Main Content

Schedule

Note: All due dates reflect North American eastern time (ET).

  • Course length: 16 weeks
Lesson 1: Contemporary Labor and Employment Relations

Readings
  • Getting Started Lesson
  • Lesson 1 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 1

Activities
  • Lesson 1 Discussion
Lesson 2: Understanding Labor Unions

Readings
  • Lesson 2 Commentary
  • Library Resources
    • Budd, Chapter 2

Activities
  • Lesson 1 & 2 Quiz
  • Lesson 2 Discussion
Lesson 3: Labor History

Readings
  • Lesson 3 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 2
  • Library Resources
    • Green, J. (2015). The devil is here in these hills: West Virginia’s coal miners and their battle for freedom. Chapter 1.

Activities
  • Lesson 3 Individual Essay
Lesson 4: Labor Law

Readings
  • Lesson 4 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 3

Activities
  • Lesson 4 Discussion
  • Lessons 3 & 4 Quiz
Lesson 5: Key Participants in the Labor Relations Process

Readings
  • Lesson 5 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 4

Activities
  • Lesson 5 Quiz
  • Lesson 5 Individual Essay
Lesson 6: Union Organizing

Readings
  • Lesson 6 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 5
  • Other Readings
    • NLRB Representation Case-Procedures Fact Sheet
    • Brooks, C. (2019, May 31). As VW election nears, CEO stokes fears over plant closing from 1988. Labor Notes.
    • Purdie, C., & Rhollans, J. (2016, April 26). Union communication guidance: TIPS and FOE.

Activities
  • Lesson 6 Quiz
  • Lesson 6 Individual Essay
Lesson 7: Collective Bargaining

Readings
  • Lesson 7 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 6

Activities
  • Lesson 7 Discussion
Lesson 8: Impasses, Strikes, and Dispute Resolution

Readings
  • Lesson 8 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 9, pp. 437-487
  • Other Readings
    • Campbell, A. F. (2019, February 13). A record number of US workers went on strike in 2018. Vox.

Activities
  • Lessons 7 & 8 Quiz
  • Lesson 8 Individual Essay
Lesson 9: Contract Clauses and Their Administration

Readings
  • Lesson 9 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 7, pp. 351–366; Chapter 8, pp. 393–412
  • Library Resources
    • Budd, Chapter 9: Contract Clauses and Their Administration, pp. 309–334
  • Other Readings
    • Dunlop, J. T. (1976). The bargaining table. Closing essay in The American Worker (1976)

Activities
  • Lesson 9 Individual Essay
Lesson 10: Contract Administration, Grievances, and Arbitration

Readings
  • Lesson 10 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 10, pp. 496–536
    • Holley, Chapter 12, pp. 608–623
  • Other Readings
    • Cooper, L. J.,  Bognanno, M., & Befort, S. F. (2008). How and why labor arbitrators decide discipline and discharge cases: An empirical examination. University of Minnesota Law School, Legal Studies Research Paper Series.

Activities
  • Lessons 9 & 10 Quiz
  • Lesson 10 Discussion
Lesson 11: Midterm

Readings

No readings

Activities
  • Midterm
Lesson 12: Flexibility, Empowerment, and Partnership

Readings
  • Lesson 12 Commentary
  • Library Resources
    • Budd, Chapter 10, pp. 357–381
  • Other Readings
    • Pyman, A. (2016). They’re the voice: how workers can be heard when unions are on the wane. The Conversation.
    • Nagele-Piazza, L. (2019). Top 10 workplace trends for 2019. SHRM.

Activities
  • Lesson 12 Quiz
  • Lesson 12 Individual Essay
Lesson 13: Comparative Employment Relations

Readings
  • Lesson 13 Commentary
  • Textbook
    • Holley, Chapter 14

Activities
  • Lesson 13 Individual Essay
Lesson 14: Alt-Labor and Labor's Alliances With Broader Social Movements

Readings
  • Lesson 14 Commentary
  • Other Readings
    • Hilgers, L. (2019). Out of the shadows. The New York Times Magazine.
    • Weise, K. (2018). Somali workers in Minnesota force Amazon to negotiate. The New York Times.
    • Eidelson, J. (2013). Alt labor. The American Prospect.
    • Hackman, R. (2014). Alt-labor: A new union movement or the same old song? The Guardian.
    • Walsh, D. (2018). Alt-labor, explained. MIT Sloan School of Management.

Activities
  • Lesson 14 Individual Essay
Lesson 15: Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of Work

Readings
  • Lesson 15 Commentary
  • Other Readings
    • Gupta, S, Lerner, S., & McCartin, J. A. (2018). It’s not the ‘future of work,’ it’s the future of workers that’s in doubt.
    • Jesuthasan, R., & Boudreau, J. (2018). What we often get wrong about automation. Harvard Business Review.
    • World Economic Forum. (2018). The future of jobs report (to page 31)

Activities
  • Lesson 15 Individual Essay 

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