There has been a steady growth in courses for shop stewards in the United Kingdom in the last decade, much of which is a direct consequence of the increased involvement of the trade union. The authors look at the potential market for shop steward courses by drawing on replies from a national survey. (SSH)

The Weber Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 requires companies with 100 or more workers to provide 60 days' notice of plant closings and mass layoffs. What enforcing and even strengthening this law might mean is discussed. WARN might actually result in lower wages and more temporary workers. (SLD)

Scientific investigation begins with the null hypothesis which states that there is no relationship between sets of phenomena or sets of variables. This hypothesis is based on the philosophical and physical principle that there is a tendency toward disorder in the universe. This is also commonly referred to as the law of entropy. In order to…

A safety training program for line managers at the Du Pont Corporation is described by a training materials company president. The program is said to be more worker-oriented and cost-effective through training line managers to administer safety training programs to their subordinates instead of using safety staff specialists. (MF)

Consists of seven articles describing the newest developments in employee relations. Topics include (1) research at two centers studying employee relations, (2) comparisons between United States and United Kingdom systems, (3) unions, (4) displacement, and (5) forms of remuneration. (CH)

Four case studies are analyzed to demonstrate how situational and role constraints in organizations make nonparticipation the most practical adjustment for workers. Organizational settings are viewed as socializing contexts that teach workers what is expected, valued, and actually pays off. The implications of this view for other forms of worker…

This paper examines labor issues that affect school employees. It is divided into four sections: school reform; teacher compensation; scope of bargaining; and collaborative (nonadversarial) bargaining. The longest section, which focuses on various reform movements in the schools, examines accountability, school choice, and the questions…

Placing Florida in the context of national developments, this article examines the quality circle (QC) form, problems encountered with it, and approaches used to address these difficulties. It analyzes QCs in the state's public sector and discusses the implications for QC programs. (98 references) (Author/JOW)

A study was conducted to determine (1) which actions municipal employees consider important to a city's overall public relations effort, (2) the attitudes of city employees toward public service activities, (3) the relationship between attitude and job satisfaction, and (4) ways to improve employee attitudes and, perhaps, public service…

Describes the use of participative action research to solve problems of work-related employee injuries in a rural midwestern electronics plant by increasing employee involvement. The researchers established an employee problem-solving group that interviewed and surveyed workers, analyzed the results, and suggested new work arrangements. (Author/RW)

This book is designed to provide school administrators and labor leaders with ideas about how to improve school district labor relations by incorporating the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM). In schools that apply the principles of Total Quality Education (TQE)--that is TQM as it modified to school practice--labor and management can…

After pointing out possible prejudicial consequences of job restructuring both for occupational and economic interests of workers and for the structure and activities of the trade union movement, various trade union reactions and attitudes to work humanization are analyzed. Available from: ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211,…

Terminology in the training and human resources development field as used in various countries is defined and discussed, from "autonomous work groups" to "two-tier work structure." The author notes that the preferred term to indicate some kind of increased worker influence on organizational conduct seems to be "quality of…

Investigated potential outcomes for unions involved in joint union-management quality-of-worklife (QWL) efforts. Indicated that after QWL involvement, participants perceived a higher level of union influence in job areas where unions have not traditionally been involved. Noted an interaction between the perception of QWL success and union…

Presented are 16 practical rules based upon the experiences of successful managers that can help executives get more things accomplished by their subordinates. The rules include: delegate responsibility, acknowledge good work, schedule work breaks, encourage suggestions, and handle grievances promptly. (JMD)