Labor arbitration was once seen as an integral part of bargaining and as a pioneering effort to create shop floor justice. But the decline of unions in status and power has raised profound questions about the future of labor arbitration. While labor unions seek justice for twenty-two million workers covered by collective bargaining, arbitration of employment disputes in the non-unionized sectors of the economy is on the increase, with arbitration procedures promulgated by the employer substituting for more expensive litigation. Moreover, arbitration may find a new role among unrepresented employees as the obligation to justify discharges is more widely adopted. This volume chronicles the development of labor arbitration, analyzes the paths it is now following, and suggests what the future may hold under changing conditions.

Ever since the emergence of industrial relations as a field in the late 1920s, three different approaches to labor problems have been focal points for research and debate, according to Bruce E. Kaufman. What he refers to as "employers" solutions involve personnel management; workers rely on unionism and collective bargaining; and the third component, the community, depends on government regulation in the form of protective labor legislation and social insurance programs. Kaufman contends that government regulation has contributed significantly to the remarkable progress made during the twentieth century in achieving a more productive and humane workplace. As labor problems have changed, debate about the efficacy of government regulation has continued. In this volume, some of the most distinguished scholars in industrial relations frame the current issues, develop theoretical insights, and provide an objective review of the empirical evidence.

This volume, which reprints the proceedings of the New York University 53rd Annual Conference on Labour, features work that provides data to answer many of the questions that form the basis of many of the policy arguments. The contributors explore solutions to problems in the American workplace.

In The Blue Eagle at Work, Charles J. Morris, a renowned labor law scholar and preeminent authority on the National Labor Relations Act, uncovers a long-forgotten feature of that act that offers an exciting new approach to the revitalization of the American labor movement and the institution of collective bargaining. He convincingly demonstrates that in private-sector nonunion workplaces, the Act guarantees that employees have a viable right to engage in collective bargaining through a minority union on a members-only basis. As a result of this startling breakthrough, American labor relations may never again be the same. Morris's underlying thesis is based on a meticulous analysis of statutory and decisional law and exhaustive historical research.Morris recounts the little-known history of union organizing and bargaining through members-only minority unions that prevailed widely both before and after passage of the 1935 Wagner Act. He explains how vintage language in the statute continues to protect minority-union bargaining today and how those rights are also guaranteed under the First Amendment and by international law to which the United States is a committed party. In addition, the book supplies detailed guidelines illustrating how this rediscovered workers' right could stimulate the development of new procedures for union organizing and bargaining and how management will likely respond to such efforts.The Blue Eagle at Work, which is clear and accessible to general readers as well as specialists, is an essential tool for labor-union officials and organizers, human-resource professionals in management, attorneys practicing in the field of labor and employment law, teachers and students of labor law and industrial relations, and concerned workers and managers who desire to understand the law that governs their relationship.

The 11 papers explore such aspects as the significance of international labor norms for settling cross-border disputes; the role of private labor rights initiatives; the advantages, disadvantages, and potential usefulness of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for interstate labor disputes; a proposal for conciliation through the Permanent Court of Arbitration; problems and pitfalls of optional rules for arbitration and/or conciliation of labor disputes; and whether core labor rights and labor market flexibility are entwined paths. A conclusion summarizes insights useful to the Court. No index is provided. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Justice in the U.S. nonunion workplace operates within the tenets of employment-at-will. Based on the late nineteenth century Woods rule, this concept led courts to recognize the right of an employer to fire a worker at any time, for any reason. Fortunately for nonunion workers, a workplace justice system has evolved that provides them some recourse when they have been let go without just cause. This is a complex and not widely understood system, but now there is a book that clarifies its workings and compares its effectiveness and fairness to a variety of other workplace justice systems. [publisher web site].

Publishes in-depth articles on labor subjects, current labor statistics, information about current labor contracts, and book reviews.