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2010

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Articles 31 - 43 of 43

Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Construction Organizing: A Case Study Of Success, Brian Condit, Tom Davis, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Fred Kotler Mar 2010

Construction Organizing: A Case Study Of Success, Brian Condit, Tom Davis, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Fred Kotler

Jeffrey Grabelsky

[Excerpt] This chapter examines how IBEW Local 611, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, reversed its decline and between 1988 and 1994 reemerged as a dominant force in its jurisdiction. What the local did, how it did it, and what other building trade unions can learn from 611's success are the central points of the discussion.


Methodological Challenges In Union Commitment Studies, Mahmut Bayazit, Tove Hammer, David L. Wazeter Mar 2010

Methodological Challenges In Union Commitment Studies, Mahmut Bayazit, Tove Hammer, David L. Wazeter

Tove H Hammer

Excerpt] Methodological problems in studies of union commitment were identified and illustrated with data from 4,641 members and 479 stewards in 297 local teachers’ unions. Using a 20-item union commitment scale, results confirmed the existence of 3 substantive factors and 1 method factor at the individual level of analysis: loyalty to the union, responsibility to the union, willingness to work for the union, and a factor of negatively worded items. Tests of measurement invariance showed that the scale captured commitment for rank-and-file members but not for union stewards. The authors also found partial measurement invariance between long-time and newer members …


Steward Training In The Construction Industry: The United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America Faces The Challenge, Jeffrey Grabelsky Mar 2010

Steward Training In The Construction Industry: The United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America Faces The Challenge, Jeffrey Grabelsky

Jeffrey Grabelsky

[Excerpt] This article examines the development and delivery of the Carpenters union national construction steward training program. It describes the collaboration of the union and Cornell University in the design of the curriculum and the use of a train-the-trainer model in the delivery of the steward program in construction locals throughout the United States and Canada. Finally, it evaluates the effectiveness of the program in relation to the transfer of knowledge to participating stewards.


A Welfare Economic Analysis Of Labor Market Policies In The Harris-Todaro Model, Gary S. Fields Mar 2010

A Welfare Economic Analysis Of Labor Market Policies In The Harris-Todaro Model, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

This paper presents a welfare economic analysis of the benefits of various labor market policies in the Harris-Todaro labor market model. The policies considered are a policy of modern sector job creation, which I call modern sector enlargement (MSENL); a policy of rural development, which I call traditional sector enrichment (TSENR); and a policy of wage limitation in the urban economy, which I call modern sector wage restraint (MSWR). First, I analyze the inequality effects of these policies. I then perform two welfare economic analyses, the first based on summary measures of labor market conditions (total labor earnings, unemployment, inequality …


Re-Theorizing The Informal Economy In Western Nations: Some Lessons From Rural England, Colin C. Williams Jan 2010

Re-Theorizing The Informal Economy In Western Nations: Some Lessons From Rural England, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


Standing At A Crossroads: The Building Trades In The Twenty-First Century, Mark Erlich, Jeffrey Grabelsky Jan 2010

Standing At A Crossroads: The Building Trades In The Twenty-First Century, Mark Erlich, Jeffrey Grabelsky

Jeffrey Grabelsky

American building trades unions have historically played a critical and stabilizing role in the nation’s construction industry, establishing uniform standards and leveling the competitive playing field. Union members have enjoyed better than average wages and benefits, excellent training opportunities, and decent jobsite conditions. But in the last thirty years the industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. This article describes the decline in union density, the drop in construction wages, the growth of anti-union forces, the changes in labor force demographics, the shift toward construction management, and the emergence of an underground economy. It also analyzes how building trades unions have …


Strategic Segmentation In Frontline Services: Matching Customers, Employees, And Human Resource Systems, Rosemary Batt Jan 2010

Strategic Segmentation In Frontline Services: Matching Customers, Employees, And Human Resource Systems, Rosemary Batt

Rosemary Batt

This paper examines variation in the use of high involvement work practices in service and sales operations. I argue that the relationship between the customer and frontline service provider is a central feature that distinguishes production-level service activities from manufacturing. In particular, through strategic segmentation, firms are able to segment customers by their demand characteristics and to match the complexity and potential revenue stream of the customer to the skills of employees and the human resource system that shapes the customer-employee interface. Unlike manufacturing, where high involvement systems have emerged in a wide variety of product markets, therefore, service organizations …


Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, And Managers, Rosemary Batt Jan 2010

Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, And Managers, Rosemary Batt

Rosemary Batt

This paper offers a political explanation for the diffusion and sustainability of team-based work systems by examining the differential outcomes of team structures for 1200 workers, supervisors, and middle managers in a large unionized telecommunications company. Regression analyses show that participation in self-managed teams is associated with significantly higher levels of perceived discretion, employment security, and satisfaction for workers and the opposite for supervisors. Middle managers who initiate team innovations report higher employment security, but otherwise are not significantly different from their counterparts who are not involved in innovations. By contrast, there are no significant outcomes for employees associated with …


Human Resource Practices As Predictors Of Work-Family Outcomes And Employee Turnover, Rosemary Batt, P. Monique Valcour Jan 2010

Human Resource Practices As Predictors Of Work-Family Outcomes And Employee Turnover, Rosemary Batt, P. Monique Valcour

Rosemary Batt

Drawing on a non-random sample of 557 dual- earner white collar employees, this paper explores the relationship between human resource practices and three outcomes of interest to firms and employees: work-family conflict, employees’ control over managing work and family demands, and employees’ turnover intentions. We analyze three types of human resource practices: work-family policies, HR incentives designed to induce attachment to the firm, and the design of work. In a series of hierarchical regression equations, we find that work design characteristics explain the most variance in employees’ control over managing work and family demands, while HR incentives explain the most …


Spatial Variations In The Character Of Off-The-Books Entrepreneurship: Lessons From A Study Of Contrasting Districts In Moscow, Colin C. Williams Dec 2009

Spatial Variations In The Character Of Off-The-Books Entrepreneurship: Lessons From A Study Of Contrasting Districts In Moscow, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Although there is growing recognition that many entrepreneurs start-up trading partially or wholly off-the-books, few have evaluated whether the character of this hidden enterprise culture varies spatially. To begin to do so, this paper evaluates whether and how the nature of off-the-books entrepreneurship differs across an affluent, mixed and deprived district of Moscow. Drawing upon 313 face-to-face interviews, the finding is that wholly legitimate enterprises represent just the tip of the iceberg in Moscow. Beneath the surface in all the districts is a large hidden enterprise culture. However, off-the-books entrepreneurship in the affluent district is comprised more of registered businesses …


Entrepreneurship And The Informal Economy: An Overview, Colin C. Williams Dec 2009

Entrepreneurship And The Informal Economy: An Overview, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

In recent decades, the field of entrepreneurship studies has become increasingly interested in the relationship between entrepreneurship and the informal economy. This paper reviews this burgeoning sub-field of entrepreneurship studies that recognizes how entrepreneurs do not always conduct their business affairs wholly by the rulebook. Evaluating this rapidly growing body of literature, it reviews the findings regarding the preponderance of entrepreneurs to engage in the informal economy, the nature of such informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and the motives underpinning participation in such endeavor, along with the competing theories that have sought to explain engagement in this type …


Joining Up The Fight Against Undeclared Work In Europe, Colin C. Williams Dec 2009

Joining Up The Fight Against Undeclared Work In Europe, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Report to the European Commission on the feasibility of creating a platform for cooperation between labour inspectorates and other relevant monitoring and enforcement bodies, to prevent and fight undeclared work


Explaining The Off-The-Books Enterprise Culture Of Ukraine: Reluctant Or Willing Entrepreneurship?, Colin C. Williams Dec 2009

Explaining The Off-The-Books Enterprise Culture Of Ukraine: Reluctant Or Willing Entrepreneurship?, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

In recent years, there has been a growing realisation that beyond the realm of legitimate entrepreneurship is a large hidden enterprise culture composed of entrepreneurs conducting some or all of their trade off-the-books. Until now, however, few have evaluated how many entrepreneurs start-up their ventures trading off-the-books and why they do so. Reporting face-to-face interviews conducted in Ukraine during 2005-06 with 331 entrepreneurs, the finding is not only that the vast majority (90%) operate partially or wholly off-the-books but also that they are not all driven by necessity and as a last resort and survival strategy into entrepreneurship. Revealing how …