TY - BOOK T1 - Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector: The Experience of Eight States Y1 - 2015 A1 - Najita, Joyce M. A1 - James L. Stern KW - collective bargaining KW - legislation KW - public sector KW - public sector collective bargaining AB -

Unlike Europe, where most public sector workers have long been included in collective bargaining agreements, the United States excluded public employees from such legislation until the 1960s and 70s. Since then, union membership in the U. S. has grown more rapidly among public workers than among workers in the private sector. This book provides up-to-date information on public sector collective bargaining in the United States today. The editors' seek to understand the real nature of PSB by examining eight states where the action is taking place -- California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The chapters offer unique case studies of legal origins, developments, and challenges to collective bargaining; negotiations experience and outcomes; discussion of legislation; and emphasis of historical development as well as current practice.

PB - Routledge CY - New York L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Legislating The Right To Strike In China: Historical Development And Prospects JF - Journal of Industrial Relations Y1 - 2015 A1 - Chang, Kai A1 - Fang Lee Cooke KW - China KW - labor rights KW - legislation KW - strikes KW - trade unions AB -

The strike as a confrontational form of expression of labour disputes has become an unavoidable phenomenon in China. However, knowledge about the politico-historical context of the right to strike in China remains patchy, despite growing interest in labour activism in the Chinese context. We aim to fill this gap by examining the Chinese jurisprudence of labour rights in general and the right to strike specifically. We do so by examining the policy and political stance adopted by the Chinese Communist Party on strikes; analysing the historical development of the legislation of the right to strike in Socialist China; highlighting the key features of labour disputes; and contemplating the legal foundation of, and implications for legislating for, the right to strike in China. This knowledge is essential to understanding the changing dynamics of industrial actions and workers’ activism, with wider implications for foreign direct investment and the management of labour relations.

VL - 57 L2 - eng CP - 3 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Labour Market Institutions in Europe: Differences, Developments, Consequences and Reforms T2 - Let’s Get to Work! The Future of Labour in Europe. Vol. 1. Y1 - 2014 A1 - Koster, Ferry A1 - vanVliet, Olaf ED - M. Beblavý ED - I. Maselli ED - M. Veselková KW - active labor market policy KW - employment protection legislation KW - Europe KW - labor market KW - legislation KW - political economy KW - unemployment benefits AB -

Researchers investigating labour market institutions can focus on different aspects of the labour market. To begin with, they can look at the outcomes or at the policies contributing to these outcomes, or both. Others who focus on government policies are more interested in learning how governments can contribute to achieving full employment. This chapter examines how governments intervene in the labour market and the consequences of this intervention. This chapter is structured as follows. First, some specific questions regarding labour market institutions are explored: 1) Do Western and Eastern European countries differ regarding labour market institutions? 2) What are the consequences of labour market institutions for employment in innovation industries? 3) What role do active labour market policies play in processes of labour market reforms? We then present an overview of the most recent country differences and trends in employment protection legislation, unemployment benefits, and active labour market policies, in order to shed light on how these institutions have developed and may develop in the near future.

JA - Let’s Get to Work! The Future of Labour in Europe. Vol. 1. PB - Centre for European Policy Studies CY - Brussels L2 - eng UR - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2473122 ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Facts About Worker Safety and Health - 2012 Y1 - 2012 A1 - CIO AFL- KW - health regulation KW - health standards KW - job safety KW - legislation KW - Mine Safety and Health Act KW - MSHA KW - Occupational Safety and Health Act KW - OSHA KW - public policy AB -

[Excerpt] This year marks the 41st anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the effective date of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Act – which guarantees every American worker a safe and healthful working environment – created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set and enforce standards and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct research and investigations. This year also marks the 43rd anniversary of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, and 35th anniversary of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act.

PB - AFL-CIO CY - Washington, DC L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/laborunions/70/ ER - TY - JOUR T1 - What Can We Learn from NLRA to Create Labor Law for the 21st Century? (Presented at SYMPOSIUM: The National Labor Relations Act at 75: Its Legacy and its Future) JF - American Bar Association Journal of Labor & Employment Law Y1 - 2011 A1 - R. Freeman KW - Congress KW - labor law KW - legislation KW - NLRA L2 - eng UR - http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10060081/88348381.doc?sequence=1 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Your Rights in the Workplace (9th edition) Y1 - 2010 A1 - Repa, B. K. KW - employee rights KW - legislation KW - workers’ rights KW - workplace laws AB -

A guide that discusses employees’ rights at work, including wages and hours, family and medical leave (including the FMLA), and harassment and discrimination.

PB - Nolo Publishers CY - Berkeley, CA L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Measuring Progress Under China’s Labor Law: Goals, Processes, Outcomes JF - Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal Y1 - 2009 A1 - Josephs, H. K. KW - China KW - Employment Contract Law KW - labor law KW - labor rights KW - legislation KW - workers’ rights KW - workplace abuses AB -

In 2007 the PRC legislature approved a three-part package of statutes intended to improve on, and fill gaps left by, the Labor Law of 1994, which itself was the first major labor-related statute of the post-reform period. This article will focus on the first of the three laws to be passed, and the most significant, the Employment Contract Law (ECL). The ECL clearly demonstrates maturation of the legislative process, especially with respect to representation of various interest groups and an effort to gather input from a wide range of perspectives. The ECL further exemplifies the influence of prior law-making by the courts and by administrative agencies, in essence, codifying earlier subsidiary forms of law. In terms of responding to egregious workplace abuses, the ECL corrects in some ways for the inherent imbalance of economic power between employers and employees. However, the ECL does not provide a legal basis for the establishment of unions or quasi-unions independent of the control of the Chinese Communist Party. In that sense, the ECL still does not constitute that crucial breakthrough which international labor rights activists have eagerly awaited. The spread of "decent working conditions" in China will continue to depend on an overall improvement in living standards and the government's willingness to prioritize equity concerns ahead of growth.

VL - 30 L2 - eng UR - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1294909 CP - 2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Employment Law as Labor Law JF - Cardozo Law Review Y1 - 2008 A1 - B. Sachs KW - labor law KW - labor relations KW - legislation KW - NLRA AB -

Seventy years after Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the scholarly consensus is that American labor law has become ossified. As I have argued elsewhere, however, while the NLRA is undoubtedly dysfunctional, the blockage of this traditional channel for collective action has led not to ossification, but to a hydraulic effect: unable to find an outlet through the NLRA, the continuing demand for collective action has forced open alternative legal channels.

This article explores the first of these new channels, which I name employment law as labor law. The article presents detailed accounts of collective campaigns in which workers turn to employment law, in particular the Fair Labor Standards Act and Title VII, as the legal architecture that facilitates and protects their collective activity. This legal architecture, provided here by employment statutes, is one we conventionally call labor law.

Drawing upon and moving beyond these descriptive accounts, the article offers a theoretical model that explains how employment law's individual rights regime can galvanize, insulate, and generate workers' collective action. By revealing employment law's capacity to foster collective action, moreover, the article provides a new way of understanding the relationship between labor law and employment law. The model developed here disputes the claim that labor and employment law constitute distinct - and inimical - regulatory regimes.

Finally, the article contends that employment law's ability to foster collective action invites future inquiry into the possibility for a great trade in labor law reform: a new regime that provides strong safeguards for the early stages of collective action but retreats from the cradle-to-grave regulation that has defined, and ultimately undermined, the NLRA.

VL - 29 L2 - eng UR - http://cardozolawreview.com/Joomla1.5/content/29-6/SACHS.29.6.pdf CP - 6 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - America Works: Critical Thoughts on the Exceptional US Labor Market Y1 - 2007 A1 - R. Freeman KW - Europe KW - government regulation KW - labor market KW - legislation AB -

The U.S. labor market is the most laissez faire of any developed nation, with a weak social safety net and little government regulation compared to Europe or Japan. Some economists point to this hands-off approach as the source of America’s low unemployment and high per-capita income. But the stagnant living standards and rising economic insecurity many Americans now face take some of the luster off the U.S. model. In America Works, noted economist Richard Freeman reveals how U.S. policies have created a labor market remarkable both for its dynamism and its disparities.

America Works takes readers on a grand tour of America’s exceptional labor market, comparing the economic institutions and performance of the United States to the economies of Europe and other wealthy countries. The U.S. economy has an impressive track record when it comes to job creation and productivity growth, but it isn’t so good at reducing poverty or raising the wages of the average worker. Despite huge gains in productivity, most Americans are hardly better off than they were a generation ago. The median wage is actually lower now than in the early 1970s, and the poverty rate in 2005 was higher than in 1969. So why have the benefits of productivity growth been distributed so unevenly? One reason is that unions have been steadily declining in membership. In Europe, labor laws extend collective bargaining settlements to non-unionized firms. Because wage agreements in America only apply to firms where workers are unionized, American managers have discouraged unionization drives more aggressively. In addition, globalization and immigration have placed growing competitive pressure on American workers. And boards of directors appointed by CEOs have raised executive pay to astronomical levels. Freeman addresses these problems with a variety of proposals designed to maintain the vigor of the U.S. economy while spreading more of its benefits to working Americans. To maintain America’s global competitive edge, Freeman calls for increased R&D spending and financial incentives for students pursuing graduate studies in science and engineering. To improve corporate governance, he advocates licensing individuals who serve on corporate boards. Freeman also makes the case for fostering worker associations outside of the confines of traditional unions and for establishing a federal agency to promote profit-sharing and employee ownership.

Assessing the performance of the U.S. job market in light of other developed countries’ recent history highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the free market model. Written with authoritative knowledge and incisive wit, America Works provides a compelling plan for how we can make markets work better for all Americans. (publisher's statement)

PB - Russell Sage Foundation CY - New York L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Union Mergers in the United State and Abroad JF - Journal of Labor Relations Y1 - 2004 A1 - Chaison, G. KW - industrial relations KW - labor movement KW - legislation KW - union mergers AB -

[Excerpt] It might seem to many that the study of union mergers is an esoteric speciality in industrial relations--the work of a small group of scholars who write mostly for each other in a common language and who work together for a better understanding of why and how unions merge. There is some truth to this--mergers are studied by a small, but active, group of researchers--but actually there is little communication among them and cross-fertilization in their work. Research on union mergers is seldom replicated or extended by anyone other than its originator. Theories of union mergers are rarely debated at conferences or in journals. The body of research on mergers expands but by moving in several directions at once without any sense of common purpose or method.

The idiosyncratic character of research on union mergers contrasts with the broad interest in the topic. Mergers have always fascinated academics, practitioners, and the public because they raise some fundamental questions about unions; Are bigger unions better unions? Is there a future for small, highly specialized unions? Are workers and the public best served by a streamlined labor movement consisting of only a few large, industry-based unions with very little competition between them?

....

The theme of this literature review is the need for a common foundation for research on union mergers. I demonstrate this need by reviewing the approaches to studying union mergers, asking what is known and not known about mergers, and suggesting an agenda that can draw together divergent streams of research.

VL - 25 L2 - eng CP - 1 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Governing the Workplace: The Future of Labor and Employment Law Y1 - 1990 A1 - Weiler, P. C. KW - employment law KW - labor law KW - legislation KW - Reagan AB -

Labor lawyer Paul C. Weiler examines the social and economic changes that have profoundly altered the legal framework of the employment relationship. He not only discusses a wide range of issues, from wrongful dismissal to mandatory drug testing and pay equity, but he also develops a blueprint for the reconstruction of the law of the workplace, especially designed to give American workers more effective representation. (publisher's statement)

PB - Harvard University Press CY - Cambridge, MA L2 - eng ER -