* 1.
Workers' Rights as Human Rights. By: Kaminski, Michelle; Moccio,
Francine. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p5-7, 3p;
Abstract: This article presents the author's views on the framing of
workers' rights as human rights and how it would affect employees.
The author reflects on labor issues related workers' rights, noting
how they affect interests, working conditions, and industrial
relations. Information is also provided on labor unions, labor laws
and legislation, and wages, as well as on several articles on rights
presented in this issue.;
* 2.
Workers' Rights as Human Rights. By: Savage, Larry. Labor Studies
Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p8-20, 13p; Abstract: In the wake
of a series of prolabor Supreme Court decisions in Canada, the
mantra of "workers' rights as human rights" has gained unprecedented
attention in the Canadian labor movement. This article briefly
reviews the Canadian labor movement's recent history with the
Supreme Court before arguing that elite-driven judicial strategies,
advocated by several academics and Canadian unions, threaten, over
time, to depoliticize traditional class-based approaches to
advancing workers' rights. The argument is premised on the notion
that liberal human rights discourse does little to address the
inequalities in wealth and power that polarize Canadian society
along class lines.
* 3.
Mapping the Boundaries of Human Rights at Work. By: Hilgert, Jeff.
Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p21-38, 18p;
Abstract: Over the past twenty years, International Labour Standards
have been cited increasingly as the authoritative, worldwide body of
jurisprudence on workers' rights as human rights. Continuing the
debate on what constitutes labor rights, the author contrasts the
definition of workers' rights under international human rights
standards with U.S. labor history's notion of "pure and simple
unionism," examining the boundaries of rights defined by
international standards in a comparative historical context. The
standards examined include workers' right to organize; coercive
employer speech; access to employer premises; nonmajority
representation; the right to strike, picket, and boycott; union
security clauses; the scope of bargaining; government enforcement;
and the legal doctrine of employer association rights. Aligning U.S.
labor relations law with international human rights standards would
in part be a social advancement, but significant aspects of the
standards advocate pure and simple unionism more than the original
National Labor Relations Act, raising questions about how labor
movements should use international standards as advocacy tools and
public policy goals.
* 4.
Synchronizing Meanings and Other Day Laborer Organizing Strategies.
By: Camou, Michelle. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue
1, p39-64, 26p; Abstract: Day labor centers have been proposed as a
mechanism for curbing the exploitation and abusive conditions faced
by immigrant day laborers soliciting work from urban street corners.
Transitioning day laborers from street corners to centers is
certainly not easy, and it involves active organizing. This article
examines efforts to organize day laborers toward a day labor center
in Denver, Colorado. The author finds that a key strategic
consideration in organizing day laborers toward centers involves
questions about the meanings and purposes of day labor centers. In
Denver, organizers and day laborers held different notions of what
centers should be and should mean, with organizers emphasizing
solidarity and collective action and day laborers emphasizing
material reward. Strategically, reconciling collectivist and
materialist views of day labor centers is an important task of day
labor organizing.
* 5.
Would the Employee Free Choice Act Effectively Protect the Right to
Unionize? By: Nissen, Bruce. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34
Issue 1, p65-90, 26p; Abstract: This article examines in detail
union busting in a nursing home facility in Florida and asks whether
the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would have protected workers'
freedom to choose if it had been in effect at the time. It
systematically applies EFCA's provisions to the events of the case
and concludes that EFCA would have been helpful to the workers.
However, EFCA would not have erased all obstacles to free employee
choice, especially for low-wage workers like these. It also reveals
that one of the least known features of EFCA would have been most
crucial in this case.
* 6.
The Rise and Decline of the Democratic Organizational Culture in the
South African Labor Movement, 1973 to 2000. By: Buhlungu, Sakhela.
Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p91-111, 21p;
Abstract: From 1973 to 2000, the emerging black union movement in
South Africa made efforts to construct a collectivist and democratic
organizational culture. The development and decline of this culture
correspond with three phases in the history of the black trade union
movement. Political and economic changes in the past fifteen years
have affected this culture, specifically the unions' political
engagement and new pressures arising out of globalization. However,
although it is true that union democracy in the South African labor
movement is under stress, it is premature to conclude that this
labor movement has become oligarchic.
* 7.
Polish Workers in Ireland A Contented Proletariat? By: Turner,
Thomas; D'Art, Daryl; Cross, Christine. Labor Studies Journal,
Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p112-126, 15p; Abstract: Since 1990,
Ireland has experienced rapid economic growth and a corresponding
increase in immigrant workers, particularly of Polish origin. On the
basis of survey evidence, the relatively low level of unionization
among Polish workers is examined. Although attitudes to trade unions
are positive, there is a high level of satisfaction generally with
work, pay, and conditions among Polish immigrant workers. A sense of
injustice or grievance appears to be largely absent with regard to
either pay and working conditions or their treatment by employers,
supervisors, and immediate Irish workers. The general picture is one
of a relatively contented proletariat.
* 8.
The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. By: Barry,
Bill. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p127-128, 2p;
Abstract: This article reviews the book "The Big Squeeze: Tough
Times for the American Worker," by Steven Greenhouse.;
* 9.
Why Is There No Labor Party in the United States? By: Bruno, Bob.
Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p128-130, 3p;
Abstract: This article reviews the book "Why Is There No Labor Party
in the United States?" by Robin Archer.;
* 10.
Black and Blue: African Americans, the Labor Movement, and the
Decline of the Democratic Party. By: Bussel, Bob. Labor Studies
Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p130-131, 2p; Abstract: This
article reviews the book "Black and Blue: African Americans, the
Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party," by Paul
Frymer
# 11.
Surviving the New Economy. By: Harper-Anderson, Elsie. Labor Studies
Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p131-133, 3p; Abstract: This article
reviews the book "Surviving the New Economy," edited by John Amman, Tris
Carpenter, and Gina Neff.;
# 12.
Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History. By: Lancaster, Guy.
Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p133-134, 2p; Abstract:
This article reviews the book "Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and
Working-Class History," by Eric Arnesen.;
# 13.
Justified by Work: Identity and the Meaning of Faith in Chicago's
Working-Class Churches. By: Mishler, Paul C.. Labor Studies Journal,
Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p134-135, 2p; Abstract: This article reviews the
book "Justified by Work: Identity and the Meaning of Faith in Chicago's
Working-Class Churches," by Robert Anthony Bruno.;
# 14.
The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony
Mazzocchi. By: Nack, David. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue
1, p136-137, 2p; Abstract: This article reviews the book "The Man Who
Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi," by Les
Leopold.;
# 15.
Trade Union Responses to Globalization. By: Nissen, Bruce. Labor Studies
Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p137-139, 3p; Abstract: This article
reviews the book "Trade Union Responses to Globalization," edited by
Verena Schmidt
# 16.
US Labor in Trouble and Transition: The Failure of Reform from Above, the
Promise of Revival from Below. By: Shor, Fran. Labor Studies Journal,
Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p139-140, 2p; Abstract: This article reviews the
book "US Labor in Trouble and Transition: The Failure of Reform from
Above, the Promise of Revival from Below," by Kim Moody.;
# 17.
Morgan Park: Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Company Town. By:
Stanger, Howard R.. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1,
p140-142, 3p; Abstract: This article reviews the book "Morgan Park:
Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Company Town," by Arnold R.
Alanen.;
# 18.
The Sex of Class: Women Transforming American Labor. By: Syphax, Yvonne
J.. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p142-143, 2p;
Abstract: This article reviews the book "The Sex of Class: Women
Transforming American Labor," edited by Dorothy Sue Cobble.;
# 19.
Labor-Environment Coalitions: Lessons for a Louisiana Petrochemical
Region. By: Walchuk, Bradley. Labor Studies Journal, Mar2009, Vol. 34
Issue 1, p143-144, 2p; Abstract: This article reviews the book
"Labor-Environment Coalitions: Lessons for a Louisiana Petrochemical
Region," by Thomas Estabrook.
--
Eugene McElroy
Rutgers University
School of Management and Labor Relations Library
50 Labor Center Way
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
732-932-9513
tel: 732-932-9513
********
