CNNMoney, August 24, 2011, Wednesday

CNNMoney

August 24, 2011, Wednesday

CNNMoney (watch segment)

Unions Fight for Survival

Harry C. Katz, Kenneth F. Kahn Dean and Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining describes ramifications of power change in CNN report.

Cincinnati Enquirer, August 24, 2011, Wednesday

Cincinnati Enquirer

August 24, 2011, Wednesday

Cincinnati Enquirer (full article)

Dohoney: Unions, pay your bosses

Rebecca Givan, an assistant professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said shared salary policies such as Cincinnati’s are “extremely common in both the public and private sector.”

“It’s usually not even something that’s contentious when contracts are negotiated,” she said.

Boston Globe, August 22, 2011, Monday

Boston Globe

August 22, 2011, Monday

Boston Globe (full article)

Verizon workers end their walkout

Gene Carroll, director of the Union Leadership Institute at Cornell University, said the mounting pressures after nearly two weeks of demonstrations likely caused both sides to push harder toward a resolution.

“The increasing amount of complaints from customers about not being able to get proper service, and the finger pointing from the customer base was going to the corporation and not the union,’’ he said. “Of course for the unions, no one is getting paid.’’

Democrat and Chronicle, August 21, 2011, Sunday

Democrat and Chronicle

August 21, 2011, Sunday

Democrat and Chronicle (full article)

In N.Y., labor deals get done with little acrimony

"In New York, there were no frontal attacks on the structure of collective bargaining," said Lee Adler, a public-sector labor expert and professor at Cornell University's Industrial Labor Relations School. "There was not an effort to make an ideological attack on unions as something that are bad, or that unions are something that harm the state's economy or citizens."

That respect for unions wasn't evident in other states this year, Adler said.

Buffalo News, August 19, 2011, Friday

Buffalo News

August 19, 2011, Friday

Buffalo News (full article)

American Axle closing last plant here

Arthur Wheaton, an automotive industry expert at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Buffalo, called the shutdown "bad news" but "certainly no surprise."

American Axle has scaled back its U.S. manufacturing while adding operations overseas, he said. The loss of the other two American Axle plants in the Buffalo area did not help the Cheektowaga plant's long-term outlook, he added.

"There was nothing nearby for them to supply," he said.

Wheaton credited local manufacturing workers with making the plant last as long as it did. "It kept jobs in Buffalo for a longer period of time," he said.

Washington Examiner, August 19, 2011, Friday

Washington Examiner

August 19, 2011, Friday

Washington Examiner (full article)

Overtime a 'cost of doing business'

Last year, 28 Metro employees doubled their salaries with the extra work, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of Metro data. "It's hard to believe that double pay -- or double hours -- is going to be cheaper," said Ronald Ehrenberg, a Cornell University professor of economics and industrial labor relations.

He explained that the economics of offering overtime versus hiring more staff depend on the fixed costs of employment such as health insurance and pension payments. Often, paying time and a half is cheaper than shouldering the extra costs to bring on a new person, he said. But it's a balance.

MPNnow.com, August 18, 2011, Thursday

MPNnow.com

August 18, 2011, Thursday

MPNnow.com (full article)

NY-union deal shows power of compromise

Ken Margolies, Director of Organizing Programs at Cornell University’s ILR School, said the agreement reflects a national trend in labor negotiations: Union members trading financial concessions for job security.

The Huffington Post, August 17, 2011, Tuesday

The Huffington Post

August 17, 2011, Tuesday

The Huffington Post (full article)

Nice Women Finish Last At Work, Study Says

Timothy Judge, a professor of management who specialized in personality, moods, emotions, leadership, career and life success at the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame; Beth Livingston, an assistant professor Cornell University’s Department of Human Resource Management and Charlice Hurst, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario authored the study, which looked at data from three surveys that sampled approximately 10,000 workers over a 20 year period. The study was broken into four different components to control for levels of job responsibility and other personality traits

WorldatWork's workspan magazine, August 2011

WorldatWork's workspan magazine

August 2011

An monthly column in workspan® applying scholarly research to the "real world" by ICS Director Kevin Hallock.

Lessons in Compensation Design from the Farm
No Simple Solutions

CNN, August 17, 2011, Wednesday

CNN

August 17, 2011, Wednesday

CNN (full article)

Nice guys earn less, study finds

By Richard Allen Greene

"Do Nice Guys -- and Gals -- Really Finish Last? The Joint Effects of Sex and Agreeableness on Income," by Timothy A. Judge of the University of Notre Dame, Beth A. Livingston of Cornell University and Charlice Hurst of the University of Western Ontario, is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

CNN's Karen Smith contributed to this report.

The New York Times, August 16, 2011, Tuesday

The New York Times

August 16, 2011, Tuesday

The New York Times (full article)

In Albany, a Labor Pact Without Attacks on Unions

By THOMAS KAPLAN

Richard W. Hurd, a professor of labor relations at Cornell, said New York shared the same basic characteristic as other states where governors went to war with public unions — namely, a budget to balance in the short term and large budget shortfalls projected over the longer term. He said the different approaches were determined by the governors’ differing political ideologies.

“We had a governor who chose to respect the institution of collective bargaining and worked to negotiate a contract with the union that would address those problems,” Professor Hurd said, “and by all appearances, he has been successful with that.”

WNYC, August 15, 2011, Monday

WNYC

August 15, 2011, Monday

WNYC (full article)

CSEA Union Set to Announce Results on Contract Vote

WNYC By Tracie Hunte

Ken Margolies, Director of Organizing Programs at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said he expects members to accept the deal because by ruling out tax increases, Governor Andrew Cuomo put the union in a tough position.

“The Cuomo administration is looking to hold the line on public employee settlements and get concessions when it can and perhaps small increases towards the end of agreements,” Margolies said. “There’s a very long history of agreement like these setting patterns.”

The Buffalo News, August 14, 2011, Sunday

The Buffalo News

August 14, 2011, Sunday

The Buffalo News (full article)

Striking Verizon workers vow to put up a tough fight
Company seeks to cut landline losses

By Samantha Maziarz Christmann

“These are all parts of what’s emboldening Verizon to take a strong position,” said Lee Adler, a labor lawyer and Cornell professor who has done education work with the Communications Workers of America. “If they’re successful, other companies might try the same thing.”

With more and more customers dropping their home telephone service in favor of cell phones, Verizon said cutbacks in its landline division are unavoidable. Unlike other sales dips, Verizon’s wireline losses are expected to be permanent as landlines move toward obsolescence.

schristmann@buffnews.com

Union-Sun & Journal, August 13, 2011, Saturday

Union-Sun & Journal

August 13, 2011, Saturday

Union-Sun & Journal (full article)

Business partners
By Joe Olenick


The fact that GM chose to purchase the Lockport plant is a great sign said Arthur Wheaton, an automotive industry expert at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Buffalo.

“What speaks well of Lockport is that GM chose the plant,” Wheaton said. “There were many others not seen as core or necessary than that one was.”

Diversity MBA Magazine, July 22, 2011, Friday

Diversity MBA Magazine

August 13, 2011, Saturday

Diversity MBA Magazine (full article)

Diversity MBA Magazine names 2011 Diverse Executive & Emerging Leaders

TOP 100 UNDER 50 DIVERSE EMERGING LEADERS

Laura S. Hertzog, MBA
Director, Diversity & Inclusion Programs
Cornell University, NYC Extension

The Washington Post, August 12, 2011, Friday

The Washington Post

August 12, 2011, Friday

The Washington Post (full article)

Postal Service proposal to break contracts blasted by unions

By Alec MacGillis and Lisa Rein, Published: August 12

Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor expert at Cornell University, said that for Congress to approve breaking labor contracts would be unprecedented. But Kerry Korpi of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said the proposal was in keeping with the times.

“We’ve seen politicians around the country . . . who are using the economic crisis as an excuse to take away our members’ rights and benefits,” she said. “The specific recipe might vary, but this looks like the same cookbook.”

© The Washington Post Company

Kansas City infoZone, August 11, 2011, Thursday

Kansas City infoZone

August 11, 2011, Thursday

Kansas City infoZone (full article)

Graduate Students Split on Campus Unionization

By Rebecca Koenig

It’s an argument familiar to Nick Salvatore, an industrial and labor relations professor at Cornell University. Having participated in the drive for unionization as a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1970s, Salvatore publically supported Cornell graduate students’ efforts to unionize in 2002. The movement was voted down in a campus-wide election by what Salvatore called a “definitive” 69-31 percent margin.

“The way in which funding works is often very different from department to department,” Salvatore said. “Sciences generate their own research money, not bound by university rules. They made the point that if they accepted unionization they would actually lose money. I had never understood that difference before.”

Boston Globe, August 10, 2011, Wednesday

Boston Globe

August 10, 2011, Wednesday

Boston Globe (full article)

Verizon union members say strike worth hardship

Gene Carroll, the director of the Union Leadership Institute at Cornell University, said Verizon’s contract proposals follow a 25-year labor relations trend of diminishing job security for the average worker. Some of the things the Verizon unions are asking for are no longer standard benefits in America, he said.

“Striking is not a common practice at all now,’’ he said. “It’s a risky strategy on the part of the union, and it’s also very courageous.’’

The Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2011, Tuesday

The Wall Street Journal

August 9, 2011, Tuesday

The Wall Street Journal (full article)

Verizon Strike Turns Nasty

By GREG BENSINGER And SPENCER E. ANTE


Some labor experts say there should be room for the two sides to compromise. The power and size of the telecom unions has been weakened due to customers replacing landlines with wireless, increased levels of subcontracting, and reclassification of workers outside of the union, said Harry C. Katz, dean and professor at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. And Verizon, Mr. Katz said, can only operate for so long with replacement workers before its business starts to suffer.

"They can replace them on a short-run basis, because the technology does not break that much, but in the long run I think Verizon will compromise," said Mr. Katz. "They can't replace all of the technicians. The company has a lot of leverage, but it does not have total leverage."

City Journal, August 8, 2011, Monday

City Journal

August 8, 2011, Monday

City Journal (full article)

Why the Gender Gap Won't Go Away. Ever.

Two Cornell economists, Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn, place the number at about 9 cents per dollar. In 2009, the CONSAD Research Corporation, under the auspices of the Labor Department, located the gap a little lower, at 4.8 to 7.1 percent.

NPR, August 6, 2011, Saturday

NPR

August 6, 2011, Saturday

NPR (full article)

Jobless Numbers Don't Tell The Whole Story
by Sonari Glinton

The unemployment number is a fraction. The top number — the numerator — is "the number of people who are looking for a job and don't have one," explains Linda Barrington, a labor economist with the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell University.

Timesunion, August 3, 2011, Wednesday

Timesunion

August 3, 2011, Wednesday

Timesunion (full article)

Does state have a backdoor way to layoffs?
State union members are wary of a reorganization exemption

By JIMMY VIELKIND

Often present in private-sector labor agreements, layoff protection clauses are increasingly common for public-sector workers in an era of reduced tax revenue, according to Lee Adler, who teaches public-sector collective bargaining at Cornell University's School of Industrial Labor Relations.

But he, too, wondered what the SAGE exclusion might mean.

"Consolidation is different than collective bargaining," Adler said.

Reach Vielkind at 454-5081 or jvielkind@timesunion.com.

Atlanta Business Chronicle, July 29, 2011, Friday

Atlanta Business Chronicle

July 29, 2011, Friday

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Work remains in achieving diverse workforce


“There is a lot of research that demonstrates the benefit of having diversity in the workplace, especially when it comes to fostering productivity, innovation and creative thinking because of all the different viewpoints and perspectives,” said Laura Hertzog, director of human capital development programs at Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).

NPR Marketplace, July 18, 2011, Monday

NPR Marketplace

July 18, 2011, Monday

NPR Marketplace (Listen to story)

Talks start over union elections
By Nancy Marshall Genzer


Kate Bronfenbrenner is a labor expert at Cornell University. She says employers often create disputes with unions to delay these elections. She says they use that time to convince workers to vote no.

Kate Bronfenbrenner: If you do not streamline and have the elections happen as soon as possible, workers are going to give up.