest methods for

dealing with problems that arise.

Employees are encouraged to avoid

behavior that may lead to violence, to

abusive or coercive language or actions, or to lewd or disrespectful comments to fellow employees and supervisors. One agreement includes

language under the subject of employee cooperation cautioning the importance of “refraining from the interference of others” on company

property. In this situation “interference” was defined as physical contact

or intimidating remarks or behavior,

such as horseplay which could provoke

violence. Under the subject of cooperation, one agreement includes union

acknowledgment of its responsibility

to report any sabotage or theft of equipment or property.

Prevention and security

As shown in table 2, the six types of

clauses in the prevention and security

category deal with ensuring personal

safety, providing employee identification badges, protecting employees as

they arrive at and leave work, aiding

employees who have concerns about

workplace violence, providing for

employee assistance program involvement in preventing workplace violence,

and safeguarding employees who work

alone. No more than two contracts had

clauses on any one of these six prevention and security subjects.

Ensuring personal safety. Two agreements had personal safety clauses. The

provisions in these clauses addressed

working alone in high-risk areas, assuring proper safety procedures are

followed when dealing with potentially

violent situations, and using appropriate entrances and exits. Also included

under personal safety is contract language requiring employees to adhere

to safety rules and procedures to prevent them from being victimized.

Providing employee identification

badges. Only one agreement specifies the issuance of employee identification badges for the prevention of

workplace violence. Employee personal identification security systems,

such as identification or security cards,

can be aids in the prevention of workplace violence by helping to prevent

unauthorized personnel from gaining

access to an employer’s premises.

Usually the systems are used in conjunction with centralized employee

entrances and exits.

Protecting employees arriving at, or

leaving work. One contract had a provision requiring employers to provide

protection for employees when they

arrive at and leave work. This type of

security may be provided in conjunction with centralized entrances and

exits. Some employers provide escort

services to parking areas. Some also

restrict unauthorized persons from

having access to parking areas or have

closed-circuit television cameras in

those areas.

Aiding employees with concerns

about workplace violence. A key provision in protecting employees is giv-
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999 9

Workplace Violence Provisions in the Private Sector

TABLE 2. Clauses pertaining to workplace violence in collective bargaining agreements1 expiring between September 1997 and

September 2007

Total .......................... 1 3.0 3 11.6 2 10.6 1 1.3 1 1.5 2 12.5 2 11.7 2 12.5

Construction ........................ - - - - - - - - - - 1 2.7 - - 1 2.7

Manufacturing ...................... ----------------

Paper ............................... ----------------

Electrical .......................... - - - - - - - - - - 1 9.8 2 11.7 1 9.8

Transportation equipment . ----------------

Transportation ...................... ----------------

Wholesale trade ................... ----------------

Retail trade .......................... ----------------

Finance, insurance and

 real estate ......................... ----------------

Health services .................... 1 3.0 3 11.6 2 10.6 1 1.3 1 1.5 ------

Total .......................... 5 40.3 6 47.9 2 2.2 2 35.2 1 1.3 3 14.7 2 11.7 1 1.0

Construction ........................ ----------------

Manufacturing ...................... 2 2.2 2 2.2 2 2.2 1 1.1 -------

Paper ............................... - - - - - - - - - - 2 11.7 2 11.7 - -

Electrical .......................... 1 34.1 1 34.1 - - 1 34.1 --------

Transportation equipment . ----------------

Transportation ...................... ----------------

Wholesale trade ................... ----------------

Retail trade .......................... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1.0

Finance, insurance and

 real estate ......................... ----------------

Health services .................... 2 4.0 3 11.6 - - - - 1 1.3 1 3.0 - - - -

Total .......................... 1 7.6 1 7.6 1 7.6 1 7.6

Construction ........................ --------

Manufacturing ...................... --------

Paper ............................... --------

Electrical .......................... --------

Transportation equipment . --------

Transportation ...................... --------

Wholesale trade ................... --------

Retail trade .......................... --------

Finance, insurance and

 real estate ......................... --------

Health services .................... 1 7.6 1 7.6 1 7.6 1 7.6

Violence-free environment

Violence- free

workplace

Employee

responsibilities

Ensure

personal

safety

Provide

employee

identification

badges

Protect

employees

arriving and

leaving work

Aid

employees

concerned

about workplace

violence

Prevention and security

Industry

Safeguard

employees

working alone

Use employee

assistance

programs

NumberPercent

NumberNumberNumberNumberNumberNumberNumberPercentPercentPercentPercentPercentPercentPercent

Prohibitions Labor-management safety and health

committees

Abusive

language

Hostile

behavior

Concealed

weapons

To develop

agenda

items on

violence

To formulate

proposals to

end

violence

Sabotage Contraband2

To become

involved in

prevention of

violence

Percent

PercentPercentPercentPercentPercentPercentPercent

Number

NumberNumber

NumberNumberNumberNumberNumber

Responses to violence

Establish

trained

response

team

Establish

procedures to

record

incidents

Provide

counseling

Provide

time-off

and workers’

compensation

Number

Percent

PercentPercentPercentNumberNumberNumber

1

 Private sector collective bargaining agreements covering 1,000 or

more employees and expiring September 1997 – September 2007. 2

 The agreement allows for the inspection of packages brought into

the workplace to ensure drug prohibition in the workplace.

NOTE: Dash indicates that no clause was found.
10 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999

ing special assistance to those who

believe they are in danger. Providing

an environment in which employees

will report such conditions is an important first step. Two agreements

have clauses in which the employer

accepts responsibility to give special

assistance to any employee who expresses concerns about his or her personal safety. The concerns can be

motivated by circumstances such as a

perceived hostile work environment,

threats or physical action by fellow

employees or supervisors, and actual

criminal acts which occur at work.

The language in these clauses states

that when an employee expresses reasonable concern for his or her personal

safety, both the employer and the union

recognize the importance of making a

concerted effort to remove the cause

of the problem.

Employee assistance programs. An

important component for preventing

workplace violence is early recognition of workers who are contemplating violent acts. An employee assistance program (EAP) provides

resources and expertise to deal with

employee problems.21 EAP counselors can help prevent workplace violence because they usually have special training in human behavior that

aids them in identifying employees

who potentially may be violent.22 In

addition, counselors are expected to

ask questions about clients’ personal

lives including the problems they are

experiencing at work and elsewhere.

They are also qualified to help troubled

employees get assistance before they

resort to violence. In view of the benefit counselors provide to a workplace

violence prevention program, it was

somewhat surprising that only two

agreements had clauses providing for

EAP involvement in helping to prevent workplace violence.

Safeguarding employees working

alone. A high crime rate, the possibility of violence, an isolated area, and

hazardous working conditions can all

cause concern about working alone.

Two agreements have clauses addressing employee vulnerability to criminal acts while working alone. The

provisions in these clauses provide

procedures for employees to report

such conditions. In addition, they provide measures to monitor situations.

The clauses also provide that where it

is perceived to be necessary for protection, additional employees or security personnel will be assigned to protect the concerned employee. The

clauses also provide for an escort service to and from some locations because of the potential for violence to

an employee.

Prohibitions

The most fundamental clauses affecting workplace violence are those prohibiting specific behaviors at work.

The specific provisions in the contracts

on this subject are prohibiting abusive

language, hostile behavior, concealed

weapons, sabotage, and contraband.

Clauses addressing these types of prohibitions are the most frequently appearing ones in the 14 agreements.

Abusive language. Five of the 14

agreements have a provision prohibiting abusive language. The definitions in the contracts for abusive language include any language that is

offensive to a coworker or supervisor.

The wording ranges from language

which implies harm to another (a

threat) to language which shows an

unacceptable reference to another (disrespect).

Hostile behavior. Six of the agreements have clauses prohibiting hostile

behavior. The language in the agreements describing these prohibitions is

not uniform. Generally, hostile behavior is defined as adverse physical activity, ranging from disrespectful behavior to threatening an assault. In

several agreements the term was defined as physically assaulting another

with intent to inflict physical injury.

In other agreements, hostility included

“horseplay” and physical activity that

could lead to an adverse reaction from

a coworker.

Concealed weapons. Two agreements

have provisions prohibiting employees from bringing concealed weapons,

firearms, and explosives onto the employers’ premises. One of the two

agreements does permit possessing

firearms on company property, with

proper authorization, such as for a security guard.

Sabotage. Two agreements have contract provisions dealing with the prevention of sabotage by employees. The

provision in one contract includes an

agreement by the union to report any

attempt to sabotage or damage company property by employees. The provision in the other agreement is in a

section on rules governing employee

conduct. This clause states any deliberate destructive acts to tools or equipment, such as damaging or destroying

them, shall subject the employee to disciplinary action including immediate

discharge.

Contraband. For many years a key

component of security provisions was

to prohibit drug use on company property. Employer-authorized inspections

of employee lockers and items being

carried through employment entrances

were conducted to ensure a drug free

environment. Only one agreement has

a clause providing for the inspection

of packages brought into the workplace by employees. One reason why

other agreements do not contain

clauses on this subject may be because

unions and employees are highly resistant to “invasions of privacy.”

Labor-management committees

Labor-management committees can

play an important role in the overall

strategy to prevent workplace violence.

These committees exist at the local,

divisional, and national levels, depending upon the firm.

Involvement of safety and health

committees. Three of the contracts

have clauses providing for safety and

health committee involvement in preventing workplace violence. The specific roles the committees have in pre-
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999 11

Workplace Violence Provisions in the Private Sector

venting workplace violence were not

explained in the clauses. Research

conducted on safety and health committees found that the responsibilities

and the roles of these committees

largely depend upon the organizational

level at which they function.23 National committees usually are responsible for the overall assessment of the

effectiveness of the education of employees on various topics (such as

workplace violence issues), and the

success of programs to reduce workplace violence. The primary mechanism for combating workplace violence is a comprehensive educational

program focused on the causes of violence and the best approaches for dealing with problems that occur. The role

of education should be to heighten

workforce awareness of violence, engage employees in discussing ways to

control or eliminate violent behavior,

and to explain the role of counseling

and the EAP in helping employees

deal with their problems. In addition,

managers should be encouraged to incorporate workplace violence issues

into safety awareness sessions and to

involve local safety and health committees when developing agendas to

deal with these issues.

Local safety and health committees

usually focus on procedures and issues

at the local plant level, such as security concerns like increased lighting,

fencing, and entrances and exits.

These committees can also help prevent violence by training union personnel on how to assist employees who

may act out their personal problems

through workplace violence.

Developing committee agenda items

on violence. Two agreements have

clauses giving safety and health committees the responsibility to develop

agenda items to address workplace

violence.

Formulating proposals to stop violence. Only one agreement contained

a provision for safety and health committees to formulate proposals to stop

violence. This provision does not

specify the types of proposals the committees should consider. Proposals

could be initiated at both the local and

national levels. The focus of local proposals could be on such subjects as

maintaining a secure work environment, developing emergency response

measures, developing lists of prohibited behaviors, and conducting training on how to recognize potentially

violent situations. Proposals at the

national level could focus on strategic

issues, such as formulating national

policy statements and establishing procedures to ensure compliance.

Responses to violence

A strategic plan to address workplace

violence should include actions that

are contemplated in response to violent incidents. Only one agreement

had clauses addressing this important

area. The four clauses contained in

this agreement call for a trained response team, procedures to record violent incidents, provisions for counseling the victim(s), and providing the

victim(s) with workers’ compensation

benefits and paid time-off to recover

from the incident.

Conclusions and

recommendations

One of the most significant outcomes

of this research was the discovery of

the relative absence of contract provisions on workplace violence. It is recognized that much of this area is currently dealt with in the context of

“rules of conduct” and is perceived as

an exclusive management right. This

lack of coverage in contract language

speaks to the limited use of collective

bargaining in preventing and controlling workplace violence.

Only 14 of the 1,168 contracts have

provisions on workplace violence. The

workers covered by these 14 agreements comprise about 1.5 percent of

all the workers covered by the BLS

contract file. The industry data also

shows some interesting results. For

example, almost half of all workplace

homicides occur in retail trade, but

only 1 of the 110 contracts in this industry has even a single provision on

workplace violence. Similarly, the

health services industry accounts for

44 percent of all nonfatal assaults, but

only 5 of the 35 contracts studied have

at least 1 clause dealing with workplace violence.

Even in the 14 contracts that have

provisions on workplace violence,

most deal with fewer than 5 subjects.

These agreements are significantly

lacking on the subject of responding

to workplace violence. Only one

agreement has any provisions for responding to workplace violence. The

most frequently appearing topic

among the 14 contracts was on the

subject of prohibitions. Prohibiting

hostile behavior, the most frequently

mentioned subject, appeared in six

agreements.

From these data one could conclude

that negotiators in those organizations

with the largest numbers of workers

covered by unions have not formally

addressed workplace violence. While

workplace violence may be one of the

top priorities among corporate security directors and a growing concern

for human resource professionals, that

concern is not evidenced in collective

bargaining agreements covering 1,000

or more workers. On the positive side,

20 different subjects were identified in

5 categories that labor and management might consider for future collective bargaining.
12 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999

1

 Data on fatal work injuries are from the

Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). This program, which

has collected occupational fatality data nationwide

since 1992, uses diverse data sources to identify,

verify, and profile fatal work injuries. Information about each workplace fatality (industry and

other worker characteristics, equipment involved,

and circumstances of the event) is obtained by

cross-referencing source documents such as death

certificates, workers’ compensation records, and

reports to Federal and State agencies. This method

assures counts are as complete and accurate as

possible.

 2 Rebecca Speer, “Can Workplace Violence

be Prevented,” Occupational Hazard, August

1998, pp. 26-29. 3

 National Census of Fatal Occupational

Injuries, 1997, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 12, 1998. 4

 Joel Neuman and Robert Baron, “Workplace

Violence and Workplace Aggression: Evidence

Concerning Specific Forms, Potential Causes, and

Preferred Targets,” Journal of Management, May

1998, p. 391. 5

 U. S. Department of Justice, “About 2 Million People Attacked or Threatened in the Workplace Every Year,” Press Release, July 26, 1998. 6

 CCH, Inc., Ideas and Trends in Personnel,

Chicago, IL, April 22, 1998, p. 1.

7

 Society for Human Resource Management,

Workplace Violence: Business As Usual? Survey Reveals Escalating Violence, Alexandria, VA,

1993. 8

 CCH, Inc., Human Resources Management: Personnel Practices and Communications,

Chicago, IL, 1998, p. 166. 9

 ACC Communications, Workforce, September 1998, p. 22. 10 Shari Caudron, “Target: HR,” Workforce,

August 1998, pp. 44-52.

 11 Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of about 50,000 households, conducted by the

Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For additional information about the Survey, see the “Explanatory Notes and Estimates of

Errors,” in Employment and Earnings, May

1999. 12 See George R. Gray, Donald W. Myers, and

Phyllis S. Myers, “Collective Bargaining Agreements: Safety and Health Provisions,” Monthly

Labor Review, May 1998, pp. 13-35. 13 Donald W. Myers, Stop Workplace Violence: A Guide to Understanding and Prevention, Chicago, IL, 1995.

14 See George R. Gray, Donald W. Myers, and

Phyllis S. Myers, “Collective Bargaining Agreements: Safety and Health Provisions,” Monthly

Labor Review., May 1998, pp. 13-35. 15 See “Fighting on the Job: Analysis of Recent Arbitration Decisions,” Dispute Resolution

Journal, August 1998, pp. 51-56. 16 Bureau of National Affairs, “Unions, Employers Take the Offensive Against Workplace

Violence,” Perspective: BNA Collective Bargaining Bulletin, April 1997, p. 50. 17 Richard Denenberg, Mark Braverman, and

Susan Braverman, “Dispute Resolution & Workplace Violence,” Dispute Resolution Journal,

January-March 1966, pp. 6-16. 18 Bureau of National Affairs,, “Workplace

Violence: OSHA Should Hold Employers Accountable For Taking ‘Reasonable Measures,’

Labor Says,” BNA Occupational Safety and

Health, January 26, 1994. 19 N. Robb, “Violence At Work,” OH&S

Canada, September/October 1993. 20 Neuman and Baron, “Workplace Violence

and Aggression,” p. 391. 21 K.S. Lonbardi, “Efforts to Stem Violence in

the Workplace,” The New York Times, February

13, 1994. 22 Donald W. Myers, Establishing and Building Employee Assistance Programs, Greenwood

Press, 1984. 23 George R. Gray, Donald W. Myers and

Phyllis S. Myers. Joint Labor-Management

Safety and Health Committee Provisions in Private Sector Collective Bargaining Agreements,

unpublished manuscript.

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