Employee Participation and Labor Law in the American Workplace

This book is a comprehensive treatment of worker participation in the United States and its relation to the legal system. The purpose of the study is to analyze the meaning and practice of industrial democracy and to propose statutory reforms that would benefit both management and labor. It is unique in its interdisciplinary approach, which combines research from the fields of history, law, industrial relations, sociology, and organizational behavior.

Labor-management cooperation and worker participation are subjects of vigorous debate. This work examines the arguments concerning the benefits and deficiencies of involvement programs, their impact on union relationships, and their function as techniques to enhance productivity and competitiveness in the workplace. The study traces the history of participation from its inception in the 1870s through the 1980s, surveying the case law from 1934 to 1991, and provides a political and economic context for the analysis of participation. The book will be of interest to scholars and professionals in industrial relations, industrial sociology, labor law, and labor studies.

RAYMOND L. HOGLER is Professor of Management in the College of Business at Colorado State University. Previously, he had practiced labor law, representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board and in collective bargaining activities. He has published many articles in labor and legal journals and is the author of the textbook, The Employment Relationship: Law and Policy (1989).

GUILLERMO J. GRENIER is Director of the Center for Labor Research and Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology at Florida International University. His articles have appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, and he is the author of Inhuman Relations: Quality Circles and Anti-Unionism in U.S. Industry (1988).