Documents University of Pennsylvania Press 4 results

"The legislative attack on public sector unionism that gave rise to the uproar in Wisconsin and other union strongholds in 2011 was not just a reaction to the contemporary economic difficulties faced by the government. Rather, it was the result of a longstanding political and ideological hostility to the very idea of trade unionism put forward by a conservative movement whose roots go as far back as the Haymarket Riot of 1886. The controversy in Madison and other state capitals reveals that labor's status and power has always been at the core of American conservatism, today as well as a century ago. The Right and Labor in America explores the multifaceted history and range of conservative hostility toward unionism, opening the door to a fascinating set of individuals, movements, and institutions that help explain why, in much of the popular imagination, union leaders are always "bosses" and trade union organizers are nothing short of "thugs." The contributors to this volume explore conservative thought about unions, in particular the ideological impulses, rhetorical strategies, and political efforts that conservatives have deployed to challenge unions as a force in U.S. economic and political life over the century. Among the many contemporary books on American parties, personalities, and elections that try to explain why political disputes are so divisive, this collection of original and innovative essays is essential reading."

"Government regulatory agencies are too often tangled webs of bureaucracy, fraught with internal politics and in conflict with both industries and individuals. How to instigate and implement the needed reform is a timely issue that is currently being debated. Reforming the Workplace is an account of a successful program that is now a model for nationwide improvements in various regulatory agencies.

Joseph Rees's focus is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which in 1982 announced a major shift in policy, from strict government regulation to self-regulation by industries with proven safety records.

In California, this resulted in the Cooperative Compliance Program (CCP), an arrangement among labor unions, management, and California OSHA that became responsible for overseeing safety regulations at seven large construction sites throughout the state. In his detailed study of the CCP, Joseph Rees provides important empirical data and assesses the reasons the program succeeded. That success is so important, he demonstrates, because the CCP represents a different approach to reform, self-regulation, that can be extended to and tailored for many troubled agencies.

Reforming the Workplace is a comprehensive study that will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of law and social policy in general, and of federal regulation policies in particular."

"In the present age of temp work, telecommuting, and outsourcing, millions of workers in the United States find themselves excluded from the category of "employee"—a crucial distinction that would otherwise permit unionization and collective bargaining. Tracing the history of the term since its entry into the public lexicon in the nineteenth century, Jean-Christian Vinel demonstrates that the legal definition of "employee" has always been politically contested and deeply affected by competing claims on the part of business and labor. Unique in the Western world, American labor law is premised on the notion that "no man can serve two masters"—workers owe loyalty to their employer, which in many cases is incompatible with union membership.
The Employee: A Political History historicizes this American exception to international standards of rights and liberties at work, revealing a little known part of the business struggle against the New Deal. Early on, progressives and liberals developed a labor regime that, intending to restore amicable relations between employer and employee, sought to include as many workers as possible in the latter category. But in the 1940s this language of social harmony met with increasing resistance from businessmen, who pressed their interests in Congress and the federal courts, pushing for an ever-narrower definition of "employee" that excluded groups such as foremen, supervisors, and knowledge workers. A cultural and political history of American business and law, The Employee sheds historical light on contemporary struggles for economic democracy and political power in the workplace."