bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reconsidering the Black-White Disparity in Federal Performance Ratings
Authors: Baxter Gregory W.
Published: April 2013

The Office of Personnel Management and Merit Systems Protection Board attribute race disparities in federal employee performance ratings to rater bias. Those claims ignore research findings, particularly meta-analyses, consistently showing Black workers exhibiting worse absenteeism and other Organizational Delinquency Behaviors (ODB). Research also consistently shows Blacks scoring lower than others on objective measures of job knowledge, work quantity and quality, and on work-sample tests.

Research on rater race effects does not support claims that White supervisors rate Whites higher and Black supervisors rate Blacks higher. Generally, all raters rate Whites higher and Blacks lower, as predicted by the data on objective performance and ODB. Consistently, the Black-White ratings gap is narrower when raters' subjective ratings substitute for, or are combined with, objective performance measures.

Finally, the paper proposes a practical stepwise approach for applying recent research findings to allegations of rater racial bias in federal and other public agencies.
The Influence of Social Values and Childhood Socialization on Occupational Gender Segregation and Wage Disparity
Authors: Kalantari Behrooz
Published: April 2013

This work investigates continued and persistent wage disparity between women and men in the U.S. labor market and seeks to identify the main cause of this phenomenon. Statistics are provided to demonstrate that although female participation in the paid workforce has increased, overall women's wages relative to men's has not. Using the latest statistics, this study argues that occupational gender segregation is a fact in the job market and one of the major causes of wage disparity between two genders. The author contends that job segregation itself is a by product of social values and especially the early socialization of children in society. This work explores how social values influence and formulate the content and process of socialization in children's early education. The childhood socialization phenomenon, including its significance, origin and primary agents, as well as its relationship with job segregation, is examined in depth. In conclusion, this study advocates policy changes in order to achieve a non-gender based wage system in the labor market. It argues that wage fairness is achievable in the long-term through careful planning.
The Impact of Human Resource Management on State Government IT Employee Turnover Intentions
Authors: Kim Soonhee
Published: April 2013

This study analyzes the impact of human resource management on state government IT employee turnover intentions. The results of a survey of state government IT employees show that promotion and advancement opportunities, training and development, supervisory communications, pay and reward satisfaction, and family-friendly policies are all significant variables affecting turnover intentions among state government IT employees. The availability of diverse family-friendly policies was the most significant factor affecting female IT employees' turnover intentions. The data strongly suggest that executive leaders, managers of IT departments, and human resource managers need to acknowledge these factors when addressing the issues of employee voluntary turnover and turnover intentions.
Compressed Workweeks - Strategies for Successful Implementation
Authors: Arbon Chyleen A. , Facer Rex L. , Wadsworth Lori L.
Published: April 2013

Organizations of all types - government, nonprofit, and private - are moving toward alternative work schedules such as compressed workweeks. Other organizations are considering the move and are anxiously awaiting more information to determine if it is the right decision for their organization. In this paper, we present a framework for implementing compressed workweeks. This framework draws upon the latest relevant research to assist organizations in this critical decision making process. We suggest that organizations ought to consider five key issues when analyzing the decision to move to compressed workweeks: people, purpose, process, perceptions, and performance. While these categories may overlap in important ways, they can aid in careful and deliberate thinking.
Antecedents of the Voluntary Performance of Employees: Clarifying the Roles of Employee Satisfaction and Trust
Authors: Chen Tser-Yieth , Hwang Shiuh-Nan , Liu York
Published: April 2013

This study presents a robust model to help understand the voluntary performance of military personnel. Specifically, this investigation empirically tested the following analytical framework: the relationships between employee relationship satisfaction, trust and employee voluntary performance. Based on the LISREL model, this study used the LISREL model to demonstrate that transformational leadership both directly and indirectly influenced the voluntary performance of employees mediated via follower trust and relationship satisfaction in their leader. The results showed that transformational leadership directly influences satisfaction, while transformational leadership directly influences trust. Notably, trust directly and considerably influences employee voluntary performance. This research consequence indicates that trust significantly influences employee voluntary performance.
Raising the Ranks of Public Sector Leaders: Results of a National Survey of Executive Masters of Public Administration Programs
Authors: Holmes Maja Husar
Published: April 2013

Faced with an impending demographic and cultural shift in the ranks of public service, government agencies, non-profits and private contractors for public sector are exploring ways to develop the next generation of public service leaders. Leadership development encompasses a diverse set of strategies ranging from informal mentoring to executive degree programs for experienced public service professionals. Yet there is scant assessment of these programs of the scope and impact of specific leadership development programs. The article presents the findings of the first national survey of executive degree programs offered by National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) for public service professionals and examines their role in leadership development in the public sector. The survey results suggest that the strength Executive MPA degree is the capacity to engage a diverse cohort of public sector professionals in a sustained manner and bridge traditional academic content with experiential learning. The findings also reflect continued challenges with Executive MPA programs, including securing funding, making the programs more relevant to the specific missions of organizations, and the impact of Executive MPA programs on improving public policy.
The Development of a Pay-for-Performance Appraisal System for Municipal Agencies: A Case Study
Authors: Mulvaney Michael A. , McKinney William R. , Grodsky Richard
Published: April 2013

Well-designed employee performance appraisal instruments assume great importance by providing agencies with information that can guide administrative and developmental decision-making about their most important asset—their human resources. Administratively, performance appraisals serve as the formal evaluation tool used by managers when making decisions about the distribution of pay increases and the promotion and demotion of an employee. Developmentally, performance appraisals assist agencies in identifying issues such as employee training needs and cross training opportunities. Despite its importance, both employees and management often view the performance appraisal process as frustrating and unfair. These frustrations are largely attributed to a reliance on performance appraisal instruments that: are not job related; have confusing or unclear rating levels, and; are viewed as subjective and biased by staff. This study was undertaken to identify steps for creating a more effective pay-for-performance system for public agencies. Specifically, this case study: (1) identified a systematic procedure for creating performance appraisal instruments; (2) described the appropriate training for those conducting an appraisal interview; (3) implemented performance reviews using the developed instruments and appraisal interview/review training, and; (4) evaluated employee attitudes toward the newly developed system. Survey results identified significant mean differences between employee attitude toward the original pay-for-performance instrument and appraisal interview process and the newly developed system. Results of the case study are analyzed and discussed.
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Development
Authors: Sadri Golnaz
Published: April 2013

This paper reviews the current literature on the concept of emotional intelligence and makes recommendations for incorporating emotional intelligence into leadership development programs. The paper is divided into four sections: the first section identifies the two most cited models of emotional intelligence. Section two reviews research on the relationship between leadership and emotional intelligence. The third section provides a synopsis of the arguments for and against emotional intelligence. The fourth and final section illuminates how the components of emotional intelligence integrate with contemporary leadership development practices and suggests some methods for developing emotional intelligence competencies among managers and leaders.
Comparing Public and Private Employees' Job Satisfaction and Turnover
Authors: Wang Yau-De , Yang Chyan , Wang Kuei-Ying
Published: April 2013

This study compares the job satisfaction and turnover intentions of private- and public-sector employees in Taiwan. Questionnaires were used to collect data from employees of various private enterprises and public organizations. The results show that the job satisfaction and turnover intentions of public employees are different from those of private employees'. First, public employees in Taiwan have lower extrinsic job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions compared to their counterparts in the private sector. Second, the negative relationship between extrinsic job satisfaction and turnover intention is weaker in public than in private employees. To enhance employee motivation, public-sector managers in Taiwan should improve their employees' extrinsic job satisfaction and help unsatisfied employees transfer to jobs they find more satisfying. In addition, they may wish to examine if turnover rate at their organizations is too low to support healthy workforce mobility.
Leadership Challenges in a Small Society: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago
Authors: Bissessar Ann Marie
Published: April 2013

The debate on New Public Management (NPM) reform is still relevant and opposing views as to whether it is a passing “fad” as well as whether it is a serious paradigm in the making is still ongoing. The comparative experiences of countries have also been explored in a number of works (McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie; Christensen and Laegreid). However, much of the literature on NPM reforms has focused on the broader goals of these reforms rather than on the reform mechanisms themselves. In this paper, I am going to focus on one specific issue of reform, namely, leadership transformation in the public sector of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
Perceived Stress and Performance Appraisal Discomfort: The Moderating Effects of Core Self-Evaluations and Gender
Authors: Gbadamosi Gbolahan , Ross Catharine
Published: April 2013

The study examines the relationships between perceived stress and performance appraisal discomfort with core self-evaluations and gender as moderating variables. It also asks the question to what extent do these variables predict perceived stress. The study is a cross-sectional survey that used structured questionnaires to obtain data from a sample of 300 managers in Gaborone, Botswana. Usable data was obtained from 167 managers. A negative and insignificant association was found between performance appraisal discomfort and perceived stress. Neither core self-evaluations nor gender significantly moderated the relationship between performance appraisal discomfort and perceived stress. Women earned less income and their perceived stress was significantly higher than men's. Also gender, core self-evaluations and then performance appraisal discomfort (in that order of strength) were significant predictors of perceived stress accounting for 12 percent of its variance. The findings also suggest that HR practitioners need to consider individual characteristics more than organizational policy in effective implementation of performance appraisals and stress reduction strategies and as a consequence worker-related interventions may be particularly pertinent. Finally, it presents data for a relatively under-explored area of behavioral research focusing on appraisers' (as opposed to appraisee) discomfort and core self-evaluations as a moderator variable of perceived stress.
The Quality of Enterprise Human Capital: Empirical Evidence Based on Enterprise Survey in China
Authors: Wang Min , Lu Xiaoling , Zhao Yanyun
Published: April 2013

Based on the classical human capital theory, we propose the connotation of human capital quality which is the combination of knowledge; techniques, capability and health etc. that are embedded in labor and with economic values. According to this concept, we put forward the three-dimensional structure of human capital quality which is constructed by health awareness, education effect and family background. And on the ground of our hypotheses, we set up theoretical models of second-order CFA and get perfect fit by using enterprise survey data of Dongguan city in China. Furthermore, we adopt multiple-group CFA model to test the invariance across subsample of workers and sub-sample of managers and technical staff. Implications of the results for public personnel management are discussed at the end.
Improving Public Service Quality from a Developmental Perspective: Empathy, Attachment, and Gender Differences
Authors: Yu Guoliang , Wang Yongmei , Liu Conghui
Published: April 2013

By introducing a developmental perspective, the current study explored the influence of attachment and gender differences on empathy, which is a key determinant of high quality of public service. The predicting role of mother/father/peer attachments in cognitive/emotional empathy was examined. Participants were 569 undergraduates who completed self-report measures on attachment and empathy. Peer/father attachment made contribution to cognitive empathy, and father attachment was stronger predictor in females than in males. Gender, mother attachment predicted emotional empathy among females and males, and peer attachment predicted emotional empathy among females only. These findings suggested that father/mother/peer attachments might contribute the different aspects of empathy, and the effects of the influences depend on gender of the parents and young adults.
Feelings and Comparisons in Negotiation: One Subjective Outcome, Two Different Mechanisms
Authors: Xie Tian , Zhou Jing
Published: April 2013

A central question in public conflict resolution is how to obtain better negotiation outcomes. Previous work in this area has mainly focused on objective outcome and has been limited to the comparison-based subjective outcome. The results of a scenario questionnaire and a laboratory simulated negotiation revealed two different mechanisms of forming subjective outcome of negotiation: one by comparing the profit with different criteria, and the other by assessing negotiators' feelings during the negotiation process. Mediation analysis, moderated mediation analysis, and moderation analysis verified that when comparison information was presented, the evaluation of negotiators' profit mediated the effect of negotiators' profit on subjective outcome. When the comparison information was not presented, negotiators' feelings during the process of negotiation predicted the subjective outcome of negotiation, and, simultaneously, negotiators could not evaluate their profit properly. The implication for negotiation subjective outcome, individual subjective well-being, and future direction was also discussed.
The Impact of Organizational Values on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Authors: Ye Junhui
Published: April 2013

This study seeks to investigate the mechanism through which organizational values in Chinese enterprises may function on employees' citizenship behaviors. Based on a sample of 201 employees in Chinese enterprises, the research questions focus on whether organizational values have a direct impact on OCBs and its verified antecedents: organizational identification and organization-based self-esteem (OBSE). The results indicate that organizational values have significant and direct impact on employees' organizational citizenship behaviors by the mediating effect of organizational identification and OBSE. The present research exposes a systematic mechanism that articulates OCBs under the background of Chinese culture.
The Impact of Power Differential and Social Motivation on Negotiation Behavior and Outcome
Authors: Wei Qingwang , Luo Xiaolu
Published: April 2013

We tested the hypothesis that negotiators with unequal power (relative to equal power) would engage in more problem solving behaviors and reach agreements of higher joint gain when they had pro-social motivation. The design was a two (power differentials: equal versus unequal) by two (social motivations: pro-social versus proself) factorial design. Participants were 160 undergraduate students who took part in simulated face-to-face dyadic negotiations. The results showed that negotiators with unequal power reached agreements of higher joint gain than did negotiators with equal power, in general. Post-hoc analysis found that both high-low power dyads and high-high power dyads obtained higher joint benefit than low-low power dyads. Moreover, the interactive effects of power differentials and social motivations were non-significant on negotiation outcomes but significant on problem solving behaviors. The present study suggests that the pro-social motivation can promote the joint gain of unequal power negotiating dyads.
Chinese People's Self-Construal and Its Relationship with Conflict Management Styles
Authors: Ji Jing
Published: April 2013

This research examined the structure of self-construal of Chinese people and further detected the relationship between Chinese people's self-construal and their conflict management styles. Study 1 suggested that there were six types of self-construal in Chinese people, which could co-exist in one person. Study 2 demonstrated that Chinese people's self-construal could better predict their conflict management styles, which included eight styles: integrating style, compromising style, dominating style, obliging style, avoiding style, emotional expressing style, third party help, and neglect style. From the perspective of Ting-Toomey's face-negotiation theory, the present study's theoretical significance and the future research direction were discussed.
Workforce Diversity
Authors: Guajardo Salomon A.
Published: April 2013

Over the past 40 years, the research on workforce diversity has increased significantly. Despite this increased research, little attention has been given to the application of diversity and integration indices to departments with small workforces. Even less attention has been given to inferences that are made based on the diversity or integration scores that are obtained from the application of diversity indices. These issues are important because human resources managers and administrators are likely to modify or implement diversity policies or initiatives based on the diversity scores they obtain. This article applies three diversity indices to departments with small workforces and evaluates how data aggregation affects diversity scores and the inferences made based on those scores.
Where Does Public Service Motivation Count the Most in Government Work Environments? A Preliminary Empirical Investigation and Hypotheses
Authors: Bright Leonard
Published: April 2013

Recent research has demonstrated that public service motivation (PSM) is positively associated with the compatibility that public employees have to public organizations. However, the person–work environment (PE Fit) research also highlights the importance of compatibility not only between individuals and organizations (PO Fit) but also between individuals and jobs (PJ Fit). Hence, there is a need for research that investigates the level of the government work environment that PSM contributes to the most. Subsequently, this study sought to shed some light on the relationship that PSM has to PO Fit and PJ Fit. Using a sample of 205 randomly selected employees drawn from three public organizations in the States of Oregon, Indiana, and Kentucky, PSM was found to be a significantly better predictor of PO Fit, than PJ Fit. The implications of this finding for public administration research and practice are discussed.
Formation of a novel bio-based elastomer from polybutadiene and epoxidized soybean oil via post-living anionic polymerization
Authors: Boonkerd Kanoktip , Moon Byeong Kyu , Kim Min Cheol , Kim Jin Kuk
Published: April 2013

The aim of this research was to develop a novel bio-based elastomer, chain-end functionalized polybutadiene (PBD), from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO), to be used as a processing aid for commercial PBD. This material was successfully synthesized in this study via post-living anionic polymerization of poly(butadienyl)lithium and ESO. The gel permeation chromatography revealed that the products had a mixture of molecular weights, comprising roughly three, two, and one times higher than that of the pure PBD. The majority of the molecules in the product had a two-fold higher molecular weight at the peak value ( Mp) than the original PBD chain. The result obtained from the reaction of PBD anions with epoxidized methyl oleate indicated that the ester group showed the higher reactivity toward the PBD anion than the epoxide group. Therefore, the formation of bio-based elastomer from the PBD anions and ESO occurred via the nucleophilic substitution of PBD anion with the carbon atom of the ester group with the loss of the leaving group, the alkoxide, and then followed by nucleophilic addition of another PBD anion to the newly formed ketone, yielding an alcoholate anion. The alcoholate anion was then terminated by hydrogen abstraction from methanol, leading to the formation of chain-end epoxidized fatty acid ester functionalized PBD. The ring opening of the epoxide group of the ESO also took place simultaneously, yielding the product with the three-fold higher Mp than the original PBD. However, the ring opening of epoxide group was decreased when the size of the PBD anion and the amount of the ESO in the reaction were increased.
Unions and Information Technology: From Luddites to Cyberunions?
Authors: Fiorito Jack , Jarley Paul , Delaney John Thomas , Kolodinsky Robert W.
Published: April 2013

Survey data are used to examine the use of, and views about, infor mation technology (IT) among U.S. national unions. Usable responses were received from nearly two-thirds of such unions. In addition to de scriptive information regarding IT use in national unions, this paper ten tatively explores both the causes and consequences of IT use. While IT use of some sort is found to be nearly universal, there is considerable variation across unions in the use of many forms of IT (e.g., e-mail, websites, video conferences) and in the areas to which IT is applied (e.g., bargaining, organizing, communicating with current members). However, a vast majority of survey respondents feel that IT has improved service and overall efficiency at their unions, and that continued IT emphasis is critical to union success. Results show preliminary support for most hypotheses concerning possible causes and consequences of IT use by unions.
It's Time to Come Clean: Open the AFL-CIO Archives on International Labor Operations
Authors: Scipes Kim
Published: April 2013

This article discusses the two general approaches to foreign affairs taken by the AFL-CIO since 1962, considering foreign policy under Presi dents George Meany and Lane Kirkland (1962-95), and comparing them to the emerging foreign policy of President John Sweeney (since 1995).

Central to this article is a detailed examination of the U.S. attack against Chilean President Salvador Allende between 1970-73. Particular attention is paid to the crucial role played by the AFL-CIO's American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) in destabilizing the economy and causing social turmoil that preceded the violent military coup against Allende on September 11, 1973.

This article argues the need to expand the Sweeney approach, while recognizing that what has already been achieved is a major advance over the traditional efforts. Debating foreign policy openly in the Federation's unions, and opening the AFL-CIO archives on its foreign operations, especially those in Chile, are suggested as immediate steps that should be taken in efforts to build a worker-supportive foreign policy.
. Changing to Organize in a Multiethnic Union: The Role of Education at ILWU 142
Authors: Chang Mel , Hallock Margaret
Published: April 2013

ILWU 142 is the largest private sector union in Hawaii with a his tory of organizing in key economic sectors, from the docks to sugar to tourism. The economic changes of the 1990s slowed the union's organiz ing efforts and required a shift to an organizing culture. Education pro grams were a major catalyst for the change process, providing strategic analysis as well as programmatic initiatives and helped prepare staff and activists for new roles and point the way to integrated and strategic cam paigns that combine bargaining, mobilizing, and organizing.
Organizing Tactics in a Faculty Unionization Drive at a Canadian University
Authors: Rastin Sandra
Published: April 2013

This analysis of Queen's University Faculty Association's (QUFA) 1995 certification drive stresses the importance of using specific organiz ing techniques to enhance the likelihood of achieving successful union ization drives at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for unions to do so. I argue that the use of various techniques identified by social movement theorists combined with QUFA's co-optation of the term "collegiality" were important elements in the success of this drive. The core of my research is the qualitative analysis of QUFA's formal communications to faculty between September 1992 and October 1995.
Determinants of Certification Election Outcomes in the Service Sector
Authors: Arnold Edwin W. , Scott Clyde J. , Gamble John E.
Published: April 2013

Our research examines union certification election activity in the service sector over a fourteen-year period and shows that unions in this sector consistently win a greater percentage of their elections than their counterparts in the goods-producing sector. Only a small percentage of the service sector workers select representation, however. Furthermore, the results support our model of election outcome determinants that in cludes environmental, bargaining unit, and organizational influences.
Participatory Unionism
Authors: Heckscher Charles
Published: April 2013

Many labor scholars, today as in the past, advocate greater partici pation by members in decision-making as a cure for what ails the labor movement. A review of experience with such participation, however, shows that it has different consequences in different settings, and that it rarely performs as advocates would like. Four historical types of partici patory unionism can be distinguished: radical, craft, classic industrial, and comanagement. The first three have had many exemplars and have long since revealed both their advantages and their limitations; the last is the least developed and most related to current management trends, and therefore worth better understanding.
Building a "Minority Union": The CWA Experience at NCR
Authors: Nissen Bruce
Published: April 2013

This article provides a theoretical and legal overview of the issue of "minority unions" or "members only" unions that attempt to represent workers in the absence of a majority status or a legally protected right to engage in collective bargaining. Differences between the public and pri vate sectors are noted. The claims of minority union advocates are then compared with the experience of the Communications Workers of America in their effort to construct a minority union at the NCR Corporation. This article concludes with an analysis of the potential value as well as the limitations of this form of organization for unions, including how this approach might be used strategically.
Labor's Agonizing Struggle: The Victory and Overthrow of Fiji's Labor Government
Authors: Snell Darryn , Prasad Satendra
Published: April 2013

May 17, 1999 was a day of celebration for Fiji's workers and trade unions. The Fiji Labour Party and its coalition partners had won a land slide victory in the general election. This paper examines the Coalition Government's reform efforts over the past year. It looks at the dilemmas faced by the People's Coalition as they attempted to reverse the previous government's rapid economic restructuring involving trade and labor market deregulation and large-scale privatization of public services. Gov ernment efforts to strengthen the position of labor and industrial democ racy through changes in labor legislation and the restoration of the Tri partite Forum are discussed along with the unions' response to the labor- friendly political environment. It concludes with the horrifying events of May 2000 when a group of armed men stormed the Parliament and de clared a new Government and discusses how the country's unions are leading the struggle for a return to democracy.
Public Project Labor Agreements: Lessons Learned, New Directions
Authors: Lund John , Oswald Joe
Published: April 2013

Project labor agreements on public construction projects have been generating considerable controversy since the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous 1993 "Boston Harbor" decision. Here we review a num ber of subsequent state and federal court cases, several state laws, proposed legislation, and President Bush's recent executive order on project labor agreements. We also identify and more closely examine several key arguments of the opponents of project labor agreements. We conclude with an outline for building and con struction trades unions and councils to utilize in determining whether or not project labor agreements are appropriate on a case- by-case basis.
The Relevance of Critical Postmodernism for Emancipatory Labor Education: An Assessment
Authors: Slott Michael
Published: April 2013

Emancipatory labor educators seek to facilitate among workers an understanding of their common experiences of exploitation as well as their collective power to transform workplace and social condi tions. Emancipatory educators have thus stressed the need for work ing class unity, yet there are significant differences and conflicts among workers. Can the goal of promoting unity be reconciled with the recognition of differences? Critical postmodernist theo rists believe that their notions of "difference" and "border cross ing" can reconcile this tension. However, an analysis of the rel evance of these notions in three labor education contexts reveals their limited value for emancipatory labor educators.
Employee Involvement in Action: Reviewing Swedish Codetermination
Authors: Wheeler Jeff
Published: April 2013

The author explores the proposition that employee involvement through codetermination is likely to be successful for Swedish unions and corporations because the "social partnership" approach of the Swedish system favors it. He discusses the context, history, and law of codetermination of Sweden compared to the National La bor Relations Act, and relevant studies. He reviews codetermination practices at Ericsson, SKF Group, LKAB mining, Spendrups, and the newspaper Dagens Industri. He concludes that the corpora tions studied have benefited substantially from codetermination and that the unions studied have benefited from it when it has been used to address local decisions and conditions. However, he finds that these unions have been much less successful in using codetermination to change corporations' strategic decisions.
Homecare Worker Organizing in California: An Analysis of a Successful Strategy
Authors: Delp Linda , Quan Katie
Published: April 2013

This paper examines the challenges facing California homecare workers in their historic struggle to unionize from the 1980s through the 90s. Three inter-related components were critical to their ultimate success: 1) grassroots organizing, 2) changing policy at the state and county level and 3) working in coalition with groups of senior and disabled care recipients. Now that the union repre sents more than 100,000 workers, consolidation of those victories involves challenges such as developing leadership among the new membership and strengthening the labor-consumer coalition that will be critical to further improvements in homecare services and working conditions. This campaign has already had significant impact on the structure of this emerging workforce, and will have long-term effects on social policy for care of the elderly and dis abled.
An Activist AFSCME Local Confronts Welfare Reform
Authors: Worthen Helena , Edwards Steve , Stokes Diane
Published: April 2013

Public sector welfare caseworkers confront shifts in U.S. welfare policy internally, facing changes in their own workplaces, and ex temally, in relation to their clients. This paper looks at an activist AFSCME caseworker local in Chicago to see how it responded to these internal and external challenges. It compares the strategies of two campaigns, in terms of their timelines, goals, educational needs, and strategic concerns, including relationships with other parts of the union. The paper then draws lessons about alliances with other organizations, the need for a program of maximum mobilization, and development of strong and educated secondary leadership.
Strategic Contract Campaigns at Multinational Corporations
Authors: Hickey Rob
Published: April 2013

This paper examines first contract campaigns at five multinational corporations. The case studies include a cross-section of unions and a variety of industries. Several common patterns in the cases highlight important strategic considerations for unions. First, solid organizational structures and rank-and-file activism serve as a prerequisite for sustainable campaigns. Second, strategic consid erations of external factors, such as the union's strength in the industry and leverage capacity contribute to successful campaigns. Third, the level of resistance varies widely across employers and strongly affects the campaign. Finally, while the legal framework of bargaining matters, it emerges as a source of last hope against highly resistant employers.
Problem Creation and Resolution in Unionized Workplaces
Authors: Meyer David
Published: April 2013

In this paper, grievance filing and handling is placed in the broader context of problem creation and resolution. Management actions lead to problems when the action is severe enough or has a large scope. Worker reaction is based on both a desire and a reason to overturn the action. Problems become grievances when contrac tual, precedential, or past practice rights apply to the situation. The existence and applicability of rights usually leads to the griev ance procedure being used to resolve problems. When rights are unclear, the pursuit of interests leads to other channels being used. There are four problem resolution channels examined: (1) eco nomic power against high-level management, (2) economic power against low-level management, (3) informal negotiations between the union and management, and (4) the grievance procedure. The paper examines the various aspects of problems, conditions, and behaviors that determine which channel is selected for resolution and the outcome of that resolution.
Amplifying the Voices of Workers
Authors: Glass Fred
Published: April 2013

Today it is technologically and financially feasible for labor to de velop its own forms of advanced media production and distribu tion. However, a major obstacle to effective labor communications is its reliance on corporate communications models. To serve labor's prime directives to organize and represent workers, unions need a different approach to communications; one based in assumptions explicitly opposed to corporate communications methods devel oped to serve corporate goals. New media technologies can and should be wedded to labor education goals to create an organizing model for labor communications.
The Caterpillar Labor Dispute and the UAW, 1991-1998
Authors: Cohen Isaac
Published: April 2013

The United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Caterpillar Corpora tion (Cat) engaged in one of the longest and most contentious labor disputes of the 1990s. This article analyzes the dispute, shows how the UAW retreated from two major strikes over the course of the decade, how the Cat workers displayed a great deal of militancy during the struggle, how the union fought the legal battle, and how the Cat workers eventually achieved a contract.
Electoral Activities of Southern Local Unions in the 2000 Election
Authors: Chang Tracy F. H.
Published: April 2013

This paper examines the impact of environmental and organiza tional characteristics on the electoral mobilization activities of local unions in the 2000 presidential election. Based on a sample of 140 southern local unions, the study finds that, externally, the strength of the labor movement relative to competing political interests in the state, along with the organizing and political ac tivities of international unions, promotes the electoral activism of local unions. However, both economic inequalities and racial con flicts seem to discourage the electoral activities of local unions. Internally, the development of rank-and-file leadership and inter nal organizing also supports the electoral activism of local unions. The implications of the results and some directions for future re search are discussed.
Not Just Another Labor Party
Authors: Guidry John A.
Published: April 2013

This paper analyzes Brazil's Partido dos Trabalhadores, The Workers' Party (PT), from its origins in social movements to becoming one of the largest political parties in Brazil. The party's trajectory from semi-clandestine meetings during Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-85) to a successful national organization with international linkages is an instructive case-study of how labor parties can con tend in democratic politics during the neoliberal era. The party developed an innovative, grassroots structure that has sustained ties with both labor and non-labor movements, community move ments, the progressive Catholic Church, and a growing sector of non-governmental organizations in Brazilian civil society.
Learning for Change
Authors: Nesbit Tom
Published: April 2013

This study reviews recent innovations in three countries—Canada, Great Britain, and the U.S.—toward the provision of education and training for labor's professional staff, officials, and leaders. It highlights the overall approach and several of the initiatives adopted in each country, and then discusses some opportunities and barri ers toward the development of this important facet of labor educa tion. It complements recent discussions about the forms and pur poses of labor education, in general, and current debates about the revitalization of the labor movement. The study concludes with a call for more systematic discussion of these issues and further analysis of different approaches.
Alternative Strategic Directions for the U.S. Labor Movement
Authors: Nissen Bruce
Published: April 2013

This article examines the scholarly literature giving advice to U.S. unions on the strategic direction they should pursue. It divides much of the literature into two main schools of thought: "value added" or "mutual gains" unionism (VAU), and "social movement" unionism (SMU). Both schools of thought are explained and evalu ated. The two are then compared, using contemporary national and local examples to illustrate each. After comparing their pros pects and advantages/disadvantages, the article concludes that SMU has a better likelihood of reviving the U.S. labor movement, al though its adoption as dominant practice is far from assured.
Taking on "Big Chicken"
Authors: Bussel Robert
Published: April 2013

Although efforts to organize workers in the new economy have attracted considerable scholarly and media attention, significant battlegrounds remain in old-economy industries that have suc cessfully resisted union penetration. Unions have been employing new strategies in their attempts to recruit workers in those unor ganized sectors. This case study analyzes one such initiative, the Delmarva Poultry Justice Alliance (DPJA), an innovative labor- community coalition that is supporting union organizing in the nation's expanding poultry industry. DPJA's experiences illustrate some of the challenges unions face in entering alliances guided by a community organizing approach and offer significant insights into how enduring labor-community coalitions can be developed. Its experience also illuminates the current debate over the extent to which internal union culture must change in order for organiz ing to succeed, and suggests how labor-community coalitions can influence union strategy.
Negotiating and Teaching Workplace Drug Testing: A Labor Perspective
Authors: Oleson Clara
Published: April 2013

Workplace drug testing policy as an issue for collective bargaining is discussed from a union perspective. A framework of union values is recommended to guide labor's negotiations. Exhibits offer a pre-negotiations checklist, sample questions for employers on proposed drug testing policy, and a letter to union members to educate them about workplace drug testing. Labor educators are encouraged to assist unions by teaching classes on workplace drug testing. The study presents a list of potential class topics and gives anecdotal observations about unionists' responses to this teaching topic.
Labor Participation in Plant Modernization
Authors: Haddad Carol J.
Published: April 2013

Using case study and survey data from a project evaluation study of intervention projects at sixteen small and medium-size manufac turing firms, the author identifies factors that promote and ob struct union participation in plant modernization planning and implementation. Although measurable benefits came from local union leader and employee involvement in modernization at some of the plants, seven of the pilot sites halted their joint moderniza tion projects. Contributing factors were poor baseline labor rela tions and plant financial instability due in large measure to faulty management decisions. Proactive union activity was not enough to sustain projects in the face of such obstacles.
Workplace Hazards, Unions, and Coping Styles
Authors: Baugher John E. , Timmons Roberts J.
Published: April 2013

Coping styles influence levels of stress. This study examines how workers cope with hazards at work and whether unions help work ers cope more effectively with those hazards. We surveyed 237 workers at a chemical plant in Louisiana and found that perceived exposure to fire and explosions at work increased workers' levels of anxiety. Problem-focused strategies to cope with those potential risks reduced anxiety and depression. Aside from supervisory or managerial authority, which is not available to most workers, we found that only one factor effectively moves workers who are in subordinate positions to actively cope with hazards: membership in an independent labor union. These findings suggest that union growth could indirectly reduce job stress by giving workers the voice to cope effectively with job hazards.
The Struggle for Hearts and Minds
Authors: Brodkin Karen , Strathmann Cynthia
Published: April 2013

Labor studies scholars and union organizers agree that rank-and- file union drives are effective, even against union busters, anti- union consultants, and intransigent employers. This paper syn thesizes organizers' analyses of such campaigns in Los Angeles to explain why rank-and-file union drives work. We suggest that anti- union campaigns create fairly standard and locally hegemonic anti- union workplace cultures. We examine struggles between manage ment and unions around workplace social relations and control of space as a Gramscian war of position in which both sides seek to make their ideology and its emotional scaffolding workers' com mon sense. Our explanation for what successful rank-and-file strat egies do also reveals some current limitations.
Consumers of the World Unite
Authors: Prasad Monica , Kimeldorf Howard , Meyer Rachel , Robinson Ian
Published: April 2013

Sweatshops are re-emerging across the globe. In the current neoliberal environment—which has unions, government protec tion of worker rights, and fair trade policies on the defensive—we propose a market-based strategy that relies on "conscientious con sumers" to slow the global race to the bottom. To assess whether the consumer market in the United States could provide the added revenues needed to lift workers in the southern hemisphere up and out of poverty, we conducted an experiment in a department store in a working-class community in southeast Michigan to determine whether consumers would pay more for products certified as not made in sweatshops. Consumers were presented with two separate displays of ordinary athletic socks that were identical except for a label indicating that the socks in one display were produced under "good working conditions." After incrementing the price of the labeled socks over the course of several months, we found that most consumers preferred to pay less for the unlabeled socks, but nearly one in four was willing to pay up to 40 percent more for the labeled socks. Having documented the contours of this niche market for conscience consumption, we conclude by discussing the promises and challenges that face such a market-based strategy.
The Conciliation Step of the Unfair Dismissal Process in South Australia
Authors: Hagglund George , Provis Chris
Published: April 2013

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is attracting increasing at tention in the United States as a means of allowing both union ized and nonunionized employees to discuss their grievances in the presence of outside third parties. Public interest groups have looked for mechanisms to accomplish this objective. For some time, South Australia has used a dispute resolution system that provides both mediation and arbitration for individual workers. As good as this system is in overall intent, it falls short of putting people back on their jobs or providing adequate compensation in cases of unfair dismissal. This paper discusses the operation of the mediation step in the unfair-dismissal process of South Australia.
Cracking the Temp Trap: Day Laborers' Grievances and Strategies for Change in Cleveland, Ohio
Authors: Kerr Daniel , Dole Christopher
Published: April 2013

This article examines the experiences of homeless workers within the day-laborer industry in Cleveland, Ohio and the multiple chal lenges they encounter in attempting to gain full-time employment. To provide a context for this study, we discuss the specific histori cal background of the day-labor industry in the city. We present the grievances day laborers raise within the categories of hours and wages, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, sexual harass ment, worker safety, barriers to permanent employment, transpor tation, and retaliation. The article then explains the strategies developed in a series of focus groups with day laborers aimed at addressing the structural inequities of the day-labor market. Ad ditionally, we address the subsequent efforts by the Day Laborers' Organizing Committee to implement these strategies, specifically focusing on the organization's work in establishing an alternative non-profit community hiring hall and lobbying for a municipal ordinance to regulate the day-labor industry.