Discusses factors which affect the rate of productivity (the end of the farm-to-nonfarm shift, increased foreign competition, more highly educated workforce, rising cost of energy). Also discusses worker concerns over job security and how these concerns are reflected in union demands. (CT)

Recent policy developments have involved adult educators and unions in work-related learning. However, an uncritical analysis of learning in the workplace risks aligning these activities with new forms of oppression and managerial control. (Contains 39 references.) (Author/SK)

Bjorkquist and Lewis's model for training research includes workers' concerns (autonomy, compensation, health, and worker-environment fit) as well as influences on training outcomes (performance deficiencies, learning conditions, and worker commitment). Rosen's reaction considers whether meaningful worker participation in planning can take place…

The history of the work environment and efforts to humanize it are related. Motivations for humanizing are discussed: worker welfare and the belief that worker satisfaction improves worker productivity. Efforts to increase humanization, such as legislation and efforts by labor unions, are also discussed. (CT)

Taking the view that job sharing is a positive alternative for workers and employers, this article defines job sharing in broad terms and describes its evolution from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to the present. The advantages, such as increased productivity, are felt to be impressive, but disadvantages also exist, including significant…

Provides a framework of analysis for determining whether workers' nonmonetary interests regarding the workplace are taken into account during the process of economic development. Argues for including attention to workplace quality and mechanisms for worker voice as a requirement for meaningful work. (JOW)

The author discusses a number of important factors having a bearing on the new requirements of workers' education. They include the expansion of workers' interests and trade unions' responsibilities, the expansion of collective bargaining, a movement toward effective tripartism, and the incorporation of rural workers into unions. (CT)

According to the author of this report, it is increasingly evident that teachers, through their unions and the bargaining process, are becoming more involved in the everyday decisionmaking process and policy development of school districts. A better understanding of the factors that influence union members' perceptions of union leadership…

In these addresses and panel and workshop presentations, experts from business, congressional, union, academic, and nonprofit association sectors provide a look at part-time employment issues of concern to workers, employers, and public policy officials. They describe the place of part-time workers in today's labor force; the needs of older…

Diverse opinions are held by workers, union officials, and labor researchers about the importance of the quality of working life to workers. Major issues in this debate focus on the following questions: (1) Is there a workers' movement to improve the quality of working life? (2) Do workers seek meaning and self-fulfillment in their jobs? (3) Can…

This publication summarizes the proceedings of the Conference of Union Officials on Issues Related to Labor-Management Cooperation in Quality of Worklife (QWL) Improvement Efforts (March 1979) and subsequently treats issues that emerged in more detail. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to QWL. A summary of the Washington, D.C. conference…

After describing Sweden's economic and political background, the author discusses its industrial democracy--workers' participation in management--and labor legislation, particularly the Act on Employee Participation in Decision-Making effective January 1, 1977. Contrasts beliefs in the unions' possible stranglehold of industry in co-determination…

In an effort to examine the role of international and local nonreferral unions in advancing the job status of minorities and women, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) conducted a national survey of unions and employers and completed a legal analysis of the duty of unions to represent their members fairly. Among the key findings of…

This report describes and analyzes the programs of the Education Fund of District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in New York City. The Education Fund is a program carried out by the union to provide a wide variety of educational curricula, many on its premises, for the union's thousands of…

These 17 articles on different subjects of the broader theme "lifelong learning" represent the latest results of the discussions of the Vocational Education and Culture Research Network. An introduction (Klaus Harney et al.) provides summaries of the contents. The articles are "The Global and International Discourse of Lifelong…