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Physician unionization is gaining traction in the United States, with <10% of practicing physicians now members, up from historically weak support. Factors that drive interest in unions include a decreased number of independent practitioners, an increase in workloads, and the erosion of autonomy. Approximately 56% of anesthesiologists are considered employees and may be eligible for union membership. Physician unions may provide higher wages, better working conditions, and legal protection. However, they also raise concerns about patient care and professionalism. This article discusses the legal and regulatory framework governing the unionization of physicians, benefits, challenges, and potential future developments. Continued analysis and debate are necessary to determine the optimal role of physician unions in the health care industry., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: See Disclosures at the end of the article., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the International Anesthesia Research Society.)

Grocery store workers are essential workers, but often have not been provided with appropriate protection during the current pandemic. This report describes efforts made by one union local to protect workers, including negotiated paid sick leave and specific safety practices. Union representatives from 319 stores completed 1612 in-store surveys to assess compliance between 23 April 2020 and 31 August 2020. Employers provided the union with lists of workers confirmed to have COVID-19 infection through 31 December 2020. Worker infection rates were calculated using store employees represented by the union as the denominator and compared to cumulative county infection rates; outcome was dichotomized as rates higher or lower than background rates. Restrictions on reusable bags and management enforcement of customer mask usage were most strongly associated with COVID-19 rates lower than rates in the surrounding county. Stores that responded positively to worker complaints also had better outcomes. The union is currently engaging to promote improved ventilation and vaccination uptake.

In February 2018, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Janus v. AFSCME, a case poised to make right-to-work (or, as some call it, right-to-work-for-less) the law in the public sector. At issue is the constitutionality of requiring non-union members, who benefit from collective bargaining, to pay fees that support contract negotiations on the terms and conditions of their employment. We argue that a win for Janus would threaten public health by eroding organized labor's power to improve working conditions. Furthermore, we critique the dubious legal theory underpinning Janus's case and describe the moneyed political interests backing his legal representation. Finally, we chart a path forward for labor organizing in a post- Janus world, drawing inspiration from the winter 2018 educators' strike in West Virginia. Regardless of how Janus itself is decided, the issues raised in this article remain crucial because the ongoing weakening of unions by legislative and judicial means undermines workers' health and exacerbates inequities.

Objective: Economic policies can have unintended consequences on population health. In recent years, many states in the USA have passed 'right to work' (RTW) laws which weaken labour unions. The effect of these laws on occupational health remains unexplored. This study fills this gap by analysing the effect of RTW on occupational fatalities through its effect on unionisation., Methods: Two-way fixed effects regression models are used to estimate the effect of unionisation on occupational mortality per 100 000 workers, controlling for state policy liberalism and workforce composition over the period 1992-2016. In the final specification, RTW laws are used as an instrument for unionisation to recover causal effects., Results: The Local Average Treatment Effect of a 1% decline in unionisation attributable to RTW is about a 5% increase in the rate of occupational fatalities. In total, RTW laws have led to a 14.2% increase in occupational mortality through decreased unionisation., Conclusion: These findings illustrate and quantify the protective effect of unions on workers' safety. Policymakers should consider the potentially deleterious effects of anti-union legislation on occupational health., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

As Individual Placement and Support (IPS) has become the international standard for vocational rehabilitation of adults with serious mental illness, researchers must consider the relationship between IPS and local environments. This meta-analysis used mixed-effects meta-regressions to assess the impact of site-level moderators on the likelihood that IPS recipients, compared with recipients of alternative vocational services, achieved competitive employment. Potential moderators included change in gross domestic product (GDP), local unemployment and unionization rates, and indices describing employment protection regulations, level of disability benefits compensation, and efforts to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce. Regulatory moderators represent facilitators and barriers to employment that may reinforce or detract from the effectiveness of IPS. Across 30 sites drawn from 21 randomized controlled trials in 12 countries (33% in the United States), IPS recipients were 2.31 (95% CI 1.99-2.69) times more likely to find competitive employment than recipients of alternative vocational rehabilitation services. The significant competitive-employment rate advantage of IPS over control services increased in the presence of weaker employment protection legislation and integration efforts, and less generous disability benefits. Policy makers should recognize and account for the fact that labor and disability regulations can create an arrangement of incentives that reduces the relative efficacy of supported employment., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: In any aging society, the sociolegal construction of intergenerational relationships is of great importance. This study conducts an international comparison of a specific judicial issue: whether active labor unions have the legal right to strike for the purpose of improving the benefits given to nonactive workers (specifically, pensioners)., Method: A comparative case law methodology was used. The texts of three different Supreme Court cases-in the United States, Canada, and Israel-were analyzed and compared., Findings: Despite the different legal outcomes, all three court rulings reflect a disregard of known and relevant social gerontology theories of intergenerational relationships., Conclusion: Social gerontological theories can play an important role in both understanding and shaping judicial policies and assisting the courts in choosing their sociojudicial narratives.

When compared to other developed nations, the United States fares poorly with regard to benefits for workers. While the situation is grim for most U.S. workers, it is worse for low-wage workers. Data show a significant benefits gap between low-wage and high-wage in terms of flexible work arrangements (FWAs), paid leave, pensions, and employer-sponsored health-care insurance, among other things. This gap exists notwithstanding the fact that FWAs and employment benefits produce positive returns for employees, employers, and society in general. Despite these returns, this Article contends that employers will be loath to extend FWAs and greater employment benefits to low-wage workers due to (1) concerns about costs, (2) a surplus of low-wage workers in the labor market, (3) negative perceptions of the skill of low-wage workers and the value of low-wage work, (4) other class-based stereotypes and biases, and (5) structural impediments in some low-wage jobs. Given the decline of unions and limited legislative action to date, the Article maintains that low-wage workers are in a "different class of care" with little hope for meaningful change on the horizon.

An unobjectionable-sounding title obscures the real intent of the latest in a series of Bills which the federal Coalition government is attempting to legislate in its ongoing attempts to undermine employee wages and conditions and attack unions.

For those active in industrial relations there is quite a well-known book titled From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States. The books' thesis or focus was firstly to remind readers of the many struggles in the USA by trade unions to obtain and protect basic working conditions American workers, now take for granted, and secondly to reinforce the important and enduring relationship between unions and their members.

A four-four Supreme Court decision may lead to a rehearing.

This article reports on the results of an empirical study of working conditions including psychological harassment (workplace bullying) in the province of Québec, Canada, the first North American jurisdiction to regulate psychological harassment in its labor legislation. All empirical data provided in this article was drawn from the Québec Survey on Working, Employment and Occupational Health and Safety Conditions, conducted through 5071 telephone interviews of a representative sample of Québec workers, including the self-employed. Here we focus on employees, and provide bivariate and multivariate analyses. All analyses were stratified by gender. We provide a portrait of exposure to psychological harassment, and exposure to other psychosocial factors in the workplace associated with exposure to psychological harassment. Results show associations between exposure to psychological harassment and negative health measures including psychological distress, symptoms of depression, traumatic work accidents, musculoskeletal disorders and negative perception of health status. We report on steps taken by employees to put an end to the harassment. Gender similarities and differences in exposure, associated risk factors, health measures and strategies are presented and discussed in light of the legal context in which the study took place. We conclude with recommendations for prevention strategies that take into consideration the gender composition of the workplace., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Workers Right to Know laws later in that decade were signature moments in the history of occupational safety and health. We have examined how and why industry leaders came to accept that it was the obligation of business to provide information about the dangers to health of the materials that workers encountered. Informing workers about the hazards of the job had plagued labor-management relations and fed labor disputes, strikes, and even pitched battles during the turn of the century decades. Industry's rhetorical embrace of the responsibility to inform was part of its argument that government regulation of the workplace was not necessary because private corporations were doing it.

As more and more individuals express themselves with tattoos and body piercings and push the envelope on what is deemed appropriate in the workplace, employers have an increased need for creation and enforcement of reasonable dress codes and appearance policies. As with any employment policy or practice, an appearance policy must be implemented and enforced without regard to an individual's race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, age, or any other protected status. A policy governing dress and appearance based on the business needs of an employer that is applied fairly and consistently and does not have a disproportionate effect on any protected class will generally be upheld if challenged in court. By examining some of the more common legal challenges to dress codes and how courts have resolved the disputes, health care managers can avoid many potential problems. This article, the third part of a 3-part examination of dress codes and appearance policies, focuses on the issues of race and national origin under the Civil Rights Act, disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act, and employees' rights to engage in concerted activities under the National Labor Relations Act. Pertinent court cases that provide guidance for employers are addressed.

The restructuring of production resulting from the Port Modernization Law (Law 8.630/90) caused significant changes in work organization of Brazilian Ports. In the case of Mucuripe (Fortaleza, Ceará), in particular, the changes were very intense as Mucuripe is an old port that, before the Law, had labor regulation being governed by Trade Unions. This paper aims to present the perceptions of Union Representatives on the changes brought about by the Law on work organization in the port of Fortaleza, its influence in the organization and in the way the Unions deal with this new reality. Open and exploratory interviews were conducted with representatives of occasional labor workers registered in the Port of Fortaleza OGMO (Orgão Gestor de Mão de Obra, Labor Regulation Management). The analysis of the collected material in the interviews was based on the technique of content analysis proposed by Bardin (1979). Trade Unions have undergone a great loss of power and it has reflected in a relative inability to perform its function and to fight for the rights of the workers. The obvious Trade Unions weakness - a reduction of strikes and less unionized workers - reflects the dominating ideology of capital.