Search

An introduction is presented in which the authors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the resolution of labor and employment disputes in various European Union (EU) nations, collective bargaining agreements, and employee protections under EU law.

In 2011, Michigan adjusted its interest arbitration scheme to address concerns that collective bargaining was imposing an unacceptably high price on public employers and taxpayers. The statutory amendments require arbitrators to compare the collective bargaining unit to non-arbitrated groups in the same jurisdiction, potentially resulting in a lower settlement than would otherwise have been awarded to the unit in question. The statute also requires the arbitrator to put more weight on the public employer's ability to pay, thus tilting interest arbitration in favour of employers. The author suggests that, because of these amendments, Michigan provides a relevant case study for Ontario in an era of financial pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of union-negotiated seniority and Supplemental Unemployment Benefit provisions on interindustry differences in employee job changing in manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. Linking of reduced employee movement to union-negotiated provisions on the incidence and distribution of job and career opportunities; Association of job changing to resignations rather than with layoffs.

The article presents a discussion on grievance mediation in businesses. The success of grievance mediation can be measured in its high settlement rates and in the general satisfaction of the parties with the system. Yet, grievance mediation has yet to be truly accepted as an alternative to labor arbitration. Although grievance mediation as a vehicle for resolving disputes arising under a collective agreement has been advocated for four decades, it has never been truly accepted as an alternative to labor arbitration. In early 1991, the parties established an unstructured grievance mediation procedure as an extra step prior to arbitration. The procedure was established primarily because the parties perceived some distinct advantages in terms of speed and cost in resolving disputes without the necessity of arbitration. Under the procedure created, a grievance could be brought to mediation only if both sides agreed. Mediation initiated as a response to a grievance and arbitration system with which the parties are dissatisfied is likely to generate more positive responses from both parties than grievance mediation initiated when the parties are not dissatisfied with their grievance and arbitration system.

The passage of such legislation as the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, as well as the growth of collective bargaining in the public sector, have led to a widening debate about the proper role of the arbitrator in relation to extremal law. Added to the growing body of literature on this issue is this examination of the criteria arbitrators have employed in deciding cases since 1970 in which there was a charge of sex discrimination. The problem is of particular importance because, according to the author, the Supreme Court in 1976 (General Electric v. Gilbert) took the first step toward taking sex discrimination issues in collective bargaining and arbitration out of the courts and returning them to the arbitration forum. This article thus reviews both legal and traditional criteria in the arbitration of these disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on research assessing industrial research methods and information sources. Researcher Peter Nugent is working on an integration of labor, business and economic history for use in business school curricula. Morris Kleiner is testing the statistical relationships between Social Security data and Current Population Survey data with regards to work force entrants and leavers. An examination of doctoral students in industrial relations from 1947 to 1975 is being conducted by James Dworkin and Peter Feuille.

This article discusses research on personnel management. Researcher Myron Fouler is examining the work schedule preferences of registered nurses in several Alabama hospitals as well as the background characteristics of personnel directors in Alabama state agencies. Another research examines problems encountered by engineers and technical experts who are promoted into managerial positions. Some other researchers are studying issue in this context such as the total compensation of a typical employee in each of the major jobs in the state government, state compensation opportunities and practices in order to establish an improved working environment.

This article provides information on research concerning manpower planning and administration. Researchers consider topics such as manpower utilization patterns in physician offices with potential patterns to identify possible constraints on improved productivity, the tension between tighter budgets and reduction of unemployment in a central city and its labor market area, individual versus system causes for unemployment and job selection techniques of employers in connection with veterans.

This article provides information on a follow-up survey of labor organizations, conducted by various researchers of labor-management relations in different states of the U.S. States considered for this research or survey are Alabama, Cleveland, Cornell, Georgia State, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Researcher James Morris is studying American labor and politics during progressive era of 1886 to 1918. This study will devote considerable attention to qualitative and quantitative analyses of rank-and-file voting behavior and political party loyalty.

This article provides information on a follow-up survey of university administrators' attitudes toward faculty collective bargaining, conducted by various researchers of labor-management relations in different states of the U.S. Universities in Alabama, Cleveland, Cornell, Georgia State, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Purdue and Wisconsin are considered in the survey. Researchers are examining and studying topics including the potential applicability of productivity bargaining in the health-care industry and the effect of contract language calling for low-level settlement of grievances.

This article provides information on research about industrial organizations. James Cashman was given an institutional grant to study the determinants of organizational commitment in custodial-rehabilitative institutions for mentally disabled persons. Another focuses on the effectiveness of interorganizational exchange activity between public hospitals. Jennie Farley is working on a study of the demographic correlates of leadership among American women.

This article discusses labor laws, based on research of various labor organizations conducted by various industrial researchers in the U.S. Areas considered for this research are Alabama, Cornell, Maryland and Michigan State. Researchers Allan Spritzer and William Maloney are studying the legal liability of employers with regard to emotional stress arising out of the employment context. Their study of occupational qualification requirements is referring to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.