Thursday, October 10, 2013

Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 10, 2013, Thursday

Minneapolis Star Tribune

October 10, 2013, Thursday

Minneapolis Star Tribune (full article)

Mediation key to resolving labor disputes, divorce battles, why not the government shutdown?

"What they really need is someone to create a safe place for them to begin to talk about getting some of the issues resolved so they could at least begin to get the government going again," said Rocco Scanza, executive director of the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University.

The Detroit News, October 10, 2013, Thursday

The Detroit News

October 10, 2013, Thursday

The Detroit News (full article)

UAW's Nissan confrontation contradicts conciliatory approach

“Nissan is not living up to the standards of worker treatment enshrined in International Labor Standards core labor standards, U.N. human rights principles and other international norms,” Lance Compa, senior lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said in a statement under the banner “Look Under the Shine of Nissan.”

Wallet Hub, October 8, 2013, Tuesday

Wallet Hub

October 8, 2013, Tuesday

Wallet Hub (full article)

What The Government Shutdown Means For Your Wallet

While some estimates for the cost to the economy are as high as $300 million a day, Arthur Wheaton, Dir., Western N.Y. Labor and Environmental Programs at Cornell University, thinks that estimate is too low.

“I think the actual costs will be much higher and affect more people as the shutdown extends,” Wheaton said. “The National Parks system only impacts a relatively small number of employees. They do however impact many thousands of jobs that depend on the visitors for their income. That would include hotels, restaurants, souvenir vendors, gas stations, other area attractions, airlines and rental cars. If the shutdown lasts a week the effects will be minor to moderate. If the shutdown lasts weeks to months that will directly affect many thousands of people and millions, if not billions, of dollars.”

New York Times, October 6, 2013, Sunday

New York Times

October 6, 2013, Sunday

New York Times (full article)

At a Nissan Plant in Mississippi, a Battle to Shape the U.A.W.'s future

 U.A.W. leaders acknowledge that under American law, the Volkswagen plant would need to be unionized first. Some U.A.W. officials are urging Volkswagen to recognize the union based on a majority of cards they say have been signed. But corporate-backed groups like the Workplace Fairness Institute favor an election with secret ballots.

“There’s a lot of pressure on VW to recognize the union,” said Lowell Turner, a professor of international labor relations at Cornell. “Something like 61 out of its 62 plants worldwide have unions and works councils. The only one that doesn’t is Chattanooga.”

Forbes, October 4, 2013, Friday

Forbes

October 4, 2013, Friday

Forbes (full article)

Why Should Stage Hands At Carnegie Hall Make $400,000?

But for context, I talked to three labor scholars who told me a different story. Lois Spier Gray, an economist, emeritus professor at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and co-author of Under the Stars: Essays on Labor Relations in Arts and Entertainment, says that IATSE is a century old and has built its bargaining power on its members’ skills. “They cannot be replaced by ordinary carpenters or electricians,” she says. To those like the Journal, who think the stage hands’ salaries are unfair, she says, “These labor disputes aren’t settled by who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s a bargaining situation and the employer, Carnegie Hall, wants the cooperation of the stagehands in exchange for their work.”

Though the stagehands’ salaries seem high, it’s tough to argue that any business, including Carnegie Hall, is powerless when it comes to negotiating with unions these days. Besides, as Cornell professor Ileen DeVault points out, most of us don’t begrudge the huge salaries of unionized NFL and Major League Baseball players  At the risk of inviting angry comments from Forbes readers, I’d say that Local One’s members have achieved the American dream, working their way through the echelons of the middle class to a level on par with Carnegie Hall’s wealthy donors. Is that such a terrible thing?

CNBC, October 3, 2013, Thursday

CNBC

October 3, 2013, Thursday

CNBC (full article)

Retail hiring gets high tech juice as holiday season nears

"I think the consensus from the research is that faking does happen, but it doesn't really change the predictive role of the test. … They learn to be who they need to be to fit that job," said John Hausknecht, an assistant professor of human resource studies at Cornell University.

"Job candidates who fail a personality test the first time often change their responses dramatically on the second test—even though adult personality is known to be generally stable and unlikely to change in the short interval (in this study, one year) between tests," Hausknecht wrote in his 2010 report.

The Washington Post, September 27, 2013, Friday

The Washington Post

September 27, 2013, Friday

The Washington Post (full article)

What you need to know before you talk about pay

3.Don’t push too far. Kevin Hallock, director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell and author of “Pay: Why People Earn What They Earn and What You Can Do Now to Make More” recommends employees be wary of overreaching.

“You don’t want to negotiate so hard that the person you’re negotiating with is happy to walk away,” he said.

5.Know what matters. “Maybe that’s doing something beyond your normal work requirements, doing something to help the bottom line, and I don’t mean that in a strictly economic term,” Hallock said. “Advancing the objective of the organization, then convincing those people who make the pay decisions that you’re helping to do that.”

New York Times, September 24, 2013, Tuesday

New York Times

September 24, 2013, Tuesday

New York Times (full article)

To Address Gender Gap, Is It Enough to Lean In?

Consider how the labor supply of American women has failed to keep up with those of other advanced nations. In a study released earlier this year, Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn of Cornell University concluded that almost a third of the difference was because of the absence of family-friendly policies common in other rich nations, like mandatory maternity leave.

Professors Blau and Kahn also noted, however, that these policies could backfire, encouraging “women who would have otherwise had a stronger labor force commitment to take part-time jobs or lower-level positions.” They could encourage employer discrimination and “leave women less likely to be considered for high-level positions.”

The Washington Post, September 23, 2013, Monday

The Washington Post

September 23, 2013, Monday

The Washington Post (full article)

Walgreens moves workers to private health-care exchange

Also, there is a risk that employees will choose plans that are inexpensive yet provide inadequate coverage.

“What we’re seeing is a continuation of a trend where employers are shifting from providing the tangible benefit to putting contributions into a pot, making the employee responsible for buying the actual benefit,” said Linda Barrington, executive director of Cornell University’s Institute for Compensation Studies. “Employees have more choice, but they also have to be educated consumers.”