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The bulk of this position paper consists of statements in opposition to a September 2001 referendum on adopting 'right-to-work' (RTW) legislation in Oklahoma. The statements are by Joan Fitzgerald, William Sschweke, Raymond Hogler, Steven Shulman, Stephan Weiler, Ann Markusen, Robert G. Lynch, David R. Howell, James Galbraith, Colin Gordon, Wim Wiewel, Mark Cassell, Philip Shapira, Chris Tilly and Andrew Reamer and make the following points: (1) RTW results in low pay and income polarization; (2) RTW has limited positive effects on job creation and economic development and significant social costs; (3) in a global economy, RTW primarily attracts low wage firms, which are later easily lured away; (4) other factors, such as a highly skilled workforce, infrastructure, vibrant communities, and a clean environment are often more important in attracting businesses than low labor costs; (5) RTW encourages low wages resulting in lower tax receipts and more need for social services; (6) fewer high skill jobs will result in the out-migration of higher education graduates and skilled workers; and (7) nurturing home-grown businesses and start-ups has recently become a preferred economic development strategy over luring businesses from elsewhere. (CG)

The U.S. agricultural labor market is already, in many respects, a binational one, and it will become increasingly one in which workers who are born in Mexico will follow a variety of worklife trajectories that take them back and forth between both countries. Recognition of this reality has important implications for policy development and program planning. For example, improved research, program redesign, and innovation, coupled with a commitment to binational collaboration can give rise to more effective and cost-effective interventions that will improve the employment security and economic well-being of migrant and seasonal farm workers, especially teenage farm workers. Four broad areas of initiatives where action is needed as part of recognizing and responding to the current reality of a binational agricultural workforce can be recommended: immigrant policy, migrant education, farm worker employment training, and labor law enforcement. Several issues and options should be explored in order to improve transnational migrant teenagers' workforce security: (1) binational eligibility for unemployment insurance; (2) binational strategies to deter the employment of very young teenagers in the US farm labor force; (3) skills development programs to develop basic and transferrable skills for transnational migrant farm workers; (4) formation of a Binational Collaborative to inform transnational migrants about US labor law; and (5) education and employment training components in efforts to link remittances and public investment in rural development in migrant-sending areas. (Contains 31 footnotes.) (KC)

In the United States today, too many hardworking people are unable to earn enough through work to support their families. Policymakers can help change this situation by taking the following steps: (1) keep work central; (2) promote family-supporting work; (3) invest in education and work skills; (4) make it easier for individuals to stay employed and advance; (5) make it easier for employers to hire, train, and support low-skill, low-wage workers; (6) and promote public and private sector policies in education, economic development, and workforce development that help low-wage workers become more productive and help the employers who hire them improve the quality of available jobs. Congress should take the following actions to increase economic opportunities for low-wage workers: (1) reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in ways that promote labor market advancement; (2) strengthen the emerging workforce development system; (3) reform Unemployment Insurance to increase access and coverage for low-wage workers; (4) make it easier for those who are already working to gain postsecondary credentials; (5) provide employers with incentives to train and support low-wage workers; (6) structure individual tax relief to reward work and help low-income families; and (7) encourage employers to raise entry-level wages. (MN)

In an effort to stimulate discussion and provide a tool for policymakers and practitioners in developing effective child-centered programs that protect children from hazardous and exploitative labor, this paper examines ways in which work can contribute to, as well as harm, children's development; it also aims to provide a conceptual framework for assessing whether work is helpful or harmful to children. The paper explains how involving working children themselves in policy and action to address their problems results in more effective action and contributes to children's development. Noting that treating working children as intelligent and resourceful, and developing solutions in conjunction with them, may strengthen their psychological development and ability to cope with difficulties, the paper maintains that child-centered action on child labor requires concerted action by governments to address poverty, provide quality education, and implement laws protecting children from abuse. Such action also requires public awareness-raising and changing attitudes so that employers and parents match children's responsibilities with their capacities; so that policymakers, practitioners, and consumers differentiate between developmental and harmful work; and so that working children's views are solicited and used. The paper concludes with a range of practical ways to ensure that any work that children do is safe and healthy for them and promotes their development. These include specific measures that employers can take, an enhanced role for trade unions in ensuring that children of legal working age are protected in the workplace, and suggestions for educational changes to increase its effectiveness for and relevance for working children. (KB)

Recognizing the vulnerability of working children to possible exploitation and abuse, this report examines remunerated and unremunerated work performed by children worldwide, ranging from child labor in factories and agriculture to work conducted within the family household. Section 1 of the report describes the scale and importance of children's work, considers children's work within the context of childhood, and focuses on the ethical debate regarding children's work. Section 2 discusses the causes of children working, including macro-level poverty and inequality, household poverty, social attitudes, and biases against girls' education. Section 3 assesses the costs and benefits of child work. Section 4 describes interventions to address poverty, improve children's working conditions, regulate or eliminate child work, and increase working children's participation in education. Section 5 details 10 recommendations for improving the lives of working children: (1) measuring impact of interventions; (2) obtaining working children's participation; (3) incorporating micro-macro linkages in programming; (4) combining intervention approaches; (5) developing more precise criteria to assess risks and hazards; (6) defining exploitation; (7) reviewing institutional issues to identify ways to improve coordination between different actors in relation to child work; (8) continuing social impact assessment; (9) awareness-raising; and (10) continuing research on child work. The appendices discuss a framework and criteria for assessing interventions, the nature of hazards and the forms of exploitation faced by working children, and international legislation relating to child labor. Contains 102 references. (Author/KB)

In Fiscal Year 1997, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has an estimated budget of $34.4 billion and is authorized 16,614 full-time-equivalent staff-years. DOL's many programs fall into two major categories: enhancing workers' skills through job training and ensuring worker protection. The DOL's work force development mission is being challenged by the federal government's patchwork of job training programs, which are characterized by overlap/duplication. Although the responsibility for delivering the employment training services required by recently passed welfare-to-work legislation rests with state and local governments, the DOL will likely be called upon to encourage/facilitate and integrate needed employment training services. For the past 2 years, the DOL has worked to use its resources more efficiently and make its worker protection efforts more service oriented. With regard to its worker protection mission, the DOL faces regulatory challenges in two specific areas: redesigning the wage determination process under the Davis-Bacon Act and developing and enforcing regulations regarding portability of employer-provided health insurance. In response to recent legislation designed to improve federal agencies' management practices, the DOL is working to improve its management practices, mission performance, financial reporting, and information management and use of information technology. (MN)

The Department of Labor's (DOL's) worker protection functions touch the lives of nearly every worker. Its approaches to carrying out these functions may have met the needs of an earlier time, but today's work world presents new demands and challenges to the federal government's traditional role. Today it is time to question the DOL's role in the areas of worker protection and work force development. According to employers and employees, DOL's approach needs the following: greater service orientation, improved communication, increased employers' and workers' accessibility to compliance information, and expanded meaningful input into the standard-setting and enforcement processes. By developing alternative regulatory strategies that supplement and, in some instances, replace its current labor-intensive approach, the DOL can carry out its statutory responsibilities in a less costly, more effective manner. Similarly, in the work force development area, the nation's job training programs have become increasingly fragmented and unclear. What exists today, spread across many federal agencies, is a patchwork of federal programs with similar goals, conflicting requirements, overlapping populations, and questionable outcomes. The roughly $20 billion appropriated in fiscal year 1995 for job training assistance to adults and out-of-school youth is disbursed to 15 agencies, including the DOL, which supports 163 separate programs. The current situation suggests that a major overhaul and consolidation of programs is needed to create a more efficient, effective work force development system. (This report contains two appendixes: (1) major statutes and executive orders governing workplace regulation and (2) list of 45 publications on work force development and worker protection.) (KC)

Colleges in the United Kingdom are currently undergoing significant shifts in how staff and faculty contracts are restructured and this paper takes a close look at why this process is going on, its legal ramifications, and how administrators can manage it. An introduction describes the background to the current trends and explores various ways of organizing and categorizing administrator levels and responsibilities. The next section looks at why a college might decide to change contracts and the following section explores how some college administrators have achieved contract change by offering significant improvements or by capitalizing on retirements, resignations, or promotions. A section on future possibilities suggests ways that faculty pay rates may be more directly related to their duties. The following section, on legal questions, reviews central features of a college employment contract, specific issues (such as contract variations), explicit variation with consent of all parties, termination of the contract, key features of the contract change process, imposed contract change through dismissal and re-engagement, and two phases of imposed contract change. A section on the administrator's role explores effective delivery of new terms and conditions, staff responses and relations, and a checklist of 14 key areas that administrators should address. An appendix lists 14 options for gradual change. (Contains 15 references.) (JB)

This special edition of the "AACC Letter" is part of a continuing effort by the AACC to keep community colleges current with developments related to the School-To-Work (STW) Transition legislation, which President Clinton signed into law on May 4, 1994. The newsletter begins with a summary of the AACC's efforts to influence bill language that would be favorable to community college participation in STW, a list of upcoming STW-related AACC professional development activities, and a statement encouraging state directors for community college education to become involved in the development of STW partnerships in their states. Next, a summary is provided of the School-To-Work Opportunities Act, which seeks to end the fragmentation of programs that are designed to help young people learn the skills to prepare them for high-skill, high-wage jobs. The act provides $300 million dollars in federal assistance to states to develop and implement a STW transition system. The next sections provide an update on the present and future status of the STW implementation grant process, including information on the: (1) purposes for which states may apply for joint Education and Labor Department planning grants; (2) necessary components of one-time state implementation grant proposals; (3) local implementation grants, including the uses which may be made by local partnerships of grant funding; (4) provisions in the law which allow states to request a waiver from several federal statutory or regulatory provisions; (5) combining funds for low income schools to maximize the effective use of all potential resources; and (6) the three different STW funding streams dedicated to state efforts, local partnership grants, and high poverty grants. (KP)

This document contains testimony from two Senate hearings on the Reemployment and Training Act of 1994 by U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and other witnesses concerning the Act and the need for changes in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to notify employees of impending layoffs. According to Reich, the Reemployment and Training Act is a response to the problem of long-term unemployment and the need to retrain workers dislocated from older industries and prepare them for high-skills jobs in emerging industries. The Reemployment Act rests on four core principles: (1) universal access and program consolidation; (2) customer focus, giving workers a range of options and letting them choose the services they need to get the next job; (3) market-driven retraining; and (4) accountability. The Reemployment Act includes five titles. Title I establishes a comprehensive program for dislocated workers, regardless of the cause of dislocation. Title II establishes a program of income support for permanently dislocated workers while they are pursuing courses of retraining. Title III establishes a national program of grants and waivers to encourage and enable states to develop networks of one-stop career centers; Title IV establishes a national labor market information system to provide universal access to information about where the jobs are and the skills that the jobs require. Title V gives the Secretary of Labor authority to waive federal laws to empower states and localities to streamline job training programs for disadvantaged persons. Witnesses at the second hearing included the following: laid-off workers who testified about the need for retraining; officials of several job training programs who suggested what works in job retraining; and city officials, job training managers, and laid-off workers who testified about how the WARN Act works and how the legislation should be strengthened. (KC)

This paper highlights some of the similarities and differences in the labor-management experiences of Boston University (Massachusetts), Temple University (Pennsylvania), the University of Bridgeport (Connecticut), and Yeshiva University (New York) to determine which may represent failures and which do not. In comparing the Yeshiva and Boston University cases, it is argued that collective bargaining did not fail. Rather these cases point to the need for changes in the National Labor Relations Act as it applies to union organizing drives and unit determinations. It is suggested, however, that the Temple University case did represent a failure of collective bargaining when one side clearly misused the bargaining process by knowingly hurting bystanders who were not part of the negotiations in order to achieve its ends. Finally, it is argued that the University of Bridgeport case, more than any of the others, represents a tragic failure of collective bargaining by using devices to cut costs in the face of a severe financial crisis which effectively blocked members of the faculty association from providing meaningful input to help cope with the particular crisis. The paper concludes with the observation that today's labor laws discourage mature dialogue between management and labor and foster destructive adversarial relationships. (Contains 12 references.) (GLR)

This policy paper defines apprenticeship in terms of eight essential components, explains what apprenticeship is not, and recommends how the term should be used. As defined by the eight components, apprenticeship is: (1) a training strategy that combines supervised, structured, on-the-job training with related instruction and that is sponsored by employers or labor/management groups; (2) a training strategy that prepares people for skilled employment with content defined by the industry--completion may take up to 5 years; (3) a strategy with requirements that are legally defined; (4) a training strategy that leads to a legal certification of completion and journeyworker status; (5) a training strategy that requires a sizable commitment on the part of the employer or labor/management group; (6) a strategy that pays wages to participants; (7) a strategy that involves learning by working with masters of the craft; and (8) a strategy that involves a written agreement and social obligation between the program sponsor and the apprentice. According to the paper, apprenticeship is not cooperative education, vocational education, "tech prep," two plus two, summer or part-time work experiences, or other training programs. The paper recommends that the term "apprenticeship" should be reserved only for those programs that adhere to the eight essential components. (KC)

This monograph, fourth in a series on labor development, focuses on child exploitation in the context of child labor. The collection of papers briefly discusses (1) the relation between conditions of poverty and the prevalence of child labor in developing countries; (2) the lack of effectiveness of labor legislation in preventing child exploitation in developing countries; (3) the negative effects of menial labor on the cognitive and physical development, health and social mobility of child workers; (4) considerations in setting minimum age laws concerning child labor; and (5) proposals to protect children who are obliged to work. Also included are the Declaration of the Rights of the Child as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and two statements by the International Labor Organization Convention 138 and Recommendation 146 concerning minimum age for admission to employment. (SS)

This collection of reports on the measurement and meaning of unemployment consists of 13 papers devoted to some of the deficiencies in youth employment statistics, some of the necessary considerations in their implications, and many of the issues involved in their application to assess program impacts. Analyzed first are the youth labor force statistics obtained from the Current Population Survey and the National Longitudinal Surveys. Teenage entry and exit into the labor market and unemployment flows are discussed. Also examined are job search implications of the transition from school to work and the role of work attitudes and labor market knowledge in establishing stable and successful employment careers. Following a description of economic and sociocultural variables affecting rates of employment are explored. The effects of child labor laws on youth programs are investigated. Included is a discussion of social development and group selection, methods of allocating funds to alleviate teenage unemployment, and the cost of lowering youth unemployment. (MN)

Following introductory sections concerning the history of collective bargaining and the distinctions between the public and private sectors that affect labor relations, this document presents approaches that managers in the public sector can take when dealing with employees. The author notes the government's responsibility in the growth of unionization and describes the concepts and purposes of unionization in the private and public sectors. Arguing that government's statutory responsibility to provide services and its monopolistic control of those services give unions unfair advantages and deny the public its rightful control over government activities, the author proposes methods for resisting unionization. The document next discusses the handling of employee complaints and describes managers' rights to unionize and to bargain collectively. Two chapters of the document cover crucial steps for public agencies to take before and after beginning negotiations. A final chapter discusses administration of the contract. (PGD)

These Congressional hearings contain testimony pertaining to the passage of women's career choice equity legislation. The hearings were convened to determine whether federal law, either directly or indirectly, regulates economic opportunities for women in such a way as to alter their career choice between paid employment and homemaking. During the hearings, testimony was provided by representatives from the Social Security Administration, the American Association of Retired Persons, and Eagle Forum. (MN)

In 1982 plant closings in the United States affected approximately 1 percent of the country's manufacturing facilities and 1 percent of its manufacturing labor force. Included among the reasons cited for plant closings were low productivity, high wages, and inflexible work rules. Given the nature of the reasons for plant closings and the magnitude of the problem, collective bargaining may be the most appropriate institution to solve the problem. Collective bargaining can address the specific issues in a plant and may lead to a solution to meet the needs of both management and labor. An examination of the case law that has evolved in the formulation of judicial interpretations of the duty to bargain and the actual contract provisions negotiated in major collective bargaining agreements helps to place into perspective the role that collective bargaining can play in averting plant closings. Assuming that plant closure is a mandatory topic of bargaining, it is recommended that bargaining occur in, and only in, those instances in which there is a real probability that bargaining could lead to a solution. In no instance, however, should more than 90 days be permitted to elapse between the notice of closure and the resolution of the problem, be it a new agreement permitting continued operations or closure of the plant. (Appended to this report is a discussion of the special impact of plant closings on older adults.) (MN)

This document assesses the preliminary impact of the first year of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The act had three primary goals: (1) to discourage illegal immigration into the United States and to encourage the departure of recent illegal immigrants; (2) to permit the legalization of illegal immigrants who have been in the United States since 1982; and (3) to reduce the impact of illegal immigrants in the labor market to allow for residents' employment and to raise wages. The statistics indicate that illegal immigration has declined across the southern U.S. border, that there is scattered evidence that aliens are leaving, and that only 800,000 aliens have applied for legalization under IRCA. It is still too early to discern the IRCA's impact on the labor market, and little evidence has emerged concerning agricultural losses or unusual wage increases that opponents to the law feared would occur. Six tables are included. (DJC)

An important first step in addressing the issue of obtaining a better fit between unemployment insurance (UI) and retraining was taken in 1970 when the federal government enacted a provision permitting workers to enroll in training without denial of benefits due to application of the work test. Little was done, however, to pursue state compliance with the new provision or to encourage states to view facilitating training as a mission of UI. Even before 1970, Hawaii, West Virginia, and Massachusetts had provisions designed to make it easier for clients to avail themselves of retraining opportunities. Since the 1970 amendments, an additional six states have either revised or expanded their efforts in this area. One problem that persists is a lack of familiarity with the 1970 provisions. Only 23 of the states contacted in a survey of 30 UI officials in the states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands were aware of the 1970 legislation. Although some strategies for improving current retraining provisions would require substantial legislative changes, a good beginning could be made if states would only reassess their programs in light of the 1970 retraining provisions. Then, after individual states decide how far they want to support retraining initiatives, they can begin developing a screening process, undertake labor market assessment procedures to identify dislocated workers early in the UI claims process, and make appropriate referrals. (MN)

Includes "Child Labour Today: Facts and Figures"; "Action Required at the National Level"; "International Action: Standards Need Reinforcing"; and "Are Economic Incentive Programmes Effective?" (JOW)

This special theme issue includes: "Perspectives on Work" (Supiot); "Work and Usefulness to the World" (Castel); "Work and Identity in India" (Heuze-Brigant); "New Perspectives on Work as Value" (Meda); "Decline and Resurgence of Unremunerated Work" (Le Guidec); "Work and Public/Private Dichotomy" (Supiot); "Work and Training" (Favennec-Hery); "Post-industrial Society and Economic Security" (de Foucauld); "Towards a New Definition of the Employment Relationship"(Muckenberger). (SK)

This book uses the testimony given before the Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations to gain insight into the state of industrial relations and labor law in the United States. The book is organized in five chapters. The first chapter looks at the history of labor movements and labor legislation in the United States. Chapter 2 explores the evolution of labor law since 1935, changes in industrial relations practice associated with that evolution, and changes in the economic environment. Both the unionized and the emergent nonunion systems are analyzed, resulting in the conclusion that the essence of the National Labor Relations Act is employee choice in the matter of union representation. That ideal, however, is not always met. Chapter 3 provides examples of firms that respect the right of employees choice. Unionized firms profiled in the chapter engage in extensive cooperation and innovative relationships with the unions representing their employees, often bringing in the union as a partner in making important decisions. Chapter 4 illustrates how the National Labor Relations Act, which was enacted to protect employee choice in representation, can be used to impair employee choice. The chapter provides synopses of employee testimony that shows who employers have used the provisions of the legislation to harass, punish, and prevent employees from forming unions, or to neutralize the effects of unions' bargaining power. The final chapter summarizes the earlier part of the book. Contains 72 references. (KC)

Provides a brief overview of the legal structure within which teacher collective bargaining takes place. Explores the following legal issues that are most commonly litigated: right to organize, fair share, scope of bargaining, impasse resolution, strikes, grievance procedures, and judicial review of arbitration awards. (MLF)

Discusses the loss of political clout for revitalizing U.S. urban areas, provides some historical perspectives and rationale surrounding urban decline, and explores the need to forge a new urban policy. Urban political power and some strategies to develop an electoral and governing majority to help America's cities are examined. (GR)

Public sector managers can ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the following ways: (1) clear, specific job descriptions; (2) consistent selection and testing processes; (3) participative management techniques; and (4) attention to coworker attitudes toward employees with disabilities. (SK)

The Americans with Disabilities Act is the object of misperception and fear despite numerous court rulings favoring employers. Most confusion arises in areas of overlap with other state and federal employment laws. (SK)

Discusses Milton Meltzer's recent contribution to historical nonfiction, "Cheap Raw Material," which documents the long, horrifying history of the ritualized abuse of children through child labor practices. Appends questions to stimulate student response to the book. (RS)

Includes "From Philanthropy to Foundation: The Roots of the ILO (International Labour Organization)" (Ghebali); The Golden Age of Standards" (Valticos); and "The Technical Cooperation Adventure" (Fromont). (JOW)

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)

Examines the legal barriers of youth apprenticeships and school-to-work schemes--specifically those dealing with workers' compensation--and suggests ways to overcome them. (JOW)

Summarizes recent judicial decisions in various countries concerning application of general legal principles to labor law, access to employment, conditions of employment, occupational safety and health, social security, and labor relations. (Author/SK)

Focuses on the legal status of employee-participation programs, such as quality circles, that coexist with but are not controlled by unions. Suggests changes in public policy to protect participation programs that do not threaten the bargaining agent. (JOW)

The author argues that shop steward training escalated during the 1970s due to a specific public policy strategy to restructure labor relations and collective bargaining at company and workplace levels. (Author/SSA)

The growth of unionization and the enactment of collective bargaining legislation are considered to be the causes of increased strike activity in the public sector. This paper includes statistical data on the frequency and number of public employee strikes in each state; summarizes the state labor legislation; and presents an average of strikes, workers involved, and man-days lost per year in each state. The authors conclude that a method other than compulsory public employee collective bargaining would be in the public's best interest. (MLF)