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Articles 1 - 30 of 64
Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations
New Deal Labor Policy And The Containment Of Radical Union Activity, Richard Hurd
New Deal Labor Policy And The Containment Of Radical Union Activity, Richard Hurd
Richard W Hurd
New Deal labor policies were designed with the stability of the capitalist economy in mind. Their pro-union provisions responded to labor militance and served to head off the formation of a radical working-class movement. The National Labor Relations Act established procedures which encouraged unions to pursue peaceful collective bargaining rather than a more activist course. Although the enforcement of pro-union policies was weak, the fact that they were adopted gave the impression that the state was sensitive to worker interests. When the crisis ended with the onset of World War II, the state reverted to an approach which more directly …
Learning From Clerical Unions: Two Cases Of Organizing Success, Richard W. Hurd
Learning From Clerical Unions: Two Cases Of Organizing Success, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
This paper summarizes two successful clerical organizing campaigns. The first case describes the District 65 campaign to gain representation rights and contract protection for the clerical employees of Columbia University. The discussion reviews the tactics employed to win a representation election, to maintain rank and file involvement during an extended legal battle, and to conduct a successful strike for a first contract. The second case describes a campaign by Teamsters Local 364 to achieve recognition and bargaining rights for public school secretaries in South Bend, Ind. Already members of an employee association, the secretaries sought to affiliate with the Teamsters …
You Can Fight City Hall—The Dover, N.H., Iaff Defeat Of Privatized Fire Protection, Richard W. Hurd
You Can Fight City Hall—The Dover, N.H., Iaff Defeat Of Privatized Fire Protection, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] In recent years public sector unions have faced an increasingly difficult bargaining environment. The combination of a sluggish economy, cutbacks in federal aid, and citizen resistance to tax increases have forced state and local governments to reduce expenditures. In many cases antiunion public officials have used their budgetary woes as an excuse to attack the unions that represent government employees. Although these attacks occasionally amount to blatant union-busting, they more frequently involve subtle efforts to erode contract protections, fringe benefits, or bargaining units. One of the most prevalent methods for weakening public sector unions is the practice of contracting …
A Retrospective On The Patco Strategy, Richard W. Hurd
A Retrospective On The Patco Strategy, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] The destruction of PATCO has been written off by most labor leaders as the inevitable result of an ill-conceived challenge to an anti-union U.S. President. Although there is widespread sympathy for the rank and file members who lost their jobs in an attempt to exercise collective bargaining rights in the best tradition of the U.S. labor movement, there is at the same time much disdain for the actions of the national officers of PATCO, most notably President Bob Poli. Although the criticisms of the officers are at least partially valid, it is important to recognize that the strategic miscalculations …
Progressive Union Organizing: The Seiu Justice For Janitors Campaign, Richard Hurd, William Rouse
Progressive Union Organizing: The Seiu Justice For Janitors Campaign, Richard Hurd, William Rouse
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] The Justice for Janitors campaign was conceived during a bitter labor dispute with Pittsburgh's Mellon Bank which started late in 1985. Mellon Bank, having just renewed an Service Employees International Union collective-bargaining agreement, replaced their former cleaning contractor with a nonunion company. The new contractor refused to honor the Mellon-SEIU labor accord and was willing to hire only half of Mellon's 80 janitors on a part-time basis with a substantial pay cut and no benefits. Mellon disclaimed any responsibility, stating that the dispute was strictly between the new cleaning contractor and the janitors. In response the SEIU called a …
Charting Their Own Future: Independent Organizing By Professional Workers, Richard W. Hurd, Elisabet Tenenholtz
Charting Their Own Future: Independent Organizing By Professional Workers, Richard W. Hurd, Elisabet Tenenholtz
Richard W Hurd
In 2000 a group of about 100 physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists, most of whom are employed on a contingent basis in the home care division of a Virginia-based health care corporation, performed a remarkable feat. They organized an independent union and won an NLRB election in the face of stiff employer opposition. The story of the Organization of Home Care Professionals (OHCP) is intriguing in its own right because these professionals initially and explicitly steered clear of affiliation with any established union, preferring to chart their own course aimed at blending aspects of unions and professional associations. …
Union-Free Bargaining Strategies And First Contract Failures, Richard W. Hurd
Union-Free Bargaining Strategies And First Contract Failures, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] The objective of this paper is to investigate what happens during first contract negotiations, especially the unproductive ones that do not result in an agreement. Complete files were reviewed of 54 first contract cases collected by the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Department in 1993. Nineteen of these cases were updated during 1995 with follow-up interviews. Interpretation of the case studies was facilitated by a detailed analysis of 195 responses to a 1994 first contract survey conducted by the AFL-CIO Task Force on Labor Law. The original research was supplemented with a review of recent NLRB decisions on surface bargaining and …
Strategies For Union Growth In Food Manufacturing And Agriculture, Richard W. Hurd
Strategies For Union Growth In Food Manufacturing And Agriculture, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
The labor force and employment conditions in agriculture differ considerably from those in food manufacturing. Furthermore, unionization in agriculture is at an embryonic stage, while in food manufacturing it is well established. Because of these dissimilarities prospects for union growth are not the same and the two industries are treated separately below.
Reinventing An Organizing Union: Strategies For Change, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Richard Hurd
Reinventing An Organizing Union: Strategies For Change, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Richard Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] Confronted by declining membership and market share as well as an erosion of bargaining strength and political influence, a sense of crisis now pervades many international unions. Some labor unions continue to adhere to programs and practices they have pursued for several decades. But others, faced with challenges so fundamental that their viability is at stake, have chosen to reexamine their basic policies and performance and to reorient their essential course. This paper evaluates the experience of four such international unions, all of which have recently embarked on strategic planning initiatives. Three of the unions – the Electrical Workers …
Structural Change And Union Transformation, Richard W. Hurd, Martin Behrens
Structural Change And Union Transformation, Richard W. Hurd, Martin Behrens
Richard W Hurd
Analysis of the role of structural change in labor movement revitalization is presented as part of a multicountry comparative project. There are two interrelated causal chains that explain successful union restructuring. First, there must be sufficient environmental pressure to overcome institutional inertia. Second, unions J need a clearly articulated vision that provides a basis for strategic decision making. Three viable motivations for restructuring are identified: aggressive, defensive, and strategic. Aggressive restructuring strengthens union leadership; defensive restructuring attempts to stabilize the union to assure survival. If the restructuring is merely aggressive or merely defensive, however, it will not contribute to a …
Organizing Activity Among University Clerical Workers, Richard W. Hurd, Adrienne M. Mcelwain
Organizing Activity Among University Clerical Workers, Richard W. Hurd, Adrienne M. Mcelwain
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] As union membership has declined and blue-collar employment has contracted, union organizers have shifted their attention to white-collar workers in the largely nonunion service sector. Interviews with union organizers indicate that a disproportionate share of this organizing activity has been aimed at college and university clerical employees. In order to gain a better understanding of this activity, two avenues of inquiry were pursued. Interviews were conducted with 48 union officials who have been involved in university clerical organizing. In addition, a questionnaire concerning the unionization of clerical workers was mailed in 1986 to personnel directors of all colleges and …
Strategic Diversity In Union Political Action: Implications For The 1992 House Elections, Richard W. Hurd, Jeffrey E. Sohl
Strategic Diversity In Union Political Action: Implications For The 1992 House Elections, Richard W. Hurd, Jeffrey E. Sohl
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] The purpose of this paper is to explore labor's strategic options in the 1992 elections. We will focus on House races because the diversity in political strategies among unions is most apparent there. However, our conclusions will have broader implications for union activity in elections at all levels of government. In evaluating the situation we will consider the impact of redistricting on labor's alternatives. We should note that recent developments have made many union political operatives more optimistic. The upset victory by populist Democrat Harris Wofford in the special Senate election in Pennsylvania, the eventual compromises on civil rights …
Reinventing An Organizing Union: Strategies For Change, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Richard Hurd
Reinventing An Organizing Union: Strategies For Change, Jeffrey Grabelsky, Richard Hurd
Jeffrey Grabelsky
[Excerpt] Confronted by declining membership and market share as well as an erosion of bargaining strength and political influence, a sense of crisis now pervades many international unions. Some labor unions continue to adhere to programs and practices they have pursued for several decades. But others, faced with challenges so fundamental that their viability is at stake, have chosen to reexamine their basic policies and performance and to reorient their essential course. This paper evaluates the experience of four such international unions, all of which have recently embarked on strategic planning initiatives. Three of the unions – the Electrical Workers …
Building Labor’S Power In California: Raising Standards And Expanding Capacity Among Central Labor Councils, The State Labor Federation, And Union Affiliates, Jeffrey Grabelsky
Building Labor’S Power In California: Raising Standards And Expanding Capacity Among Central Labor Councils, The State Labor Federation, And Union Affiliates, Jeffrey Grabelsky
Jeffrey Grabelsky
[Excerpt] For several years, the California Labor Federation has been engaged in a strategic planning process that began with a critical evaluation of a political setback in 2004 – losing an important statewide ballot initiative – and soon evolved into a systematic effort to elevate the performance of all the labor movement’s constituent parts. Spearheaded by a statewide Strategic Planning Committee, union leaders throughout the state have struggled to overcome organizational weaknesses, to develop a common and coherent program, to articulate standards and benchmarks to guide and track progress, to establish systems of accountability uncommon in the contemporary labor movement, …
Public Sector Unions: Will They Thrive Or Struggle To Survive?, Richard W. Hurd, Sharon Pinnock
Public Sector Unions: Will They Thrive Or Struggle To Survive?, Richard W. Hurd, Sharon Pinnock
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] There is emerging consensus among public sector union leaders at the national level1 that the threats they face today are eerily similar to those ignored by private sector unions 20 years ago. Privatization, reinventing government, a changing public sector work force, anti-government forces on Capitol Hill and in statehouses, union myopia, and member apathy all are taken with the utmost seriousness. The situation calls for a sophisticated strategic response. Because they are operating from a position of relative strength, public sector unions must be at the forefront of any effort to re-establish union influence in our society. With this …
Beyond Labor's Brawl: Strategic Conundrums Await, Richard W. Hurd
Beyond Labor's Brawl: Strategic Conundrums Await, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] The stark reality of the continuing decline of U.S. unions has precipitated an intense feud among labor's leaders, with thoughtful progressives lined up on opposite sides of the schism. It seems increasingly likely that the movement as we know it will disintegrate. What remains uncertain is whether this period of crisis and confusion can provide space for the type of radical innovation that is necessary to propel issues of voice, justice, and equality to the forefront of the nation's consciousness. Readers of Social Policy know well the contentious issues — top-down restructuring versus bottom-up mobilization for change, a coordinated …
Government Oversight, Union Democracy, And Labor Racketeering: Lessons From The Teamsters Experience, Michael H. Belzer, Richard W. Hurd
Government Oversight, Union Democracy, And Labor Racketeering: Lessons From The Teamsters Experience, Michael H. Belzer, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] In this paper we examine the federal courts' effort to clean up the Teamsters using legislation originally enacted to fight organized crime. Specifically, we look at the role of electoral democracy in this initiative and trace the experience through the 1991, 1996, and 1998 elections for Teamsters president. Once the story is told, we analyze the experience in the context of union democracy and also consider the relationship between democracy and labor movement transformation.
Reviving The American Labor Movement: Institutions And Mobilization, Richard W. Hurd, Ruth Milkman, Lowell Turner
Reviving The American Labor Movement: Institutions And Mobilization, Richard W. Hurd, Ruth Milkman, Lowell Turner
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] The reawakening of the American labor movement under new leadership with new strategic orientations is a remarkable chapter in late 20thcentury American economic and political history. Given up for dead by so many at home and abroad, under relentless attack from American employers and with government supports disappearing, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFLCIO) and a core of key member unions have re-emerged since the mid-1990s as prominent workplace, community and political actors. With both strategic reorientation and new local mobilization, these unions have fought to reverse decline and re-energize the movement. While the …
U.S. Labor 2006: Strategic Developments Across The Divide, Richard Hurd
U.S. Labor 2006: Strategic Developments Across The Divide, Richard Hurd
Richard W Hurd
The AFL-CIO and Change to Win have learned to co-exist without debilitating acrimony. The AFL-CIO has established Industry Coordinating Committees to facilitate cooperative bargaining and organizing ventures. On the political front, the AFL-CIO took the lead in labor’s 2006 electoral operations and conducted an extensive, efficient, and unified campaign. Change to Win unions worked together to build strategies for a growth agenda. The success of UNITE-HERE’s Hotel Workers Rising Campaign indicates the potential of this approach. Difficult challenges remain, but the strategic developments show signs of life and offer hope that labor may find a path to the future.
Professional Employees And Union Democracy: From Control To Chaos, Richard W. Hurd
Professional Employees And Union Democracy: From Control To Chaos, Richard W. Hurd
Richard W Hurd
[Excerpt] Much of the research on union democracy and almost all of the press coverage focuses on abuses of power at the top of the organization. I look at a case at the opposite end of the democracy spectrum. After an insurgent challenge to an established executive director toppled him from power, the chaos of democracy was unleashed in this small union of professional workers. The turmoil experienced by this organization for most of the past decade demonstrates that the democracy dilemma in unions cannot be successfully resolved by effective use of the democratic process alone and raises tentative questions …
After Bangladesh, Labor Unions Can Save Lives, Lance A. Compa
After Bangladesh, Labor Unions Can Save Lives, Lance A. Compa
Lance A Compa
[Excerpt] The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 workers should be a pivot point for the global apparel industry, moving consumers to demand more accountability from brand-name companies that subcontract production to supply-chain factories around the world. Sadly, the history of workplace tragedies in so many of these factories suggests that after consumers in rich countries express horror and call for reforms, the demands for better worker protections die down and the marketplace for cheap apparel abides. But this cycle can finally be broken if demands for change start to focus on workers’ right to form trade …
Bringing Unions Back In: Labour And Left Governments In Latin America, Maria Lorena Cook, Joseph C. Bazler
Bringing Unions Back In: Labour And Left Governments In Latin America, Maria Lorena Cook, Joseph C. Bazler
Maria Lorena Cook
In the 2000s an unprecedented wave of left-party victories in presidential elections swept across Latin America. Although scholars have studied variation among left regimes and how these regimes differ from neoliberal-era predecessors, few have addressed the role of labour unions and labour policy under the Left. We argue that ‘bringing unions back in’ to the analysis of left governments’ performance sharpens distinctions with neoliberal governments and unsettles existing typologies. We review the labour policies of left governments in four countries—Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina—to show how a labour lens enriches our understanding of left governments in the region.
Review Of The Book The Economic Analysis Of Unions: New Approaches And Evidence, Ronald G. Ehrenberg
Review Of The Book The Economic Analysis Of Unions: New Approaches And Evidence, Ronald G. Ehrenberg
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
[Excerpt] This book surveys, synthesizes, and critically analyzes the rapidly growing theoretical and empirical literature on unions and dispute resolution. The focus is primarily on the United States literature, although references to studies from Canada and the United Kingdom are also included. That the survey is complete and up-to-date is suggested by the thirty pages of references at the end of the book; a number of these are to papers that are still awaiting publication. The authors present a remarkably balanced treatment and, for the most part, do not allow their own ideological orientation toward unions to influence their analyses.
Labor Market Outcomes Of Deregulation In Telecommunications Services, Rosemary Batt, Michael Strausser
Labor Market Outcomes Of Deregulation In Telecommunications Services, Rosemary Batt, Michael Strausser
Rosemary Batt
[Excerpt] This paper examines the labor market outcomes of deregulation in the telecommunications industry, focusing specifically on changes in union density, real wages, wage inequality, and employment levels. Deregulation of telecommunications long distance and equipment markets began in 1984 with the dismantling of the highly unionized Bell System into AT&T (the long distance and equipment provider) and seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, the local service providers). Deregulation of local service has proceeded fitfully: while Congress intended to increase local competition with the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the RBOCs continue largely as monopoly providers. Despite only partial deregulation, …
Steelworkers' Victory At Ravenswood: Picket Line Around The World, Tom Juravich, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Steelworkers' Victory At Ravenswood: Picket Line Around The World, Tom Juravich, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner
The second in a two-part series details the sophisticated international campaign and grass-roots activism that gave labor one of its biggest wins in the '90s.
Locked Out But Holding Together In Ravenswood, Tom Juravich, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Locked Out But Holding Together In Ravenswood, Tom Juravich, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner
The first in a two-part series that details the Steelworkers' victory at Ravenswood Aluminum - one of labor's biggest wins in the '90s.
Workplace Change And The New Labor Movement, James Rundle, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Workplace Change And The New Labor Movement, James Rundle, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner
[Excerpt] The authors of this set of papers sharply critique, from a variety of perspectives, the approach to workplace change that has dominated labors thinking for decades. We have not attempted to balance these criticisms with arguments that labor can grow and prosper by fostering win-win methods and outcomes, because those arguments are well-known from a wide range of publications. Instead, we hope that these papers will stimulate and broaden the debate over a critical arena that has not been integrated with labor's new ambitions.
Organizing In The Nafta Environment: How Companies Use “Free Trade” To Stop Unions, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Organizing In The Nafta Environment: How Companies Use “Free Trade” To Stop Unions, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner
[Excerpt] These findings point to both an enormous challenge and a great opportunity for American unions. Clearly, under NAFTA and other free trade agreements more and more employers will feel emboldened to threaten to close the plant during organizing campaigns, and workers and unions will find organizing increasingly difficult. At the same time, unions have an opportunity to overcome these barriers to organizing if they commit enough resources to run large-scale, aggressive campaigns which mobilize the rank-and-file workers to build a union in their workplace, regardless of the intensity of the employer’s campaign.
Race, Gender, And The Rebirth Of Trade Unionism, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Dorian T. Warren
Race, Gender, And The Rebirth Of Trade Unionism, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Dorian T. Warren
Kate Bronfenbrenner
[Excerpt] Diversity is not the enemy of solidarity. We contend that solidarity can, and must, be built among an ever-diversifying labor movement, nation, and world. The labor movement's very survival depends on it.
Obits For Labor Unions Are Premature, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Obits For Labor Unions Are Premature, Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner
[Excerpt] The press recently declared the end of the labor movement. It reported on a major new study by Harvard economist Richard Freeman and Joel Rogers of the University of Wisconsin, suggesting that American workers would prefer cooperative relationships with management to traditional labor unions. Coupled with union membership at less than 16 percent of the work force and a new wave of far-from-pro-labor Republicans marching into Washington, many see this as definitive proof of labor's obsolescence. A more careful analysis, however, reveals that this is far from the truth.