A general overview of the Labor Movement, Labor/Management Relations, and Employment issues with a view toward emerging issues in those areas and the insights other industrialized countries can provide.  Useful for both HR Specialists and Management Students in other disciplines.

Course learning objectives

• Explore and Deconstruct the concepts of “Labor” and “Work” by situating these concepts within the broader historical and social development of Western Europe, Eurasia, Africa, Asia and the Americas
• Introduce students to the broader historical, cultural, and societal context of the Labor Movement and Labor/Management Relations.
• Explain how history and law have influenced the Labor Movement and Labor/Management relations and practices.
• Provide an overview of the landscape of the Labor Movement in Hawaii, the mainland US, and the World.
• Provoke meaningful inquiry into the future direction of the Labor Movement, Labor/Management Relations, and Employment.

Topics covered

• Historical development of the Labor Movement in the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas
• Basic economics of labor markets including formation, disequilibria, and disruption 
• Best practices in Human Resource Management related to Labor Relations
• Key US federal laws and judicial decisions related to Labor/Management Relations
• US Public Sector unionism
• Practical aspects of operating within the environment of the unionized workforce: Unionization, Collective Bargaining, Grievances, Negotiations, Arbitration, Boycotts and Strikes
• Possible futures for Employment, the Labor Movement, and Labor/Management Relations
• Key international laws and treaties related to Labor/Management Relations
• Key labor legislation in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea