This volume presents selected extracts from International Labour Conventions and Recommendations, and from relevant resolutions and conclusions of various ILO conferences and bodies, relating to labour law and labour relations. Topics covered include: freedom of association; dispute settlement; enterprise-level labour relations; labour relations in the public service; tripartism; employment security; remuneration; and collective bargaining.

The presence of Japan Inc. looms larger than ever for millions of American managers and workers, as hundreds of Japanese companies open plants and offices in local communities across the United States. What is it like to work for the Japanese? Can Americans, with their strong tradition of individualism, adjust to a Japanese "team system" that emphasizes harmony and close cooperation? How do Americans and Japanese resolve the misunderstandings that arise from differences in language and culture? Journalists Joseph and Suzy Fucini sought the answers by studying relations between Americans and Japanese at the Mazda plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, the first wholly-owned Japanese auto plant to employ a unionized American workforce. For three years, the Fucinis followed events at the plant, interviewing more than one hundred workers, managers and outside suppliers. The authors conclude that for all its strengths, the team system requires the sacrifice of individual interests to the good of the group, and that no matter how hard an individual tries to become part of the Mazda team, advancement for both managers and workers will be limited by the fact that they are not Japanese.

Lynch condemns the sloppy, fearful thinking that has converted affirmative action into quotas and that has kept social researchers shying away from this explosive topic.

"Shulamit Reinharz Choice"

There is nothing quite like Frederick Lynch's book which describes how affirmative action works in real life, and points to some very disturbing effects. This is a subject that should be discussed not only in the Supreme Court and Lynch makes an important contribution to that discussion. "Nathan Glazer, Harvard University"

More and more questions have surfaced in the past decade concerning the wisdom and fairness of affirmative action programs. In this book, Lynch takes a hard look at affirmative action policy development and the social and ethical implications of a system that promotes gender and race as criteria for vocational advancement and educational opportunity. He focuses on the experiences of white males who have been victims of reverse discrimination under such programs and explores the lackluster response from government, the media, and employing institutions. Lynch examines the political taboo that for two decades effectively stifled discussion of the issues that affirmative action raises in both public discourse and scholarly analysis. He reviews the original ideals and purposes of affirmative action and contrasts them with the program as it has actually operated in everyday work settings. In case studies based on interviews and other data, Lynch assesses the reactions of white males to affirmative action social barriers, as well as their impact on co-workers, friends, and relatives. He describes the role of the mass media, the social sciences, and ideological elites in creating a conspiracy of silence concerning the hidden and unintended consequences of affirmative action policies. The only study that deals specifically with the impact of affirmative action on white males, this book is a must read for anyone who is truly interested in understanding the sociological, political, and psychological complexities of this issue.

One of the important objectives of the ASEAN Programme on Industrial Relations for Development (a joint project ILO/UNDP/ASEAN) was to promote the study and analysis of basic issues in labour relations and labour laws within the ASEAN countries. To meet this objective a number of national experts have been invited under the Project to prepare country studies on the following issues: the problem of union recognition; the administration and enforcement of collective agreements; the voluntary and compulsory arbitration of labour disputes; the right to strike and lockout. These studies, which have now been completed and published, are aimed to provide an opportunity for students, practitioners, policy-makers to acquire valuable insights based on the experience of the ASEAN countries. It is hoped that these materials will promote comparative studies in labour relations and labour laws which in turn could lead to cross-fertilisation of ideas and concepts and even to desirable reforms.

This Key Issues report addresses questions often raised by employers and union leaders setting out to develop job-based programs to help alcoholic and other troubled employees. Following chapters on the historical development and key components of EAPs, the authors discuss the importance of balance in program strategies and in corporate and union responsibilities. The authors also present examples to show the role EAPs might play when the problems of alcoholic and other troubled employees lead to arbitration and workers' compensation cases. The focus in the concluding chapter is on the future of EAPs-the need for more research and further development of educational programs for EAP practitioners.

An ILO Symposium on Collective Bargaining in Industrialized Market Economy Countries (Geneva, 2-6 November 1987) Industrial relations in industrialized market economies are currently evolving in a particularly difficult context. Economic constraints, technological progress and changes, not only in the composition of the labour force but also in the attitudes of workers, have caused workers' and employers' organizations to take a fresh look at their role in the process of collective bargaining. A symposium convened by the ILO in November 1987 provided a forum in which participants from government, employer, worker and academic circles, together with observers from a number of international bodies, could exchange views on recent trends and problems in collective bargaining. Papers by the ILO highlighting significant issues and a selection of the documents submitted by the participants in English are contained in this volume.

This guide has been prepared with a view to helping developing countries in their effort to promote the orderly settlement of industrial disputes through conciliation. Its aim is to meet the needs not only of professional or full-time conciliators but also of industrial relations officers, labour officers or labour inspectors, if conciliation is among their duties, by suggesting forms of behaviour, approaches and attitudes that will enable them to carry out their functions more effectively. The guide is intended to be of use to conciliators working in different countries and under different national conditions, and is based on contribution prepared by high-level mediators and conciliators from the United Kingdom and the United States as well as on information derived by the ILO from the findings of a number of regional seminars and from more immediate sources. The book is primarily designed for use as teaching material for the training of newly appointed conciliators and as a guide for working conciliators who have not had previous training.

Throughout the coal industry's two-hundred-year history, labor issues have dominated its economics and politics. Curtis Seltzer has written a comprehensive historical- analysis of labor relations in the American coal industry-the first since the 1930s.

Market forces have victimized coal suppliers and their workers for most of this century as demand shifted to other fuels. Coal producers responded to poor sales and excess production capacity with policies that led to strikes, inefficiency, and turmoil. Since its founding in 1890, the United Mine Workers of America has represented most coal miners, and management has traditionally taken one of two positions toward the UMWA: break it or use it. From 1950 to 1972, the major coal operators and the union formed an industrial partnership whose purpose was to survive a protracted slump in demand by controlling labor costs, increasing productivity, and limiting competition. This partnership eventually led to a rebellion within the UMWA that demanded democratic reform, better contracts, and improved health and safety in the workplace. For the last decade, the UMWA has been reworking its relationship with management, a process marked by conflict and stress.

n the years ahead, substantial environmental problems associated with coal combustion may drastically limit coal's growth. New mining technologies may cut labor requirements to the bone. As the shift to renewable energy occurs, coal may experience a transitional period of expansion followed by a rapid decline. These trends will have enormoussocial and economic consequences.

Fire in the Hole is a story that captures the people of coal as well as the broad clash of social forces.

Millions of Americans enjoy liberties off and on the job that were pioneered by a working class organization that few of them are familiar with-the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The standard of living for most working Americans was grim when the IWW was founded in 1905. Wages were low, housing squalid, civil liberties limited, safety regulations nonexistent, and job security tenuous. Employers routinely denied their workers the right to unionize, much less to strike or picket. Few major labor disputes ended without death playing a hand. In Solidarity Forever, a score of IWWs tell how they fought against these injustices while advocating a new economic system in which production would be geared for the public good rather than for private profit. They speak at length of the life and culture of a modern working class during its formative years, often touching on historic labor struggles as well as more humble local conflicts. Told with vigor and humor, these first-hand accounts attest to the IWW passion for mass education, popular culture, and grass roots democracy, and they reveal an IWW far more ideologically sophisticated than is generally acknowledged. Historical essays preface these personal stories and place them in the context of the IWW commitment to civil liberties, women's rights, organizing the unorganized, and racial equality. An oral history based on interviews done for the award-winning documentary, The Wobblies, by filmmakers Stewart Bird and academy-award-winning director Deborah Shaffer, with historical introductions to each section of interviews by labor historian Dan Georgakas, co-editor of the monumental Encyclopedia of the American Left.

Israel's 1977 political election resulted in a dramatic defeat for the ruling Labor movement, which had enjoyed more than four decades of economic, political, and cultural dominance. The government passed into the hands of the rightwing nationalist movement, marking a tumultuous episode in the history of both Israel and Jewish people at the start of the twenty-first century. Elmaliach chronicles the fascinating story of Israel's political transformation between the 1950s and the 1970s, exploring the roots of the Labor movement's historic collapse. Elmaliach focuses on Mapam and its allied Kibbutz movement, Hakibbutz Ha'artzi, a segment of the Israeli Labor movement that was most committed to the synthesis of socialism and Zionism. Although Mapam and Hakibbutz Ha'artzi were not the largest factions in the Israeli Labor movement, their ability to combine an economic organization, a political party, and cultural institutions gave them a strong foundation on which to build their power. Conversely, the Labor movement's crisis was, in large part, due to the economic upward mobility of the middle class, the emergence of new political orientations among supporters of the working-class parties, and the rise of cultural protests, which opposed the traditional workers' parties. Offering an innovative analysis, Elmaliach argues that, ultimately, the sources of the Labor movement's strength were also the causes of its weakness.

Tested, practical ideas to meet current and future skilling needs of both workers and employersThe labor market in the United States faces seemingly contradictory challenges: Many employers have trouble finding qualified applicants for current and future jobs, while millions of Americans are out of work or are underemployed-their paths to living-wage jobs blocked by systemic barriers or lack of adequate skills. Growing Fairly offers workforce development reforms that meet the needs of both workers and employers. Based on the experiences of hundreds of leaders and workers, the authors set out ten principles for designing a more effective and equitable system that helps workers obtain the skills necessary for economic mobility. The principles outlined in the book argue for a more comprehensive view of the skilling needs of current and prospective workers. They spell out the attributes of effective programs and make the case for skill-based hiring, widely distributed performance data, and collaboration. The book emphasizes the importance of local action to overcome the structural barriers that challenge even the most determined would-be learners. Growing Fairly shows cross sector leaders how to work across organizational boundaries to change the trajectory of individuals struggling to make a living wage. This is not a book of untested theories. Instead, it is written by practitioners for practitioners. Much of it is told through the voices of those who run programs and people who have taken advantage of them. While the issues the book addresses are profound, its take on the subject is optimistic. Between them, the authors have spent decades searching out and supporting effective practices. Even more critically, they have learned how to knit competing agencies and organizations into cohesive systems with coordinated missions. Their practical ideas will benefit a wide range of readers, from practitioners in the field to students and scholars of the American labor system.

When I went to work for Lockheed-Georgia Company in September of 1952 I had no idea that this would end up being my life's work." With these words, Harry Hudson, the first African American supervisor at Lockheed Aircraft's Georgia facility, begins his account of a thirty-six-year career that spanned the postwar civil rights movement and the Cold War. Hudson was not a civil rights activist, yet he knew he was helping to break down racial barriers that had long confined African Americans to lower-skilled, nonsupervisory jobs. His previously unpublished memoir is an inside account of both the racial integration of corporate America and the struggles common to anyone climbing the postwar corporate ladder. At Lockheed-Georgia, Hudson went on to become the first black supervisor to manage an integrated crew and then the first black purchasing agent. There were other "firsts" along the path to these achievements, and Working for Equality is rich in details of Hudson's work on the assembly line and in the back office. In both circumstances, he contended with being not only a black man but a light-skinned black man as he dealt with production goals, personnel disputes, and other workday challenges. Randall Patton's introduction places Hudson's story within the broader struggle of workplace desegregation in America. Although Hudson is frank about his experiences in a predominantly white workforce, Patton notes that he remained "an organization man" who "expressed pride in his contributions to Lockheed [and] the nation's defense effort.

As the twentieth century draws to an end, the changing role of women appears as one of the dominant features of the era. In "Now Hiring, " historian Julia Blackwelder traces the century-long evolution of the American occupational structure and the ensuing rise in demand for female workers through the closing episodes of the Industrial Revolution and the advent of postindustrialism. Decade by decade, she adroitly traces the main lines of the development of the female work force and its interactions with education, family life, and social convention while developing a nuanced analysis of the differential patterns for various ethnic, racial, age, and socioeconomic groups.
Through vignettes of individual women, given context by statistical data that place them within larger patterns of work and family life, Blackwelder presents her arguments "with flesh on them." She offers a pioneering consideration of non-paid employment as part of the picture of women and work and incorporates an intriguing case study of the evolution of the Girl Scout organization. Her consideration of the interaction of race, class, gender, and economic forces in the evolving roles of working women--particularly since she weaves these issues into every discussion, rather than isolating them as afterthoughts--also makes an intellectual contribution to the field of women's studies. In her conclusion, Blackwelder summarizes the effects of a century of change in women's employment and delineates the social and economic challenges that will confront women and families of the twenty-first century.
Blackwelder portrays the larger economy as the premier driving force for patterns of female work. She demonstrates that the reconfiguration of the women's labor market followed the shift of the leading sector, from agriculture in the nineteenth century to manufacturing and eventually to service industries. In addition, she shows how changes in the labor market redirected female education and transformed family structures in the United States and how these changes in turn contributed to the further restructuring of job opportunities and salary structures.
Blackwelder analyzes how gender conventions have affected the employment of women: what industries would hire them, what positions they were considered for, what pay was considered appropriate. Considering how the shift in the national economy and the growing female permeation of the labor force changed the dynamics and economics of family life, she shows that although wage-earning wives gained more authority within marriage, they also assumed heavier responsibilities for the financial support of their families. As rising rates of separation and divorce further burdened mothers (who generally had child custody), women's economic advances paradoxically worsened their overall financial well-being.
This survey of U.S. women and work introduces students and general readers alike to these important topics, and the distinctiveness of Blackwelder's approach, blending quantitative data and oral history materials, as well as the cogency of her underlying arguments, give the book importance to scholars of labor and economic history and women's studies.

Labor historian Juliet Mofford presents the story of workers in the U.S. from the late 1700s to the present: the Industrial Revolution, the formation and role of unions, the quest for political reform, and the ongoing efforts for fair and safe labor conditions for migrant workers. Thoughts on labor from Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Gompers, Eugene Debs, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, John L. Lewis, Cesar Chavez, JFK, and others are presented in their own words.

A popular reference book, this bulletin gives definitions and historical background for nearly 300 frequently used words, phrases, and acronyms. It has been revised to reflect recent developments in labor relations and is extensively cross-referenced.

This essay is an attempt to describe the Canadian system of state interference since its general inception a decade ago, against a background of lesser interference affecting a section of the economy over the forty preceding years. While the main purpose is that of general education, attention is directed at times to controversial matters that have been the direct concern of legislators, administrators, participants, and critics. Where such questions are raised, the reader will understand from the context that he is moving temporarily in the realm of opinion rather than among historical or proven facts. The study divides naturally into two parts: the first eight chapters present the forms of state interference in collective bargaining and the conditions and circumstances to which this manner of interference has been the reaction; they also examine the methods used to determine the will of the people with respect to industrial relations. The last two chapters develop a summary statement of the effects of the legislation, and present some of the issues to which the various laws have given rise. An attempt has been made to describe administrative techniques where these concern the efficiency of the boards' performance, and case material is presented at points in the text where the judgments conspicuously affect the trend and the quality of the legislation, Elaboration of these matters, however, is left largely to scholars of more competence. The two acts of the dominion government are presented in full in Appendices I and II and some additional cases in Appendix III.