Assignment:
It should be 15-20 pages in length (excluding the cover/reference pages). Your work should be double-spaced with one inch margins and should use one of the five approved style formats (APA or MLA are preferred). You may select one topic from the list below.
You should choose a labor relations topic that is of interest to you. This could be an idea that: (a) comes out of one of the class case studies, (b) something you have wanted to investigate for a long time and have not had time for, (c) a labor relations issue that is pressing at work and needs a solution, or (d) a recommendation that you want to make to your organization's labor relations professionals or to your union.
Your paper should be organized in such a way that you integrate the following elements into your work:
• A clear thesis that consists of at least two main points
• Introduction section with a detailed background/history of the topic
• Literature review that incorporates research that supports your assertions on the topic
• Recommendation section where you will explain what you have learned and how you propose to alter or amend the situation discussed
• Conclusion
Project Topics
1. White collar unionism in the United States in the next decade: an attempt to predict its future size and shape
2. Managerial resistance to unionism: how deeply rooted, how widespread and how logical is it?
3. Crime and organized labor: how much connection is there?
4. Corruption in the Teamsters Union
5. The role of personality in American labor union history
6. An evaluation of organized labor's relationship with the black community
7. Samuel Gompers and John L. Lewis: a comparison of two labor giants
8. The advisability of eliminating all post-1932 collective bargaining statutes and letting the parties go back to the pre-Wagner Act "law of the jungle."
9. The NLRB's tilt to management in the 1980s and early 1990s and then to labor: Are there any lessons to be learned from these developments?
10. The influence of Ronald Regan and George Bush on organized labor between 1981 and 1993
11. The influence of Bill Clinton's Presidency on organized labor
12. Management's replacement worker strategy after the air traffic controller strike: how potent and how fair a weapon?
13. An evaluation of the influence of COPE, the AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Education
14. The local union meeting and the problem of poor attendance: what, if anything, can be done about it?
15. The expulsion of the Teamsters from the AFL-CIO for "corrupt influences": did it make any real difference to either the Teamsters or the federation?
16. The declining incidence of strikes in the United States and some possible explanations
17. Mediation: an assessment of its potential value
18. Technological innovation as a cause of strikes
19. The role of violence in strike and lockout situations
20. An appraisal of procedures to expedite the arbitration process: mini arbitration and grievance mediation
21. Legal issues in the private arbitration process
22. Effective use of the grievance procedure for settlement of disputes
23. Choose one of the economic supplements discussed in the text. Research the development of the benefit in collective bargaining contracts since World War II. Be sure to address yourself to the major advantages of the supplement and its future development
24. "Right-to-work" laws: desirable public policy?
25. Trends in the area of management prerogatives
26. Quality of work life programs: are they nothing more than a fad?
27. The health insurance issue and collective bargaining
28. Plant closedowns and WARN.
29. The PATCO strike revisited
30. Future of unions in the U.S.
31. Union mergers: problems and opportunities.
32. History of a particular labor union with which you are familiar
33. Impact of "right-sizing" or downsizing on labor relations
34. The UPS strike
35. The rise and fall of Ron Carey