Despite declines in private-sector union membership in the United States, labor relations remains an essential topic within the field of human resource management. However, most undergraduate students have little experience with labor unions, making it difficult to enhance learning by applying labor relations concepts to their prior experiences.…

On October 16, 2017, over 12,000 faculty, librarians, and counsellors in 24 independent postsecondary colleges in Ontario, Canada went on strike for the fourth time since they organized in 1971 as members of the Civil Service Association of Ontario and won their first collective agreement the next year. Begun as an apolitical, self-consciously…

Many often identified the Catholic Church with the cause of labor and worker's rights in the United States. However that was not the common situation encountered by laborers throughout most of the nineteenth century. The proclamation of the social encyclicals: Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (1891) and Pope Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno (1931)…

Two articles are presented in this column. "Life in an Auto Factory: Simulating how Labor and Management Interact" by Eric B. Freedman describes a classroom simulation of management and labor relations in an auto factory. Classroom handouts are included. The next article, "Women of Action and County Names: Mary Musgrove County--Why…

In October 2012, Premier Christy Clark announced government would consult with the education partners for the purpose of reviewing teacher bargaining structures and processes with the goal of providing a more stable learning environment for British Columbia students. The review looked for opportunities to achieve two priorities: (1) Create…

This paper provides a case study of the effect of labor relations on product quality. We consider whether a long, contentious strike and the hiring of replacement workers at Bridgestone/Firestone's Decatur, Illinois, plant in the mid-1990s contributed to the production of defective tires. Using several independent data sources and looking before…

Summarizes the history of bargaining units formed to represent professional employees and presents the results of a survey of officers of 40 professional staff unions. These unions resemble conventional unions in bargaining issues such as job security and salaries and in their relationship with management. They differ in their infrequent use of…

Inhumane working conditions led to a strike of Japanese silk spinners and formation of a union. Company repression provoked public opinion, resulting in acceptance of worker demands for recognition of human rights in the workplace. (SK)

Describes the French system of social relations and the trend toward weaker government intervention and stronger employer and labor roles. (AM)

Reviews the literature on the ways organized labor, management, government, financial institutions, and the mass media respond to worker strikes. Differences in organizational responses to contractual and wildcat strikes are compared. Countermovements, used by management and other supporting organizations, aimed at ending strikes are examined. (AM)

Suggests a comprehensive solution to the problem of how to prevent government employee strikes. (Author)