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This volume attempts to measure and quantify 10 labor standards in the United States and Canada. Its two purposes are to begin to fill the gap in the research by developing a measure of labor standards that can be applied across countries and to apply that measure to the United States (U.S.) and Canada to test a popular hypothesis that Canada has higher labor standards than the U.S. Chapter 1 addresses labor standards and international trade, as well as the social contexts and why Canada and the U.S. may diverge. Chapter 2 reviews the economics and the institutional literature on the relationship between labor standards and trade, both generally and with specific attention to the U.S. and Canada. Chapter 3 provides definitions of the labor standards discussed. Chapter 4 discusses the data and methodology used to compare the labor standards in the two countries. It explains the weights and subindex values created for each of the 10 labor standards analyzed. Chapter 5 presents results of the comparison, through text and tables, which indicate that, overall, labor standards are higher in Canada than in the U.S. Chapter 6 summarizes results and presents conclusions. Appendixes include a list of 188 references and an index. (YLB)

This book is an analysis of the relationship among collective bargaining (CB), firm competitiveness, and employment protection/creation in the United States (U.S.). Comparisons are also made between the U.S. situation and that in Europe. "Collective Bargaining in Context" (Richard N. Block, Peter Berg) places the US system of industrial relations in an international context. A literature review appears in the next two chapters. They are "Competitiveness and Employment Protection and Creation" (Richard N. Block), which examines the legal framework for CB, competitiveness, and employment, and "The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Competitiveness and Employment" (Dale Belman, Richard N. Block), which reviews the economics and industrial relations research on CB, competitiveness, and employment. "Case Study Methodology" (Richard N. Block) addresses the methodology used in the four case studies presented in these next four chapters: "Basic Aluminum: Alcoa-Rockdale, Texas, and United Steelworkers of America Local 4895" (Richard N. Block); "Auto Assembly: General Motors--Lansing, Michigan, and United Automobile Workers Local 652" (Richard N. Block, Peter Berg); "Automobile Parts: Lear Corporation--Elsie, Michigan, Division and United Automobile Workers Local 1660" (Michael L. Moore, Richard N. Block); and "Health Care: Sparrow Health System, Lansing, Michigan, and Professional Employees Council of Sparrow Hospital/Michigan Nurses Association" (Michael J. Polzin, Peter Berg). Each chapter contains some or all of these components: business description; facility/site history; history and background of CB; competitive pressures; CB, competitiveness, and employment protection/creation; and conclusions. "Overview and Conclusions" (Richard N. Block) states that, overall, the work demonstrates that CB, job protection/creation, and firm competitiveness are compatible in the U.S.; employees can enjoy the rights and protections inherent in collective bargaining; and shareholders and other firm stakeholders can prosper. (YLB)

An examination of how employers and employees may be encouraged to adapt to changing economic conditions through innovation and cooperation rather than conflict indicates that the system of dispute resolution in the United States contains substantial disincentives to resolving disputes through negotiation and substantial incentives to resolving disputes through the exercise of legal rights. Because it operates on the basis of institutionalized conflict and adversarialism, the legal system must be reconsidered as the ultimate arbiter of such disputes. The premises of labor policy must also be changed. Government must state that negotiation, cooperation, and the private resolution of labor and employment disputes are the preferred methods of resolution and of adjusting to economic change. Among other changes, the National Labor Relations Act should be modified so that all employer decisions with a direct impact on employment would be subject to negotiation with the union; in situations where a facility must be closed and/or production shifted in order to remain competitive, the bargaining unit should be defined as the work done or products produced rather than as employees at a given location; and employers should be permitted to hire only temporary replacements for employees engaged in an economic strike. (27 references) (CML)