Mutual gains negotiation is an innovative system that emphasizes interests instead of positions and problem solving instead of preconceived solutions. The process can reverse social disintegration, reverse worker alienation, and address a shifting educational environment. It can resolve difficult labor-management problems such as contracting out,…

Case study of a Canadian aluminum smelter through 15 interviews, observation, and employee survey (n=214) revealed high commitment, acceptance of change, and worker independence from management. This pattern emerged from a traditionally strong union presence. Comparison with other cases underlines the centrality of collective organization to…

Analysis of data from a 1998 telecommunications industry survey indicates that institutional pressures and human resource strategies contribute to adoption of nonunion dispute resolution procedures. Employment rights litigation and court deferral to nonunion arbitration led to an increase in mandatory arbitration procedures. Threat of unionization…

Discusses the value and function of environmental and/or safety committees (ESCs) as tools for companies that want to raise their consciousness of environmental and safety issues and define and solve problems through the joint efforts of management and labor. (LZ)

The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey of 2,353 companies showed sporadic employee participation in decision making. Although case studies of Ford Motor, Australia Post, Lend Lease, Telecom Australia, and Woodlawn Mining illustrate successful programs, most managers appear cautious about industrial democracy. (SK)

Includes "AWIRS (Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey) and Productivity" (Wooden); "Workplace Productivity and Joint Consultation" (Alexander, Green); "Impact of Unions on Workplace Productivity in Australia" (Crockett et al.); and "AWIRS and Workplace Performance" (Drago, Wooden). (SK)

Labor law reform centers on competitiveness considerations rather than ethics. A social justice perspective suggests religious arguments (dignity of work, accountability) and economic arguments (fairness, democracy) for changing labor law. (SK)

Interviews with 32 British union representatives and a survey of 200 auto workers found that union strength was renewed because of new management techniques in industry, which have increased local autonomy. Unions are directly engaged in the issues involved in teamwork, quality control, and flexible manufacturing. (SK)

Using data from two integrated steel-making sites, variation in the process and outcomes of workplace restructuring was studied. Four union capabilities were critical to success in negotiating with management over workplace restructuring: ability to access information, educate members, communicate with management, and access decision making at…

Transcripts of interviews with trade union trainers in Australia identified contradictory discourses: discourse of struggle and discourse on the economy. Some training activities focused on consensus building in workplace relations, but trainers' informal theories acknowledged the power imbalance between the working class and management. (SK)

In the 1930s-1940s, personality inventories measuring psychopathology were used to identify job applicants who might be union sympathizers. Some managers believed that engagement in union activity correlated with psychological problems. Industrial psychologists' involvement in this practice raises ethical questions. (Contains 93 references.) (SK)

Unless unions can gain a greater role in decision making on the content of work, they risk losing members to management-controlled participation schemes. (JOW)

This article presents a discussion of the development of Jeongyojo or the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers Union from its emergence as a social movement in the late 1980s to its current status and prominent campaigns. The article identifies certain aspects of South Korean history and culture that have shaped the distinctive identity of this…

Since the mid-1980s, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has carried out a number of studies on the issues of labor market flexibility under the supervision of the Manpower and Social Affairs Committee and its Working Party on Industrial Relations. While much of the previous work focused on the external forms of labor…

This guide is intended as a brief primer for the employer or employee new to public sector labor relations. A simple step-by-step approach to labor relations includes techniques for analysis of state enabling legislation, union self-perpetuation, scope of bargaining, preparing for and winning bargaining, settling disputes, solving contract…