Monograph examining effects of government policies on collective bargaining in the construction industry in Canada - discusses labour relations, collective agreements, trade unionism, labour disputes, strikes, wages developments, centralization and decentralization of bargaining and trends, comments on legislation concerning bargaining unit accreditation, and includes a case study of British Columbia and comparison of bargaining structure. References and statistical tables.
This comprehensive textbook provides an introduction to collective bargaining and labor relations with a focus on developments in the United States. It is appropriate for students, policy analysts, and labor relations professionals including unionists, managers, and neutrals. A three-tiered strategic choice framework unifies the text, and the authors’ thorough grounding in labor history and labor law assists students in learning the basics. In addition to traditional labor relations, the authors address emerging forms of collective representation and movements that address income inequality in novel ways. Harry C. Katz, Thomas A. Kochan, and Alexander J. S. Colvin provide numerous contemporary illustrations of business and union strategies. They consider the processes of contract negotiation and contract administration with frequent comparisons to nonunion practices and developments, and a full chapter is devoted to special aspects of the public sector. An Introduction to U.S. Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations has an international scope, covering labor rights issues associated with the global supply chain as well as the growing influence of NGOs and cross-national unionism. The authors also compare how labor relations systems in Germany, Japan, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa compare to practices in the United States. The textbook is supplemented by a website (ilr.cornell.edu/scheinman-institute/research/introduction-us-collective-bargaining-and-labor-relations) that features an extensive Instructor’s Manual with a test bank, PowerPoint chapter outlines, mock bargaining exercises, organizing cases, grievance cases, and classroom-ready current events materials.
Tripartism—the national-level interaction among representatives of labor, management, and government—occurs infrequently in the United States. Based on the U.S. experience, then, such interactions might seem irrelevant to economic performance and policymaking. The essays in this volume reveal the falsity of that assumption. Contributors from eight industrialized countries (Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States) examine the changing nature of labor-management relations, with a particular focus on the role of tripartism and the decentralization of collective bargaining. Although nonexistent in the United States and on the decline in Japan and Australia, tripartism flourishes in Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands, expanding beyond traditional corporatist partners to include women's organizations, senior citizens, and other representatives of "civic society." The vibrancy of the coordinating mechanisms that help shape employment conditions and labor policy contradicts the traditional belief that an overpowering unilateral decentralizing shift is underway in labor-management interactions. The contributors show that these mechanisms are in fact increasing in the face of intensified pressures, promoting greater flexibility in work organization and working time.
Based on a survey of all national business associations, and interviews with many interest-group executives, Business and Politics outlines the wide variety of roles assumed by interest groups in the Canadian policy process. Coleman argues that the present fragmention of business interests makes consultation with major socio-economic producer groups highly unlikely. Instead, adjustment takes place as a series of ad hoc bailouts related to an electoral calculus rather than to a more reflective consideration of the longer-term evolution of the Canadian economy and the relative economic position of Canadians. As there are no organizations that prompt business to take a broad look at its responsibilities to society at large, some economic policy options that political leaders might want to consider are ruled out. Attempts to redress difficulties in the Canadian economy and social welfare system consequently suffer. Coleman concludes that the business community is not appropriately accountable to Canadians for its actions, nor is it sufficiently organized to assume the political responsibilities that come with the private economic power it possesses. He argues that Canada could benefit from examining models of the political institutions in smaller European states and adopting some of their solutions for reform in this country.
International and Comparative Industrial Relations (1987) analyses the factors which have shaped industrial relations in a range of different countries, including the characteristics of the major groups and parties concerned, and the nature and types of bargaining relationships which have evolved. A substantial comparative chapter examines trends within market economies as a whole, and a statistical appendix provides some valuable comparative labour market data. Each chapter follows a similar format, with an examination of the environment of industrial relations – economic, legal, social and political – and the major players – unions, employers and governments. Then follow descriptions of the main processes of industrial relations, such as local and centralised collective bargaining, arbitration and mediation, joint consultation and employee participation. Important topics are picked out, such as labour law reform, industrial democracy, technological change and incomes policy.
The product of an October 1993 conference on labor law reform jointly sponsored by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell U. and the Department of Economic Research at the AFL-CIO, this volume both argues the need for fundamental reform of the legal and institutional underpinnings o
Breaking new ground and drawing on contributions from the leading academics in the field, this notable volume focuses specifically on industrial relations. Informative and revealing, the text provides an overview of the industrial relations systems of nine regions (North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and India) and is divided into two distinct sections covering: regional variations in global industrial relations systems contemporary themes in global industrial relations. Combining both systems and thematic issues, this important new text is invaluable reading for postgraduates and professionals in the fields of human resources management, industrial relations and business and management as well as anyone studying or interested in the issues surrounding global industrial relations.
