Labor-Management Cooperation

[Excerpt] In analyzing labor-management cooperation, it is important to be clear on what it is not. It is not an absence of strikes or conflict. Cooperation is not synonymous with industrial peace. Cooperation may take place even when bargaining leads to work stoppages; conversely, the mere absence of strikes is no evidence that there is labor-management cooperation. In the current period, there is a tendency to equate concessionary bargaining with labor-management cooperation. Demand for and acceptance of givebacks reflect economic pressures and relative bargaining strength and ought not to be interpreted as evidence of a cooperative relationship

Union-Management Cooperation: A Passing Fad or Permanent Change?

[Excerpt] Union-management cooperation is not a passing fad. It is not a new, or even a recent, development on the American labor relations scene. Nonetheless, interest in this subject has been growing. It is the purpose of this article, first, to clarify the meaning of union-management cooperation, indicating what it is and what it is not; second, to describe its history in the United States, going back to World War I; third, to explain the forces, both past and present, that have led to the development of union-management cooperation; fourth, to describe the various mechanisms employed to achieve this cooperation, including the levels of involvement and their scope; fifth, to set forth the necessary and sufficient conditions for successful union-management cooperation: and, finally, to discuss its future

Broadening the Mission: Research Activity among University Labor Education/Labor Studies Professionals

[Excerpt] This study examines research activity among university and college labor education/labor studies professionals. Using data gathered in a survey of faculty employed in the field, the paper presents information concerning the extent and focus of these research activities, the methodologies employed, the outlets for the research products that result, and the factors limiting such work. The findings of this study indicate that research, of both an applied and scholarly nature, is an increasingly significant part of the work of labor education/labor studies professionals. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications this trend has for the labor education/labor studies field, with special attention being given to the role research activity can play in meeting the needs of unions, union members, and union leaders

Long Range Correlation in Granular Shear Flow II: Theoretical Implications

Numerical simulations are used to test the kinetic theory constitutive relations of inertial granular shear flow. These predictions are shown to be accurate in the dilute regime, where only binary collisions are relevant, but underestimate the measured value in the dense regime, where force networks of size $\xi$ are present. The discrepancy in the dense regime is due to non-collisional forces that we measure directly in our simulations and arise from elastic deformations of the force networks. We model the non-collisional stress by summing over all paths that elastic waves travel through force networks. This results in an analytical theory that successfully predicts the stress tensor over the entire inertial regime without any adjustable parameters

Labor Studies Credit and Degree Programs: A Growth Sector of Higher Education

[Excerpt] In a time of generally declining economic activity, labor studies for college credit is a flourishing enterprise. While college enrollments are dropping, budgets being cut back, and new or marginal programs disappearing, labor studies degree programs are expanding. Why? What accounts for this new movement in higher education