USA Today, December 21, Wednesday

USA Today

December 21, 2011, Wednesday

USA Today (full article)

Labor board approves controversial union election rules

While union leaders publicly tried to play down the new rules as a modest development, labor experts called the change significant. Unions have seen their ranks dwindle steadily over the last three decades to 11.9 percent of the work force.

"Employers wouldn't have fought against it so hard if it wasn't going to make a difference," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Law.com, December 21, 2011, Wednesday

Law.com

December 21, 2011, Wednesday

Law.com (full article)

Littler Heads South of the Border With Acquisition of 24 Mexican Lawyers

De la Vega says most of his existing clients are publicly held U.S.-based companies doing business in Mexico, including 3M, General Electric, Hilton Hotels, MasterCard, Oracle, Ritz-Carlton and Weyerhaeuser. He says he also expects his group to land assignments from the growing number of Mexican companies beginning to expand internationally.

Lance Compa, who teaches international labor law at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, says there is undoubtedly a market for labor and employment specialists south of the border. "American companies doing business in Mexico need careful legal counsel," says Compa, noting that while the country's labor laws tend to favor workers over management, local politics affect how strictly those laws are enforced from region to region.

Inside Higher Ed, December 20, 2011, Tuesday

Inside Higher Ed

December 20, 2011, Tuesday

Inside Higher Ed (full article)

The Lure of the City

A Metropolitan Prize

Cornell had good reason to push so hard. Of the private universities in the Association of American Universities, Cornell is the only one whose main campus is not located in an urban area. The university’s medical center is in Manhattan, and it runs several programs in the city, but its main efforts are concentrated in Ithaca, a four-hour drive from New York City and about an hour away from Syracuse, the closest major city.

While that might be a good environment for an undergraduate university or for the agriculture-focused parts of a land-grant university (all of which are parts of Cornell), it makes it difficult to engage in certain types of research and technology transfer. “Our location is a disadvantage,” said Ronald G. Ehrenberg, a professor of industrial and labor relations and economics at Cornell and a higher education researcher. “It is very, very difficult for us to do the kind of development here through tech transfer that a place like Stanford or Berkeley can do in San Francisco or Harvard or MIT can do in Boston.”

“There is no transportation here,” he added. “If you were trying to attract startup companies to Ithaca, it isn’t easy. If you are creating products for a local market, the market here is so small that it’s tough to get off the ground.”

The Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2011, Monday

The Wall Street Journal

December 19, 2011, Monday

The Wall Street Journal (full article)

For MTA, Union: Go Signs

Now, Mr. Samuelsen is more secure in his position at the TWU. And the MTA is led by Mr. Lhota, who was involved in labor negotiations as both budget director and deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani. People who dealt with him during that period say he often built personal relationships with opponents.

Such a tactic means there's less chance the talks "will get on the rocks based on ego or misunderstanding," said Ken Margolies, the director of organizing programs at Cornell University's labor relations school.

Bloomberg, December 16, 2011, Friday

Bloomberg

December 16, 2011, Friday

Bloomberg (full article)

How Did World War II End the Great Depression?: Echoes

By Louis Hyman

It is commonly opined, in high school history classes and backyard barbeques, that government spending in the run-up to World War II "got us out of the Depression." This narrative conveys the sense that the end of the Great Depression was both accidental and necessarily belligerent.

But exactly how World War II got us out of the Depression is generally ignored -- even though it provides a lesson at odds with the accepted interpretation.

NPR, December 14, 2011, Wednesday

NPR

December 14, 2011, Wednesday

NPR (full article)

Just How Many Jobs Would The Keystone Pipeline Create?

"That money gets spent and circulated through the economy so ... the 118,000 jobs is the cumulative total of all that during the construction phase," says Perryman.

And that's also measured in person years.

"It's unsubstantiated," says Sean Sweeney, who directs Cornell University's Global Labor Institute. He co-wrote a paper that found the numbers to be exaggerated.

Yahoo! Finance Australia, December 13, 2011, Tuesday

Yahoo! Finance Australia

December 13, 2011, Tuesday

Yahoo! Finance Australia (full article)

Hey, you! Mean people earn more, study finds

It may not pay to be nice in the workplace.

A new U.S. study has found that agreeable workers earn significantly lower incomes than less agreeable ones. The gap is especially wide for men. (More From Yahoo!7 Finance: A Tour Of The Most Expensive Street In The World)

The researchers examined "agreeableness" using self-reported survey data and found that men who measured below average on agreeableness earned about 18% more - or US$9,772 more annually in their sample - than nicer guys. Ruder women, meanwhile, earned about 5% or US$1,828 more than their agreeable counterparts.

"Nice guys are getting the shaft," says study co-author Beth A. Livingston, an assistant professor of human resource studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in the U.S. (More From Yahoo!7 Finance: The World's Most Distressed Property Markets)

Left Eye on Books, December 13, 2011, Tuesday

Left Eye on Books

December 13, 2011, Tuesday

Left Eye on Books (full article)

New Books Examine the Trajectory of Labor in the United States in the Seventies

“Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class” authored by Jefferson R. Cowie, professor of history at Cornell. Cowie includes considerable cultural history in his discussion of the challenges faced by the working class in the period. Writing in New Politics, Steve Collatrella praises the book for transcending the current academic sub-specialties that have undermined labor history, declaring that the book “might be the most groundbreaking and original national history of a working class since E.P. Thompson’s ‘Making of the English Working Class’.” Collatrella mildly faults the book for its adherence to the “somewhat arbitrary border of the calendar line” between the ’70s and ’80s, which means the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike of 1981 is not included, despite its relevance.

New York Times, December 12, 2011, Monday

New York Times

December 12, 2011, Monday

New York Times (full article)

Keystone Claptrap

The State Department, the lead federal agency on the project, also estimates 6,500 temporary jobs. And the only independent study, conducted by Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute, concludes that it may generate no more than 50 permanent jobs when the work is done.

Democrat and Chronicle, December 11, 2011, Sunday

Democrat and Chronicle

December 11, 2011, Sunday

Democrat and Chronicle (full article)

'Mess' foreseen with postal facility closures

The outcome of negotiations between the postal service and unions representing mail handlers and letter carriers, which both have deadlines of next week, could be crucial in determining how cost-cutting plans are carried out. Mail handlers, who are represented by a union of 47,000 members, are bargaining about job protections and reassignment rules.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University, said she wonders whether the postal service will get as many retirements as it is counting on. "Nobody in this economy is retiring unless they are really ready. There has to be some incentive," she said.

In These Times, December 9, 2011, Friday

In These Times

December 9, 2011, Friday

In These Times (full article)

A String of Slaughterhouse Successes for UFCW

Now, Goumbri said, the UFCW represents about 60 percent of beef and about 72 percent of pork slaughterhouse and packing house workers nationwide. He told In These Times:

When a lot of workers are represented by a union in a particular industry, they use the strength they have in numbers to raise the floor for everyone… These are well-paying union jobs that come with wages and benefits – in the current economic state our communities are in desperate need of such jobs.

A 2008 article by Cornell University professor Richard Hurd about UFCW retail food (grocery) organizing notes that even when the union has a high concentration in a given sector, it needs a unified national bargaining strategy in order to effectively advocate for its members in changing, consolidated industries.

Business Insider, December 9, 2011, Friday

Business Insider

December 9, 2011, Friday

Business Insider (full article)

Who makes more money: nice people or mean people?

"Nice guys are getting the shaft," says study co-author Beth A. Livingston, an assistant professor of human resource studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

In These Times, December 6, 2011, Tuesday

In These Times

December 6, 2011, Tuesday

In These Times (full article)

A String of Slaughterhouse Successes for UFCW

A 2008 article by Cornell University professor Richard Hurd about UFCW retail food (grocery) organizing notes that even when the union has a high concentration in a given sector, it needs a unified national bargaining strategy in order to effectively advocate for its members in changing, consolidated industries.

In the above four campaigns, the union said the employers agreed to remain neutral and allow a fair vote free of intimidation or other interference. Goumbri said this is not the norm in the industry or in general, but that in these cases the employers understood there was widespread support for unionization and that the employees were determined. He told In These Times:

Companies are still hell-bent on preventing workers from having a free and fair process. (Fair elections) come when companies see workers are really united and the workers just take a stand, and the company knows workers are determined to make that choice. These were workers who knew exactly what they wanted and knew what their rights were.

Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 2, 2011, Friday

Minneapolis Star Tribune

December 2, 2011, Friday

Minneapolis Star Tribune (full article)

U of M business school seeks higher tuition for its undergraduates

About 42 percent of public doctoral universities charged differential undergraduate tuition in 2010-11, according to a study to be published next year. Author Ronald Ehrenberg said the three most common degrees for which students pay extra are business, engineering and nursing.

Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, suspects that some universities, facing limited state support, might charge more in colleges with the greatest demand.

"If I'm a university administrator, I am going to consider reducing my state allocation to them and raising tuition if we could," he said. "That's easier to sell publicly than raising tuition for everybody."

The Pelican Post, December 1, 2011, Thursday

The Pelican Post

December 1, 2011, Thursday

The Pelican Post (full article)

Study Alleges Louisiana Has Largest Male-Female Wage Gap In U.S.

People often assume that the gender gap measures how much a woman is paid for doing the same job as a man. However, the figure is based on a broader view of employment, aggregating all workers, regardless of job title. Right off the bat, this skews the statistics, as men, on average, work in higher-paying fields.

Cornell University economists Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn found that when the data is adjusted for factors such as education, experience, occupation and industry, the remaining “unexplained” gender gap in 1998 was 9 percent.

Sustainable Population Australia, December 2011

Sustainable Population Australia

December 2011

Sustainable Population Australia (newsletter)

The US economic downturn and its immigration policies

by Vernon M. Briggs, Jr., Emeritus Professor of Labor Economics at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at Cornell University.

This is a shortened version of the paper he presented at the conference sponsored by Progressives for Immigration Reform, Washington, DC.

WorldatWork's workspan magazine, December 2011

WorldatWork's workspan magazine

December 2011

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

Is There Deadweight Loss in Holiday Rewards?
Considering Economics of Cash versus Hams

USA Today, November 27, 2011, Sunday

USA Today

November 27, 2011, Sunday

USA Today (full article)

Good life harder to get, keep

Jefferson Cowie, a professor of labor history at Cornell University, says middle-class dreams have been ending for people across the country.

Middle-income jobs for some are simply going away. Think of people who worked as travel agents, he said, or who earned a good living at an auto-assembly plant for 30 years.

A recent USA Today analysis showed that in the 1970s, 53 percent of the nation's income went to the middle class. Last year, the number was 46 percent.

"The idea that you show up, work hard, get a little bit lucky and you'll be fine? That is over," Cowie said.

The CT Mirror, November 25, 2011, Friday

The CT Mirror

November 25, 2011, Friday

The CT Mirror (full article)

A U.S. senator gives layaway advice on Black Friday

Schumer also used the example of a $69 Elmo to make the same points at a Nov. 13 news conference. Schumer and Blumenthal each quoted Louis Hyman, who warned about layaways in an Oct. 11 op-ed in the New York Times.

Hyman, a professor at Cornell, wrote "Debtor Nation."

BioCycle, November 2011

BioCycle

November 2011

BioCycle (full article)

Worker Safety in Confined Spaces

According to a recent article by Nellie Brown, Director of Workplace Health and Safety Programs for Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, a review of fatalities in livestock manure storage and handling facilities between 1975 and 2004 found that 22 percent of 77 deaths occurred when would-be rescuers were overcome themselves. The initial victims entering confined spaces to perform maintenance or repair accounted for 34 percent of the deaths.