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Full-Text Articles in Business
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …