Institute for Research on Labor and Employment: Events and Resources

Building Workforce Partnerships Conference, May 27 & 28

2009-05-12T09:18:00.001-07:00

	The Great Transition Building workforce partnerships conference 2009	About The Great Transition Building workforce partnerships conference 2009 • MAY 27& 28 The current economic crisis presents a threshold moment for government, industry, and labor collaboration. This is the moment to reach back to lessons of the past and plan ahead for a sustainable future. This year, Building Workforce Partnerships explores the potential of a Great Transition – a federal policy convergence of economic stimulus, energy independence, and economic security. ›› What changes are in store for federal workforce programs, education systems, and worker supports? ›› How will investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and efficiency translate into enough good jobs and shared prosperity to restart the economy? ›› How will workers most in need of assistance get access to the necessary social and economic supports, retraining, and good jobs? Confirmed speakers include: Phil Angelides, Apollo Alliance • Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research • Barbara Byrd, Oregon AFL-CIO • Cindy Chavez, South Bay Labor Council • James K. Galbraith, University of Texas • Thomas Kochan, MIT • Thea Lee, AFL-CIO • Greg Leroy, Good Jobs First • Christine Owens, National Employment Law Project • Carl Pope, Sierra Club • Art Pulaski, California Labor Federation • Tim Rainey, Workforce and Economic Development Program • Jeff Rickert, AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs workshop topics include: › Bringing the Green to our Youth › Green Building Skills Employment Training › Clean tech investment “capital strategies” › California’s Green Economic Stimulus › High Road green development case studies › Models of successful labor-management-government partnerships in transit and energy › Manufacturing revitalization opportunities under the stimulus plan › The Emerald Cities Project and weatherization money under the stimulus plan › Industry sector partnerships in health care, at the Ports and in hospitality › The UCLA Community Scholars program › Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship money through the WIA stimulus allocations ...AND MORE! Sponsors: California Labor Federation’s Workforce and Economic Development Program, AFL-CIO • Working for America Institute and the Center for Green Jobs • Apollo Alliance • California Energy Commission • California Employment Development Department • California Labor Agency • California Workforce Investment Board • Ella Baker Center • Energy Foundation • Employment Training Panel • PolicyLink • South Bay Labor Council • UC Berkeley Labor Center • US Department of Labor • work2future registration: www.wed-works.org/events/BWP/register.html Registration fee is $295 and includes the 2-day-long conference, breakfast and lunches, and the conference reception. information: Ellen Baughman, ebaughman@calaborfed.org, 510-663-4087
	MAY 27 & 28

	Hilton San Jose 300 Almaden Blvd. \| San Jose, CA www.wed-works.org workforce and economic development a program of california Labor federation

Children in Immigrant Families: Report

2009-04-28T08:06:00.001-07:00

Foundation for Child Development

Children in Immigrant Families The U.S. and 50 States: Economic Need Beyond the Official Poverty Measure [9 April 2009]
http://www.fcd-us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=897338
or
http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/ChildrenInImmigrantFamiliesPovertyMeasure.pdf
[full-text, 22 pages]

Press Release 9 April 2009
New Study Finds Nearly One-Half of Children in Immigrant Families Live in Poverty
Official Measure Understates Poverty for All Children
http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/ChildrenInImmigrantFamiliesPovertyMeasurePressRelease.pdf

This Research Brief from Child Trends and The Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany, SUNY, finds that nearly one-half of children in immigrant families live in poverty when basic living and child care costs are taken into account. Drawing on Census 2000 data, it examines differences in the poverty rates between children in immigrant families and children in native-born families.

Researchers Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A Denton, and Suzanne Macartney argue that the official poverty rate substantially understates economic needs of children, particularly those living in immigrant families. They calculated two alternative measures, a "Baseline Basic Budget Poverty" measure, and a "Baseline Basic Budget Poverty Plus" measure. When these alternatives are used, the rate of poverty is much higher than indicated by the prevailing official U.S. poverty measure.

A service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City.

Employee Free Choice Event with David Brody, William Gould and Harley Shaiken

2009-04-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

Employee Free Choice and

Labor Law Reform:

Which Way Forward?

A Conversation with David Brody,

William Gould and Harley Shaiken

DAVID BRODY

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis Department of

History, and UC Berkeley Institute for Research

on Labor and Employment

WILLIAM B. GOULD

Charles A. Beardsley Professor of Law, Emeritus,

at Stanford Law School, and former chair of the

Clinton National Labor Relations Board

HARLEY SHAIKEN

UC Berkeley Professor of Education and

Geography, and Director of the Center for Latin

American Studies at UC Berkeley

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

5:30–7:00 pm

IRLE Building

2521 Channing Way

Berkeley

Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Labor Center and the

Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law.

For more information please contact Theresa Short,

510-642-9187, tmshort@berkeley.edu

Southern Poverty Law Center: H-2B Workers

2009-04-24T08:44:00.001-07:00

SPLC to Congress: Protect H-2B Guestworkers, Enforce Labor Laws Aggressively [23 April 2009]
http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=376

The U.S. Department of Labor should repeal Bush administration regulations that have shredded labor protections for foreign guestworkers and aggressively enforce labor laws to protect all workers from exploitation, a Southern Poverty Law Center expert told a U.S. House subcommittee today.

Mary Bauer, director of the SPLC's Immigrant Justice Project, told the U.S. House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy that the regulations enacted by the Bush administration in its waning days have undercut the rights of H-2B guestworkers, who come to the United States for temporary, low-skill jobs. These workers are often pushed into debt by large fees charged by labor brokers, and they are routinely cheated out of wages and subjected to abusive work conditions.

Bauer called on Congress to enact legislation that greatly expands the legal rights of H-2B workers, noting that many of the abuses in the program stem from the great disparity in power between guestworkers who cannot change jobs under the program and their employers. She also called for increased enforcement of laws protecting all workers, noting a decline in enforcement activity in recent years.

"In practice, the (guestworker) program is rife with abuses," she said in prepared testimony. "The abuses typically start long before the worker has arrived in the United States and continue through and even after his or her employment here."

The exploitation of guestworkers and the SPLC's recommendations for reforming the system are outlined in the March 2007 report
CLOSE TO SLAVERY
http://www.splcenter.org/legal/guestreport/index.jsp

IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016

2009 report of the California Emerging Technology Fund

2009-04-20T14:44:00.001-07:00

2009 report of the California Emerging Technology Fund

http://cetfund.org/progress/annualreports

The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), led by former state Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak, is a non-profit corporation established in 2005 from the mergers of AT&T - SBC and Verizon - MCI, and charged with the mission of dramatically decreasing California's digital divide over the next 5-10 years. CETF is accomplishing this through:

Granting funds directly to universities and local agencies.
Coordinating Regional Roundtables to encourage better collaboration among communications providers, educators, healthcare experts, community organizations, job skills trainers, and everyday citizens.
Conducting studies measuring the depth of the digital divide throughout the state, and assessing the real benefits of broadband usage in both urban and rural areas throughout the state (please see attached PPIC report).

To further enhance all of these efforts and to extend the reach of their work, CETF is launching "Get Connected, California!", a multifaceted, multi-lingual awareness campaign aimed to reach policymakers, business and civic leaders, teachers and trainers, community organizers and the community at large. The campaign would involve periodic updates from CETF, mobilizing public support of innovative policy, community forums and regional roundtables, as well as high-profile events celebrating the benefits of broadband implementation/access.

The overall goal of the campaign is to increase broadband adoption by 10 percentage points (please see attached) throughout the state. Other goals of the campaign are to:

bolster and update our state's digital infrastructure, thus creating jobs in construction, telecommunications and technical industries
decrease our population's carbon footprint, by decreasing need for car travel and other polluting practices
increase educational opportunities for California's students, thus increasing school performance and educational achievement

The success of such campaigns really lies in the individuals who are already strong voices in their communities, who are already working to improve the well-being of their communities and who have produced positive results because of their astonishing leadership. Because of your success and broad connections in the state, we are asking you about the 5-10 individuals you know who could champion "Get Connected, California!" for the good of your constituents. In general, your key leaders are:

Well respected in their communities
Considered to be thought leaders
Able to mobilize and motivate others

The "Get Connected, California!" campaign is scheduled to kick-off in April, 2009.

NCES: QUICKSTATS DATA TOOL Released

2009-04-20T12:02:00.001-07:00

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

QuickStats Data Tool Released (15 April 2009)
http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/quickstats/

QuickStats allows users to easily create tables by selecting from a list of datasets, then selecting variables contained within as column and row categories, employing a simple drag-and-drop process

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies

School of Industrial & Labor Relations--------
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor--------------------

New York, NY 10016 -----------
_______________________________

PRIVATE OPPORTUNITY

2009-04-11T20:13:00.001-07:00

Attention From Nadeem,

I am Mr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui, currently
Head of International Business Officer with a reputable bank
here in U. A. E. I write you this proposal in good faith,
believing that I can trust you with the information I am about
to reveal to you.

I have an urgent and very confidential business proposition
for you. On November 6, 2003, an Iraqi Foreign Oil consultant
/contractor with the CHEVRON PETROLEUM CORPORATION, MR MOHAMMAD
AL NASSER made a (Fixed deposit) for 36 calendar months, valued
at US$17,500,000.00 (seventeen Million Five hundred Thousand
Dollars only) in my bank and I happen to be his account officer
before I was moved to my present position recently. Upon
Maturity in 2006, as his account officer and as well the bank
Manger, it is my duty to notify him on the maturity date so I
sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but the
letter was returned undelivered.

After sometime, I tried sending back the letter, but it was
again returned and finally I discovered from his contract
employers, Chevron Petroleum Corporation that Mr. Mohammad Al
Nasser died as a result of torture in the hand of Saddam
Hussein (former Iraqi President) during one of his trips to
his country Iraq, as he was accused of leaking information
to the Americans. On further investigation, I discovered
that Mr. Al Nasser's family wife and two sons died during
the Gulf War in Iraq and was the reason why he did not declare
any next of kin or relation in all his official documents,
including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank and did not
leave any WILL. This sum of US$17,500,000.00 have been
floating and placed under dormant/unserviceable account by my
bank management since no one have heard from the owner since
2003. I wish to let you know that all the investigation I
have made so far, my bank management is not aware of it, I am
the only one that have the information.

With the recent change of government in my country and with
their efforts to support the United Nations in checkmating
terrorism aid in the U. A. E. By end of this year, the
government will pass a new financial control law which will
give the government authority to interrogate account owners
of above $5,000,000.00 to explain the source of the funds,
making sure it is not for terrorism support. If I do not
move this money out of the country immediately, by end of
the year the government will definitely confiscate the money,
because my bank cannot provide the account owner to explain
the source of the money.

I cannot directly transfer out this money without the help
of a foreigner and that is why I am contacting you for an
assistance. As the Account Officer to late Al Nasser, coupled
with my present position and status in the bank as Chief
Credit & Risk Officer, I have the power to influence the
release of the funds to any foreigner that comes up as the
next of kin to the account, with the correct information
concerning the account, which I shall give you. All documents
to enable you claim this fund will be carefully worked out and
there is practically no risk involved, the transaction will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you
from any breach of law, beside U. A. E is porous and anything
goes.

If you accept to work with me, I want you to state how you
wish us to share the funds in percentage, so that both
parties will be satisfied. If you are interested, contact
me as soon as you receive this message so we can go over
the details. Thanking you in advance and may you be bless.
Please, treat with utmost confidentiality. I shall send
you copy of the deposit certificate issued to Al Nasser when the
deposit was made for your perusal.

I wait your urgent response.

Regards,
Mr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui.

PRIVATE OPPORTUNITY

2009-04-10T16:22:00.001-07:00

Attention From Nadeem,

I wait your urgent response.

Regards,
Mr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui.

BLS Industries at a Glance (Web Pages)

2009-04-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

INDUSTRIES AT A GLANCE
http://www.bls.gov/iag/home.htm

Industries in Alphabetical Order
http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag_index_alpha.htm

Industries by Supersector and NAICS Code
http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag_index_naics.htm

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies

School of Industrial & Labor Relations----
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor----------------------

Stuart Basefsky

Director, IWS News Bureau
_______________________________

PRIVATE OPPORTUNITY

2009-04-10T13:27:00.001-07:00

Attention From Nadeem,

I wait your urgent response.

Regards,
Mr. Nadeem A. Siddiqui.

Financial Challenge to the U.S. & Global Economy and its Impact on Organizations

2009-04-09T10:38:00.001-07:00

SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management)

Financial Challenge to the U.S. & Global Economy and its Impact on Organizations
http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Articles/Documents/w031109%20-%20Economy%202%20Final_v4.pdf
[full-text, 22 pages]

This poll, conducted in March 2009, is an update of a series of polls from October 2008 which looked at the impact of the financial crisis on companies. It illustrates how the strategies of businesses are changing as the economy continues to decline. Companies were also asked to project possible areas for budget cuts over the next six months.

Original Post:
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies---------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations------Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor-------------------Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Agitate! Educate! Organize! : American Labor Posters [April 2009]

2009-04-08T08:28:00.001-07:00

AGITATE! EDUCATE! ORGANIZE! : American Labor Posters [April 2009]
by Lincoln Cushing; Timothy W. Drescher
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=5364

$24.95t paper
2009, 216 pages, 8 1/8 x 10 1/2, 268 color photographs
ISBN: 978-0-8014-7427-9

“We seek to inform as well as to celebrate. The best posters about American workers and the jobs at which they labor make up a visually fascinating body of work that rewards our attention. The posters were produced with a dual purpose: to entertain and to inform. They were also vehicles for working people to present themselves visually, which is rarely as straightforward as it might seem because the labor force itself is not monolithic. Nor are the posters about just paid or wage labor. They repeatedly demonstrate that labor issues include both the workplace and the outside community and often portray families and neighbors, not just fellow workers.”from Agitate! Educate! Organize!

In Agitate! Educate! Organize!, Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher share their vast knowledge about the rich graphic tradition of labor posters. Lavish full-color reproductions of more than 250 of the best posters that have emerged from the American labor movement ensure that readers will want to return again and again to this visually fascinating treasury of little-known images from the American past. Some of the posters were issued by government programs and campaigns; some were devised by unions as recruiting tools or strike announcements; others were generated by grassroots organizations focused on a particular issue or group of workers-all reveal much about the diverse experiences of working people in the United States.

American labor posters are widely scattered, difficult to locate, and rarely archived. Cushing and Drescher examined several thousand such images in the course their research, guaranteeing a truly representative selection. The presentation of the posters is thematic, with a brief history of activist graphic media followed by chapters on Dignity and Exploitation; Health and Safety; Women; Race and Civil Rights; War, Peace and Internationalism; Solidarity and Organizing; Strikes and Boycotts; Democracy, Voting, and Patriotism; History, Heroes, and Martyrs; and Culture. Along with the stunning color images, the text contributes to a much deeper understanding of the politics, history, artistry, and impact of this genre of activist art and the importance of the labor movement in the transformation of American society over the course of the twentieth century.

For more information about this book, visit www.docspopuli.org/ArtWorks.html.

About the Author

Lincoln Cushing is the author of Revolucion! Cuban Poster Art and coauthor of Chinese Posters: Art from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Timothy W. Drescher is the author of San Francisco Bay Area Murals: Communities Create their Muses, 1904-1997.

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

FW:

2009-04-07T11:38:00.001-07:00

Making Climate Change Policy Work in Difficult Economic Times: A CONFERENCE FOCUSING ON THE JOB AND EQUITY IMPACTS OF CARBON PRICING POLICIES
May 5, 2009	8:30 AM—6 PM Conference 6:30 PM Reception UC Berkeley International House 2299 Piedmont Avenue Berkeley, CA

	Carbon pricing policies like cap-and-trade programs are being proposed or implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California, the Western states of the US and Canada, and nationally. This conference will explore the design options within carbon pricing policies that shape impacts on employment and equity.
Workshop topics include: In-depth workshop on carbon pricing policy options • Economic and equity impacts of carbon pricing policies • Common issues for labor and environmental justice groups • The politics of cap and trade in California and the West • How to prevent “leakage” • How to spend carbon revenues • Complementary policies
Confirmed speakers include: Rafael Aguilera, Verde Group • Bob Balgenorth, State Building and Construction Trades Council • Vivian Buckingham, CERES • Chris Busch, Center for Resource Solutions • Barbara Byrd, Oregon AFL-CIO • Carla Din, Apollo Alliance • Dean Florez, California State Senator • Dave Foster, Blue-Green Alliance • Kate Gordon, Apollo Alliance • Lisa Hoyos, AFL-CIO • Holmes Hummel, AAAS Congressional Science Fellow, 2007-2008 • Dan Kammen, UC Berkeley Energy and Resources Group • Ian Kim, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights • Jill Kubit, Cornell Global Labor Instutute • Bill Magavern, Sierra Club • Rachel Morello-Frosch, UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management • Payal Parekh, International Rivers • Manuel Pastor, USC Program on Environmental and Regional Equity • Art Pulaski, California Labor Federation • Tim Rainey, Workforce and Economic Development Program • Jeff Rickert, AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs • Nia Robinson, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative • Erin Rogers, Union of Concerned Scientists • David Roland-Holst, UC Berkeley Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics • Neil Tangri, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) • Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics • Joel Yudken, High Road Strategies
Sponsors: UC Berkeley Labor Center, Apollo Alliance, California Labor Federation's Workforce and Economic Development Program, California State Building and Construction Trades Council, Don Vial Center on Employment in the Green Economy, Energy Foundation, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative, Western Climate Advocates Network (WeCAN), and others. Registration: Register at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/greenjobs/climatechange.shtml. Registration fee is $100 and includes the day-long conference and post-conference reception. Student registration fee is $50. Community groups needing scholarships can contact Andrea Buffa at (510) 325-3653, andreabuffa@berkeley.edu General information: Theresa Short, laborcenter@berkeley.edu, 510-642-0323
*The UC Berkeley Labor Center would like to keep you informed of labor-related research, events, and classes of interest to you!* Please take a moment to visit our new online mailing list registration form at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/about/list.shtml and select the labor-related topics that most interest you. Once your form has been submitted you will begin to receive occasional announcements based only on the interests that you have identified. You have received this email because you are a supporter of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. If you do not wish to receive occasional emails from the UC Berkeley Labor Center, please reply to clre_unsubscribe@berkeley.edu and place UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

"Debugging the Silicon Dream: Real Life in a Virtual World"

2009-04-07T09:04:00.001-07:00

The following event was organized in part by IRLE Affiliate Professor Richard A. Walker (Geography)

==============================================================

California Studies Conference 2009

“Debugging the Silicon Dream: Real Life in a Virtual World

Friday, April 24, 2009 • 9am–5pm • De Anza College

21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA •

Campus Center Conference Rooms A&B

==============================================================

New Publication on Labor Art: Authored by former IRLE Outreach Librarian Lincoln Cushing

2009-04-07T09:02:00.001-07:00

Cornell University Press has published the following title:

Agitate! Educate! Organize! American Labor Posters.

By Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher, Cornell University Press, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8014-7427-9

More than 250 full-color reproductions of the best posters that have
emerged from the American labor movement, with essays explaining
their artistic and historical context. The images are selected from
numerous archives, libraries, and special collections around the U.S.
<http://www.docspopuli.org/ArtWorks.html>

Occupational promotion of migrant workers

2009-04-06T08:31:00.001-07:00

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)
European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO)

COMPARATIVE STUDY

Occupational promotion of migrant workers [25 March 2009]
March 2009
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/studies/tn0807038s/index.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/studies/tn0807038s/tn0807038s.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/docs/ewco/tn0807038s/tn0807038s.pdf
[full-text, 31 pages]

This report examines the situation regarding the occupational promotion of migrant workers in the EU Member States and Norway. Previous research has shown that migrant workers are frequently segregated into low-paid, unskilled and precarious employment. This report confirms this research, providing clear evidence of barriers to the occupational promotion of migrant workers such as the prevalence of temporary employment, higher level of over-education, fewer training opportunities and poor recognition of qualifications among these workers. The second part of the report looks at some public polices and good practices which aim to foster the occupational promotion of migrant workers including education and training programmes, and collective bargaining initiatives. The report points to the lack of well-documented cases of such practices, as well as the need for greater monitoring of these initiatives.

The study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by the EWCO correspondents. The text of each of these national reports is available below. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The national reports were drawn up in response to a < http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/docs/ewco/tn0807038s/occupationalpromotionmigrantsfinalquest_080403.doc > questionnaire and should be read in conjunction with it.

CONTENTS
Introduction
Employment situation
Recognition of qualifications and skills
Training provision
Policies for promoting equal opportunities
Collective bargaining
Good practices examples
Conclusions
References
Annex: Country codes and abbreviations

Labor Situation in Japan and Analysis: Detailed Exposition 2009/2010

2009-04-06T08:30:00.001-07:00

Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training (JILPT)

Labor Situation in Japan and Analysis: Detailed Exposition 2009/2010 [27 March 2009]
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/lsj.html
or
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/detailed_2009-2010.pdf
[full-text, 215 pages]

This publication is a compilation of write-ups describing individual themes related to the current status of labor issues in Japan. In principle, it is issued every year alternately as "General Overview" and "Detailed Exposition" editions. The former is aimed at providing basic information on the whole picture of labor issues and relevant labor policies in Japan, while the latter takes up contemporary topics and provides detailed exposition and analyses of their current trends

CONTENTS
    1 . New Trends of Regional Employment Creation
- A Study with Respect to Analyses on Regional Structure of Unemployment
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter1.pdf

   * 2. Shrinking of Labor Unions and Need for a New Collective Influential Voice System in Japan
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter2.pdf

   * 3. Employment Strategy
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter3.pdf

   * 4. Current Situation and Challenges of Diversified Work Styles
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter4.pdf

   * 5. Japanese Companies and Employment
Human Resource Management in Japanese Companies Today
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter5.pdf

   * 6. Human Resources Development and Improvement of the Educational Training Infrastructure in Japan
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter6.pdf

   * 7. Work and Life
- Toward Construction of Systematic Support for Balancing Work and Life
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter7.pdf

   * 8. Tool Development Supporting Re-Employment of the Middle-Aged and Older Persons
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/chapter8.pdf

   * 9. General Information Website of Employment and Career
- Research and Development of Career Matrix

Sweatshop Workers Tour, Mon. April 6th in Softies. April 7th in Berkeley

2009-04-06T08:29:00.001-07:00

_{SweeatFree Communities Presents}_:

BAY AREA SWEATSHOP

WORKERS TOUR

What YOU Can Do to End Tax Dollar Support for Sweatshops and to Build an Economy Based on Good Jobs!

FREE FOOD FOR ALL OUR GUESTS!

QUESTIONS?

SPONSORSHIP REQUESTS?

Contact Igor:

510-295-8798

itregub@gmail.com

Monday, April 6, 2009 | 6:00-8:00 PM

First Unitarian Universalist Church and Center

1187 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 94109

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 | 7:00-9:00 p.m.

UC-Berkeley, MLK Student Union Building, Tilden Room (5^thFloor)

2100 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA, 94704.

Free and open to the public (but a donation of $5-15 is appreciated).

Donate at the door or go to http://endsweatshops.eventbrite.com!

Featuring:

Erlinda Elizabeth Gutierre Reyes, former garment worker from Honduras.

Rafael Irizarry, worker from Propper International in Puerto Rico, a major producer of military and law enforcement apparel that supplies the U.S.

David Bacon, renowned labor journalist and author of Illegal People.

Elected Officials, Organizers, Music, and More!

Co-sponsored by City of Berkeley Commission on Labor, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, East Bay Young Democrats, Hesperian Foundation, Offices of Berkeley Councilmembers Jesse Arreguin and Kriss Worthington, Progressive Jewish Alliance, Students Organizing for Justice in the Americas, UC Berkeley Labor Center, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club of the East Bay, More! Wheelchair accessible.

The UC Berkeley Labor Center would like to keep you informed of labor-related research, events, and classes of interest to you! Please take a moment to visit our new online mailing list registration form at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/about/list.shtml and select the labor-related topics that most interest you. Once your form has been submitted you will begin to receive occasional announcements based only on the interests that you have identified.

You have received this email because you are a supporter of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. If you do not wish to receive occasional emails from the UC Berkeley Labor Center, please reply to clre_unsubscribe@berkeley.edu and place UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Project Labor Agreements in New York State: In The Public Interest [March 2009]

2009-04-03T13:29:00.001-07:00

Project Labor Agreements in New York State: In the Public Interest [March 2009]
by Fred B. Kotler, J.D, Associate Director, Construction Industry Program
School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Cornell University
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/reports/22/
or
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=reports
[full-text, 36 pages]

Abstract

It is especially challenging in these tough economic times for officials within New York City’s and New York State’s many entities to decide how best to use public money for construction and renovation projects. This article is intended to serve as a resource to help officials make better informed decisions about the value of project labor agreements [PLAs]. It also encourages readers to see PLA use within broader objectives of sound public policy.

PLAs have been demonstrated to be a very useful construction management tool for cost savings, for on-time, on-budget, and quality construction. But PLAs are not necessarily appropriate for every project. This report reviews the background and legal standards for the appropriate use of PLAs on public works projects in New York City and State. It details what PLAs do, how they have been used, and the benefits they offer benefits that extend to workforce and economic development.

This report also tests the validity of the claims made by PLA opponents that PLAs drive-up construction costs. Focus is on the studies conducted in recent years by the Beacon Hill Institute, a particularly outspoken opponent of PLA use in both the public and private sectors.

Suggested Citation
Kotler, F. B. (2009). Project labor agreements in New York State: In the public interest [Electronic version]. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations Extension Division, Construction Industry Program.
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/reports/22/

UC Berkeley-IIR Affiliate on KQED "Forum"

2006-12-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Recently on KQED Forum
Mon, Dec 11, 2006 -- 10:00 AM

The Psychology of PowerForum takes a look at the psychology of power and its effect on our social and working lives.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:

Cameron Anderson, professor of organizational behavior and industrial relations at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business

Dacher Keltner, professor in the psychology department at UC Berkeley

Deborah Gruenfeld, professor of organizational behavior and social psychologist at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business

URL:
http://www.kqed.org/programs/program-landing.jsp?progID=RD19

Changes in Low Wage Labor Markets

2006-12-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)Changes in Low-Wage Labor Markets Between 1979 and 2005

http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=7693&sequence=0&from=7

This paper documents changes in the lower half of the hourly wage distribution between 1979 and 2005 and analyzes the reasons for those changes. It then describes the characteristics of low-wage jobs and of workers in those jobs, and it examines how the household income of such workers has changed over the past quarter century. The analysis focuses on two periods: before and after 1990. The year 1990 was chosen for expositional simplicity, not because it represented a specific turning point in the labor market. For example, the 10th percentile of real hourly wage rates grew rapidly beginning in about 1995, while the ratio of the median to the 10th percentile of wages peaked in 1988.

News Source: Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University

New Research on Employee Turnover and Workforce Diversity

2006-12-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

David I. Levine and Jonathan Leonard Feature on the UC Berkeley NewsCenter

IIR affiliates David Levine and Jonathan Leonard received front-and-center attention for their recent study of employee turnover. David and Jonathan studied over 70,000 “front line” employees in more than 800 workplaces. They find interesting and provocative links between employee turnover and workplace diversity. The full story may be found at:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2006/11/29_diversity.shtml

New Upjohn Working Paper

2006-12-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper 06-130

Outsourcing, Offshoring, and Productivity Measurement in Manufacturing
Susan HousemanW.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/06-130.pdf

Cornell Industrial Relations Overview of the U.S.

2006-12-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Industrial Relations Overview of the U.S. [updated 11 November 2006]
By Stuart Basefsky
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/research/subjectGuides/industrialRelationsOverview.html

Two new thematic areas have been added.
(1) SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises)
(2) Temporary Service Work [Refers to Employment Service Agencies often called Temporary Agencies]

In addition, many of the already existing elements have been brought up to date.This guide is intended to provide key links for a quick overview of issues, data, and developments in U.S. industrial relations. It is produced in cooperation with the < http://www.eurofound.eu.int/> European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions as an aid to research in international and comparative studies. The resources listed are chosen because they are primarily free and authoritative. Other resources may be found by using the < http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/research/> Research section of the Catherwood Library web site. The listing of sources is not comprehensive. It is simply a useful place to start.

American Community Service 2005 Released

2006-08-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

CensusAmerican Community Survey (ACS)--2005
15 Largest and Smallest Cities
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2006/cb06cn05_table.xls[spreadsheet]

2005 Data User Guide
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/users_guide/index.htm

ACS Media Tool Kit Page
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2004/NewsMediaKit.html

Overview Video
http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/broadcast/video/census_operations/007273.html

Detailed tables
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=datasets_2&_lang=en

Labor's reaction to Guest Worker Controversy

2006-05-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

Labor's lukewarm welcome Unions divided over guest worker programs

San Francisco Chronicle, Business Section, May 10, 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/10/BUGS4IM8RK62.DTL&type=business

Month Labor Review, April 2006

2006-04-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

Monthly Labor Review Online
April 2006Vol. 129, Number 4

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/mlrhome.htm

Changes affecting the Employment Cost Index: an overview Richard E. Caroll

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art1full.pdf

With the release of March 2006 data, BLS has updated the ECI to reflect the new industry and occupational classifications systems; rebased the index to 2005; and implemented new procedures to account for missing data and to compute seasonal adjustments

Employment Cost Index publication plans Fehmida Sleemi
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art2full.pdf

The Employment Cost Index has gone through changes that affected publication series; some series were unchanged, some new series were introduced, while others have a break in continuity or are being discontinued

Seasonal adjustments in the Employment Cost Index E. Raphael Branch and Lowell Mason http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art3full.pdf

As part of the conversion of ECI industry and occupation classifications to NAICS and SOC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics used the converted classifications to estimate the seasonally adjusted ECI; in addition, the Bureau improved the methodology and processing of seasonally adjusted estimates

Accounting for missing data in the Employment Cost Index Song Yi
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art4full.pdf

Employers do not always provide all the information needed to compile the Employment Cost Index (ECI); new ECI procedures have improved the methods for dealing with missing values

Introducing 2002 weights in the Employment Cost Index Stephanie L. Costo
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art5full.pdf

Beginning in March 2006, ECI estimates were modified to reflect 2002 employment counts; disruptions to the most-aggregated historical series from this change alone were slight

Report
A visual essay: international labor market comparisons
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/ressum.pdf

Annual Review of Working Conditions in the EU: 2005-2006

2006-04-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)
European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO)

Annual review of working conditions in the EU: 2005-2006
http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/annualreports.htm

This third annual review examines four key dimensions of working conditions and quality of work and employment: career and employment, health and well-being, skills development, and worklife balance. The report outlines relevant legislative and policy developments, and examines trends in the workplace. As part of its work programme for 2005, the European Commission presented a series of communications on migration, and extensive debate continues on this issue. The Working Time Directive also remains on the agenda, with continuing discussions on the individual opt-out and on the definition of ‘on-call’ time. Musculoskeletal disorders remain the most predominant work-related health problem. A welcome development in the area of health and well-being was the start of negotiations between the European social partners on combating violence and harassment in the workplace. Gender equality received specific attention in several EU policy documents, not least the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs report on the impact of long working hours on reconciliation of work and family life, and the impact on equal opportunities. Another topic high on the agenda is training, lifelong learning and competence development; attaining a knowledge society and a highly qualified workforce forms a crucial element for the success of the Lisbon Strategy.

Introduction
1 - Legislative developments
2 - Policy developments
3 - Official statistics
4 - Trends in the workplace
5 - Quality of work and employment: the social partners

Annual Review of Working Conditions in the EU: 2005-2006

2006-04-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

European Labor Practices: Small & Medium-Sized Firms

2006-04-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) OnlineCOMPARATIVE STUDY

Employment relations in SMEs [February 2006] (online 12 April 2006)http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2006/02/study/index.html

This comparative study examines employment relations in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 13 of the 'old' 15 EU Member States (the exceptions being Luxembourg and Portugal), three new Member States (Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and Norway. It looks at: the economic role of SMEs (including employment trends); pay and employment conditions (including working hours, training and HRM practices); interest representation, collective bargaining and social dialogue; and regulation and public policy.

The comparative study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by EIRO's national centres. The text of each of these national reports is available [at the first URL above]. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

OECD Factbook: Many Updates

2006-04-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

OECD Factbook 2006 - Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics http://miranda.sourceoecd.org/vl=2051514/cl=21/nw=1/rpsv/fact2006/

For example, see Employment Rates by Gender
http://miranda.sourceoecd.org/vl=2051514/cl=21/nw=1/rpsv/fact2006/05-01-01.htm

The OECD Factbook is an essential tool providing a global overview of world economic, social and environmental trends. It brings together in a single publication 100 indicators that are essential for evaluating the relative position of any OECD country, both at a given moment and over time, in the following fields :
* Population and migration
* Macroeconomic trends
* Economic globalisation
* Prices * Labour market
* Science and technology
* Environment
* Education
* Public policies
* Quality of life
* and a special chapter dedicated to Globalisation

The 2006 edition presents many new features, including indicators on the "brain drain," Tsunami recovery, aid, and cultural and leisure activities. It also includes data on key non-OECD member countries, namely Brazil, China, India, The Russian Federation and South Africa.

The 100 indicators are all presented as a double page spread. On the left page, you will find systematic definitions of the indicators used, comment on the extent of comparability of data from national sources, and a guide to other statistical and analytic publications from the OECD. These texts are essential to understand where the data come from and how they can be used.

Current Population Survey Report on Black Americans

2006-04-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Black Population in the United States
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/black.html
Current Population Survey (CPS) Reports

2004 March CPS
The Black Alone Population in the United States: 2004
Detailed Tables (PPL-186)
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/ppl-186.html

The Black Alone or in Combination Population in the United States: 2004
Detailed Tables (PPL-186)
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/ppl-186_aoic.html

Asian and Pacific Island Population Data

2006-04-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Asian and Pacific Islander Populations
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/api.html

Current Population Survey (CPS)
2004 March CPS

* The Asian Alone Population in the United States: 2004 *
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/ppl-184.html

International Institute for Labour Studies Symposium: Conference Papers

2006-04-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

International Institute for Labour Studies

Proceedings of the France/ILO Symposium, Annecy 2005
Offshoring and the Internationalization of Employment:
A challenge for a fair globalization?
Peter Auer, Geneviève Besse and Dominique Méda (eds.)http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/annecy06.pdf

Globalization and employment Daniel Cohen

Globalization and its impact on jobs and wages Michel Fouquin

Service jobs on the move offshore outsourcing of business related servicesBarbara Gerstenberger and R. Alexander Roehrl

Trade, employment and outsourcing: some observations on US China economic relationsThomas I. Palley

Using active and passive employment policies to accompany globalization-related restructuringBernard Gazier

The internationalization of employment and the debate about offshoring in France: legal perspectives Marie-Ange Moreau

Social accompaniment measures for globalization: sop or silver lining? Raymond Torres

Better governance of the internationalization of employment Brian A. Langille

The role of international labour standards for governing the internationalization of employment Werner Sengenberger

The role of labour law for industrial restructuring Philippe Waquet

The social dimension of globalization and changes in law Mireille Delmas-Marty

The Nursing Shortage: New Policy Paper

2006-04-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

Institute for Women's Policy Research
Policy Paper:

Solving the Nursing Shortage through Higher Wages
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C363.pdf

Privatization and the Eastern European Workforce

2006-04-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper 05-125
Does Privatization Hurt Workers? Lessons from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Panel Data in Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine
http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/05-125.pdf

J. David Brown, John S. Earle, Álmos Telegdy

November 2005Revised February 2006

Abstract
http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/05125wp.html

We estimate the effects of privatization on firm-level wages and employment in four transition economies. Applied to longitudinal data on manufacturing firms, our fixed effect and random trend models consistently fail to support workers’ fears of job losses from privatization, and they never imply large negative effects on wages; only for domestic privatization in Hungary and Russia are small (3-5%) negative wage effects found. Privatization to foreign investors has positive estimated impacts on both employment and wages in all four countries. The negligible consequences of domestic privatization for workers result from effects on scale, productivity, and costs that are large but offsetting in Hungary and Romania, and from small effects of all types in Russia and Ukraine. The positive employment outcome under foreign ownership results from a substantial scale-expansion effect that dominates the productivity-improvement effect, and the positive wage outcome from a productivity effect that dominates the effect on cost reduction.

Conference Board Report on Asian Management Issues

2006-04-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Conference Board

Press Release
Companies in Asia-Pacific are Looking for Home-Grown Leaders
http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=2853

Full Report entitled
Leadership Development in Asia-Pacific: Identifying and Developing Leaders for Growth
http://www.conference-board.org/publications/describe.cfm?id=1111

April 12, 2006
Major companies based in the Asia-Pacific region are intensifying their search for executives who live in the area, rather than relying on expatriate executives who are brought in from other areas of the world, according to a report released today by The Conference Board.

Leadership development is on the rise throughout the Asia-Pacific region, which will account for 45% of the world's Gross Domestic Product in 2015, compared with 20% for the U.S. and 17% for Western Europe, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Of the 55 Asia-Pacific organizations surveyed for The Conference Board report, 79% are seeking to accelerate talent development in the region. During a period when many indirect/non-operational budgets are being reduced, organizations are maintaining (47%) or increasing (47%) financial resources for leadership development initiatives.

Many international companies are trying to reduce the number of expatriates and international assignees who are occupying longer term (as opposed to developmental) leadership roles.

The report finds that firms in Asia-Pacific believe that home-grown executives can have a greater impact on company performance than expatriates and do not cost the company nearly as much.

Why Locals Are Favored

"One reason for reducing expatriates and international assignees is based on the premise that in the lifecycle of most businesses, the localization of leadership has a positive impact on performance," says Andrew N. Bell, Program Director for the Asia-Pacific HR Council and author of the report. "This positive impact results from a range of factors in which local leadership is more likely to have a deeper understanding and familiarity with the needs and expectations of local consumers and clients, local business infrastructure such as distribution channels and external relations, including with the government and media. Also, language may be a critical factor. An inability to work in the local language can be a serious impediment in some aspects of business operations."

Expatriates Are Too Costly

Central America: New Migration Studies

2006-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Migration Information Source (MIS)--
Special Issue on Central America--April 3, 2006

SPECIAL ISSUE: CENTRAL AMERICA

Millions of Central Americans live and work in North America. This Special Issue looks at what caused the migration flows to El Norte and the impacts of Central American migration on both home and host societies.
source-central america

Top story:Central America: Crossroads of the Americas
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=386

Many migratory streams from Central America including refugees, economic migrants, and transit flows headed north from South America and elsewhere have converged in North America since the 1980s. Sarah J. Mahler and Dusan Ugrina of Florida International University outline the region's main trends.

Spotlight:Central American Foreign Born in the United States
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USFocus/display.cfm?id=385

Over half of all Central American foreign born in the United States are from El Salvador and Guatemala. MPI’s Megan Davy examines the numbers as well as events and policies that have shaped Central American migration.

source-guatemalaCountry Profile:Guatemala: Economic Migrants Replace Political Refugees
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?id=392

Guatemala's long civil war, which spurred large flows of refugees, has given way to high levels of economic migration to the United States and an economy more dependent on remittances. Also, Guatemala’s geography has made it a prime transit country for migrants headed north, as James Smith of Inforpress Centroamericana reports.

Features:Mexico: Caught Between the United States and Central America
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=389

Since the 1980s, Mexico has become home to Guatemalan refugees and served as a transit country for Central Americans seeking to reach the United States. Manuel Ángel Castillo of El Colegio de México analyzes Mexico’s policies toward its southern neighbors.

Canada: A Northern Refuge for Central Americans
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=390

Although most Central American refugees sought protection in the United States, Canada admitted thousands of Central American refugees in the 1980s. María Cristina García of Cornell University takes a detailed look at Central Americans in Canada.

source-centralam-remittances
Remittance Trends in Central America
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=393

In 2004, Central American countries received US$ 7.8 billion in remittances through official channels. Are remittances hurting or helping the region? MPI’s Dovelyn Agunias investigates.

Migration and Development in El Salvador: Ideals Versus Reality
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=387

Salvadorans abroad have helped their families economically and, to some extent, decreased poverty levels back home. Yet migration has economic and social costs in El Salvador and has not yet proved to be the answer to its development problems, according to Katharine Andrade-Eekhoff.

CAFTA: What Could It Mean for Migration?
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=388

The Central America Free Trade Agreement may be the most important economic event in the region in 20 years. However, it seems unlikely to reverse established migration trends, reports Salomon Cohen.

Notes on Australia's Momentous IR Evolution

2006-04-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

AUSTRALIA:
Workplace relations reforms: a chronology of business, community and Government responses

http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/WorkplaceRelations.htm

New Monthly Labor Review Issue

2006-04-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Monthly Labor Review OnlineMarch 2006Vol. 129, Number 3
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/mlrhome.htm

Lower unemployment in 2005 Lower unemployment in 2005 Emy Sok http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/03/art1full.pdf

The Current Population Survey data show continued improvement in the labor market in 2005, as reflected by a decline in unemployment and substantial employment growth. Also notable were the decline in the long-term unemployedboth in their level and as a percentage of total unemploymentand the continuing decline of involuntary part-time workers. Overall, participation rates were little changed over the year. Weekly earnings increased in 2005, but at a slower pace than inflation. Special labor force data collected on Hurricane Katrina evacuees revealed a marked difference in the employment status of those who had returned to their prehurricane residence and those who had not.

Payroll employment in 2005: recovery and expansion Robert Stephens, David Langdon, and Brady Stephens http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/03/art2full.pdf
Employment grew by more than 2 million in 2005, reaching and then surpassing its prerecession peak. A strong housing market spurred hiring in construction and in finance and retail trade, while increased manufacturing production translated into more jobs in trucking, warehousing, and wholesale trade. Rising energy costs placed an added burden on consumers and businesses, holding back spending and, indirectly, employment growth; however, it had a positive impact on employment growth in mining, which easily outpaced most other industries in growth in 2005. Finally, the job openings rate remained flat in 2005 until the end of the third quarter, when it began to edge upwards.

Occupational changes during the 20th century Ian D. Wyatt and Daniel E. Hecker http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/03/art3full.pdf
With occupation data from the 2000 census now available, it is an appropriate time to analyze occupational employment trends over the 20th century. The shift from a workforce composed mostly of manual workers to one comprising mostly white-collar and service workers is generally known. This article reveals just how radical that shift has been. Professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers (except private household service workers) grew from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment between 1910 and 2000. Laborers (except mine laborers), private household service workers, and farmers lost the most jobs over the period.

Projected pension income: equality or disparity for the baby-boom cohort? James H. Moore, Jr. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/03/art4full.pdf
This article presents data from the Modeling Income in the Near Term (MINT 3) system to address the question of what is in store for the baby-boom cohort once it reaches age 62. The primary objective is to examine disparities in projected pension eligibility and income among the various baby-boom subgenerations upon reaching 62 years. Over time, both eligibility for pensions and income from employer-sponsored pension plans will increase for baby boomers. Eligibility rates and benefit amounts are projected to be greater for late boomers overall and, within the late-boomer category, men, whites, and the more educated.

AFL-CIO Weighs in on Executive Pay

2006-04-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

From AFL-CIO Executive Pay WatchTop 25 Largest CEO Pensions

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/retirementsecurity/index.cfm

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a new rule to require companies to disclose a dollar estimate of their CEOs retirement benefits. While this rule will not go into effect until 2007, here is a sneak peek of what shareholders should expect.

CEO Golden Years: The Top 25 Largest CEO PensionsPress Release

AFL-CIO CEO PayWatch Website Offers Sneak Peak at Top 25 Super-Pensions and Publishes Comprehensive New Data on 2005 CEO Compensation

Work and Family in the European Union

2006-04-11T14:09:00.001-07:00

European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) Online
Reconciliation of work and family life and collective bargaining in the European Union

http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/other_reports/work_family_life.pdf[

Initiatives promoting reconciliation of work and family life have become popular across Europe as part of employmentpolicies as well as social policies dealing, among other things, with the challenges of competitiveness, the renewedLisbon targets for increased participation in the labour market, and an ageing population. This working paper is basedon national reports and an analysis of EIRO articles on the subject. It examines the current position in the 25 EUMember States, Norway and the two acceding countries, Bulgaria and Romania, in terms of legislation and collectivebargaining on the issue of the reconciliation of family and work life. It also looks at the positions of the social partnersand reviews recent developments at EU level.

2006-04-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)
Issue Brief:Immigrants and Health Coverage: A Primer [4 April 2006]

http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7088.cfmorhttp://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/Immigrants-and-Health-Coverage-A-Primer.pdf[http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/Immigrants-and-Health-Coverage-A-Primer.pdf

A major challenge facing many immigrants is lack of health insurance coverage. This primer provides an introduction to some of the questions surrounding immigrants and health insurance coverage.

New NBER Paper on Offshoring

2006-01-30T15:51:00.001-08:00

Service Offshoring and Productivity: Evidence from the United States
http://nber15.nber.org/papers/w11926.pdf
Mary Amiti, Shang-Jin Wei
NBER Working Paper No. 11926
Issued in January 2006

The practice of sourcing service inputs from overseas suppliers has been growing in response to new technologies that have made it possible to trade in some business and computing services that were previously considered non-tradable. This paper estimates the effects of offshoring on productivity in US manufacturing industries between 1992 and 2000, using instrumental variables estimation to address the potential endogeneity and errors in measurement of offshoring. It finds that service offshoring has a significant positive effect on productivity in the US, accounting for around 11 percent of productivity growth during this period. Offshoring material inputs also has a positive effect on productivity, but the magnitude is smaller accounting for approximately 5 percent of productivity growth.

New Web Resources on Global and European Workforce Issues

2006-01-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

Foreign-Born Population of the United States from the American Community Survey: 2003 [19 January 2006]
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/acst2.html

Data on the foreign-born population in 2003 illustrating demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, such as age, educational attainment, poverty status, and population by state. These characteristics are presented by U.S. citizenship status, year of entry into the United States, world region of birth, and by sub-region of birth for Latin America.

Worldwide Pay and Benefit Headlines [5 January 2006]http://www.towersperrin.com/hrservices/webcache/towers/United_States/publications
/Periodicals/worldwide_pay/2005_12/headlines_dec.pdf

[full-text,[excerpt]At a time when companies are focused on growth and looking to their workforces to achieve that growth, a major new Towers Perrin study of employees worldwide offers disturbing news: Just 14% of people arefully engaged on the job and willing to go the extra mile for their companies. The study, the largest of its kind today, was conducted in August 2005 among more than 85,000 people working for large and midsize companies in 16 countries on four continents. It shows that there is a vast reserve of untapped "employee performance potential" that can drive better financial results if companies can successfully tap into this reserve.

Worldwide Total Remuneration 2005-2006 [Selected Charts]http://www.towersperrin.com/hrservices/webcache/towers/United_States
/publications/Reports/2005_2006_WWTR/WWTR.pdf[
full-text, 7 pages]

Work-related disorders in Sweden [12 January 2006]
http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/surveys/SE0601SR01/SE0601SR01.pdf[
full-text, 8 pages]

Abstract: One in four employed persons in Sweden has suffered from a work-related disorder in the past 12 months, according to the latest Swedish Work-related disorders survey. This survey data report focuses on disorders resulting from occupational accidents, stress and ergonomic factors. It identifies the most common ailments affecting men and women, outlines the occupations most at risk, examines sickness absence rates, and considers the problem of under-reporting.Includes numerous TABLES and CHARTS....

Trends in quality of work in the Netherlands [18 January 2006]http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/surveys/NL0601SR01/NL0601SR01.pdf[
full-text, 19 pages]

Abstract: A diverse picture emerges regarding trends in quality of work in the Netherlands. It is difficult to draw firm conclusions on trends in working conditions because previously existing surveys have been replaced by newer ones. Nonetheless, work pace appears to be stabilising, while time pressure is decreasing. Some traditional risks, such as noise, dangerous work, physical load and shift work, are also stabilising; other risks, such as dirty work and bad smells at work, have declined. Contractual working hours have been reduced. At the same time, there is increased autonomy in decision making, and (paid and particularly unpaid) overtime is also on the rise.This report will discuss the following trends in working conditions and health: * exposure to psychosocial risk factors, such as job demands, job control, support, workplace violence and discrimination; * exposure to physical factors, such as noise, dirt or bad smells; * exposure to ergonomic work factors, such as poor posture and lifting heavy loads; * working hours; * self-reported health outcomes and, since 1997, work-related health outcomes. Data will also be included on the drop out from work due to absence and disability.Includes numerous TABLES and CHARTS....

European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO) Online:
EWCO news updates [From 1-18 January 2006]
Regular news updates from the Observatory network of national correspondents.

News updates are short articles based on newsworthy developments in the area of quality of work at national level. Each national correspondent provides 4-6 such articles each year.
http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/newsupdates.htm

Portugal: Work?life balance in the ICT and retail sectors (18 January 2006)
< http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/2006/01/PT0601NU04.htm>
In the Portuguese ICT and retail trade sectors, women in particular suffer from a poor work?life balance, research carried out between 2000 and 2004 has found. Occupational and educational level, working hours and contractual status influence the possibility of hiring domestic help and, by consequence, the possibility for women to advance in their career.

Denmark: Outlook for occupational risk trends (13 January 2006)< http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/2006/01/DK0601NU05.htm>
A report published by the Danish Working Environment Authority investigates the relationship between changes in employment structure, new job profiles and occupational risk factors. It is estimated that, in the near future, there will be increased risk of physical inactivity, psychosocial risk factors and monotonous strain from working with computers. Moreover, the persistence of traditional work factors should not be neglected.

Hungary: Hazardous workplaces (09 January 2006)
< http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/2006/01/HU0601NU03.htm>

Work safety inspectors carry out regular assessments of company premises in Hungary. When they find any kind of offence against the Labour Protection Act, they impose a penalty. The sum accumulated from these fines will be distributed among those who successfully tender to implement work safety improvement measures.

Austria: Quality of work in call centres (03 January 2006)
< http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewco/2006/01/AT0601NU04.htm>

The Austrian call centre sector is characterised by atypical work, low income and high staff turnover, and mainly employs female workers. Furthermore, there are key differences between inhouse call centres and subcontracting companies.

====================================================
Source: Tthe Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City.

Offshoring and "Nearshoring" News and Resources

2005-11-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

The U.S. GAO has published a new study of Offshoring (URL below). The Christian Science Monitor also covers the issue, with a focus on CAFTA and its impact on the U.S. economy.

Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1128/p13s01-wmgn.htm

U.S. GAO Study:
"OFFSHORING OF SERVICES: An Overview of the Issues GAO-06-5, November 28, 2005"
http://www.workforceatm.org/articles/template.cfm?results_art_filename=gao_offshoring.htm

Live ACRL Blog Post

2005-10-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings Class

--You are at the top of the profession!

Migration Information Source (MIS) Updated

2005-10-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Migration Information Source (MIS)
14 October 2005
The Source is pleased to announce the update of international migration data for the United States to ourGlobal Data Center
http://www.migrationinformation.org/GlobalData/

Go the pull-down menu in the box with the heading
"Choose the country you are interested in" and select UNITED STATES.

Then click on Submit.The tables now include:

* Stock of foreign-born population by country of birth, 1995 to 2005
* Foreign born as a percentage of the total population, for 1990 and 1994 to 2005
* Estimates of the net number of migrants, by five year intervals, 1950 to 2000 (from the UN Population Division 2004 Revision Population Database)
* Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, 1986 to 2004
* Inflow of foreign-born population by age and sex, 1986 to 2004
* Top 10 sending countries, by country of birth, 1986 to 2004
* Annual number of asylum applications by nationality, 1980 to 2004
* Acquisition of citizenship by country of former nationality, 1987 to 2004
* Acquisition of citizenship (total), 1987 to 2004

Access additional data on the foreign born in the United States through our Data Tool:

Maps of the Foreign Born in the US
http://www.migrationinformation.org/DataTools/maps.cfm

Who's Where in the United States?
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USFocus/whoswhere.cfm

State Data on the Foreign Born
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USFocus/statemap.cfm

US Historical Trends
http://www.migrationinformation.org/GlobalData/charts2.cfm

Labor Librarian Hosts ACRL Webcast

2005-10-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Find out all about via the ACRL Blog

New Upjohn Working Paper on South African Workers

2005-09-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

The Effect of Minimum Wages on the Employment and Earnings of South Africa's Domestic Service Workers

http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/05-120.pdf[
full-text, 60 pages]Upjohn Institute Working Paper 05-120Tom Hertz , 2005. [15 August 2005]

Abstract
http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/05120wp.html
Minimum wages have been in place for South Africa's one million domestic service workers since November of 2002. Using data from seven waves of the Labour Force Survey, this paper documents that the real wages, average monthly earnings, and total earnings of all employed domestic workers have risen since the regulations came into effect, while hours of work per week and employment have fallen. Each of these outcomes can be linked econometrically to the arrival of the minimum wage regulations. The overall estimated elasticities suggest that the regulations should have reduced poverty somewhat for domestic workers, although this last conclusion is the least robust._____________________________

Upcoming Labor Lectures at San Francisco State University, September and October 2005

2005-09-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

---------------------------
David Brody
--Speaking on his new book: Labor Embattled: History, Power, Rights
September 18, 2005, 1:30 pm

Labor Archives and Research Center, SFSU
Conference Room
480 Winston Drive, San Francisco
(415) 564-4010

---------------------------
David Bacon, Labor Journalist
Mike Munoz, Director Organization, N. Cal. Carpenters Regional Council, Member of Pile Drivers, Local 34
Nancy Snyder, Recording Secretary Emeritus, Chair, Peace and Solidarity Committee, SEIU Local 790

Title: "The Current Crisis in the AFL-CIO"
Sunday, October 23, 2005, 1:30 pm

Labor Archives and Research Center, SFSU
Conference Room
480 Winston Drive, San Francisco
(415) 564-4010

EIRO Online National Reports, 2004

2005-08-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

Japan Labor Review, Vol 2 (No. 3), Summer 2005

2005-08-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

JAPAN LABOR REVIEWVol.2,No.3Summer 2005
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/JLR.htm

Introduction Reiko Kosugi
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR07_INTRO.pdf

Articles

'Freeters': Young Atypical Workers in Japan
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR07_honda.pdf
[full-text, 23 pages]

Yuki HondaSituations of Social Network of Jobless Youth and Assistance Measures
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR07_hori.pdf
[full-text, 23 pages]

Yukie HoriLabor Demand for New High School Graduates in Japan
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR07_hara.pdf
[full-text, 24 pages]

Hiromi HaraProlonged Transitional Period and Policy
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR07_miyamoto.pdf
[full-text, 19 pages]Michiko Miyamoto

Monthly Labor Review Online, May 2005

2005-06-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Monthly Labor Review Online
May 2005
Vol. 128, Number 5
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/mlrhome.htm

Real compensation, 1979 to 2003: analysis from several data sourcesJoseph R. Meisenheimer II
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/05/art1full.pdf
[full-text, 20 pages]

The National Compensation Survey, the Current Employment Statistics survey, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, the Current Population Survey, and the real hourly compensation series from the BLS productivity statistics program each offer strengths and limitations in analyzing real compensation.

Improving estimation and benchmarking of State labor force statistics
Sharon P. Brown
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/05/art2full.pdf[
full-text, 9 pages]

A new estimation procedure, including bivariate models with real-time benchmarking, was introduced into the BLS LAUS program with the January estimates; the new approach to estimation ensures monthly additivity of State and national estimates, thereby reflecting economic events in a timely manner and reducing the size of the annual revision to the State series.

Factors affecting beef and cattle producer prices movements
Marta Norton
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/05/art3full.pdf
[full-text, 9 pages]

In 2003, beef producer price movements demonstrated changes in supply and demand; previous liquidation, Mad Cow Disease, steady demand, feed prices, and slaughter weights all influenced these changes.

Price transmission within the PPI for intermediate goods
Jonathan Weinhagen
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/05/ressum.pdf
[full-text, 7 pages]

2005 Report on Trafficking in Persons

2005-06-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

2005 Report:
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2005/

2005 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/47255.pdf
[full-text, 258 pages][excerpt]

This Report is intended to raise global awareness and spur foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all forms of trafficking in persons — a form of modern day slavery.

The Report has increasinglyfocused the efforts of a growing community of nations to share information and to partner in new and important ways to fight human trafficking. A country that fails to take significant actions to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons receives a negative “Tier 3” assessment in this Report. Such an assessment could trigger the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance from the United States to that country.

Japan Labor Review Published

2005-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

JAPAN LABOR REVIEW
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/JLR.html
Vol.2, No.2Spring 2005
[online 12 May 2005]
Introduction: Atsushi Sato

Articles

International Comparison of Atypical Employment: Differing Concepts and Realities in Industrialized Countries Kazuya

OguraEmployment Category Diversification and Personnel Management Problems
Hiroki Sato,Yoshihide Sano

Why Part-time Workers Do Not Accept a Wage Gap with Regular Workers
Mamiko Ishihara, Takehisa Shinozaki

Managing Temporary Workers in Japan
Motohiro Morishima, Tomoyuki Shimanuki

Business Strategy and Human Resource Management at Contract Companies in the Manufacturing Sector Makoto Fujimoto, Takuma Kimura

Los Angeles Living Wage Analysis

2005-06-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

Examining the Evidence: The Impact of the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance on Workers and Businesses
[2 June 2005]

David Fairris, David Runsten, Carolina Briones, Jessica Goodheart
http://www.losangeleslivingwagestudy.org/

-The study is the first living wage research in the country to use rigorous random sample surveys of workers and employers affected by a living wage law.

Executive Summary
full-text, 11 pages

[excerpt]
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE LIVING WAGE ON EMPLOYERS AND THE WORKPLACE?

Employers have cut costs by making small reductions in employment and fringe benefits. Employment reductions total an estimated 112 jobs, representing one percent of all living wage employment in affected firms.

Employers cut fringe benefits for less than five percent of living wage jobs in affected firms, including cuts in health benefits, merit pay and bonuses.Use of overtime has declined, representing a further reduction in labor costs. Training for new hires stayed the same at living wage firms, while non-living wage firms have increasedtheir training, representing a relative decrease for living wage firms.

Labor turnover has declined as a result of the ordinance. Current rates of turnover at living wage firms average 32 percent, compared to 49 percent at comparable non-living wage firms.

These turnover reductions represent a cost savings for the average firm that is 16 percent of the cost of the wage increase, based on various estimates of the cost of replacing a low-wage worker.

The ordinance has had no impact on the use of part-time workers, the intensity of supervision, the tendency to fill vacancies from within or the use of equipment and machinery.

Firms have not actively displaced workers in order to hire workers who are better qualified, and most firms have not changed hiring standards as a result of the ordinance.Compared to the original workforce, workers hired after the living wage have similar levels of education, are of similar age, and are no less likely to be members of racial or ethnicminority groups.New hires are more likely to be male and to have higher levels of formal training. Fifty-six percent of new hires are male, compared to 45 percent of workers hired before the living wage. Twenty-two percent of new hires had formal training before being hired, while only 12 percent of workers hired before the law had such training.

These changes occurred primarily through normal attrition at the firms. They suggest somewhat diminished job opportunities in city contract work for women and for workers with less formal training, as compared to before the ordinance.

Summary Report
http://www.losangeleslivingwagestudy.org/Examining_the_Evidence.pdf[
SUMMARY REPORT -- full-text, 78 pages]

Background on This StudyKey Findings and Information About This Study
http://www.losangeleslivingwagestudy.org/About_This_Study-Key_Findings.pdf

About the Authors of the Study
http://www.losangeleslivingwagestudy.org/About_the_Authors.pdf

Living Wage Study: Boston, New Haven and Amherst

2005-06-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

POLITICAL ECONOMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

LIVING WAGE LAWS IN PRACTICE: The Boston, New Haven and Hartford Experiences
Mark D. Brenner, Assistant Research Professor, PERI&Stephanie Luce, Assistant Professor,

University of Massachusetts-Amherst Labor Center
http://www.umass.edu/peri/pdfs/RR8.pdf[full-text, 123 pages]

Brookings Trade Forum 2005: Offshoring White-Collar Work The Issues and the Implications

2005-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

Brookings Trade Forum 2005
Offshoring White-Collar Work:
The Issues and the Implications

Co-chairs: Lael Brainard and Susan M. Collins
May 12-13, 2005
http://www.brookings.edu/es/commentary/journals/tradeforum/about2005.htm·
·
Agenda and Papers:
http://www.brookings.edu/es/commentary/journals/tradeforum/agenda2005.htm
[full-text papers are available at this URL]

"Offshoring" has suddenly entered the lexicon of mainstream America, raising anxieties that whole categories of services jobsformerly considered a "nontradeable" safe havenare up for grabs in the global economy, along with manufacturing. How America handles this challenge will have profound implications not only for its own domestic "social contract" but also for its ability to provide international leadership and to liberalize areas critical to the poorest countries. Understanding these developments requires more than the head-line grabbing assertions, casual empiricism, and shaky estimates that have dominated the public debate on offshoring.

To address these issues, The Brookings Trade Forum has convened a set of world-class academics, policy analysts, government representatives, and business thinkers to present original and thought-provoking new analysis of offshoring. Their contributions range from the broad implications for America's workforce, productivity, and competitiveness to detailed studies of offshoring in financial services, radiology, call centers, software, and semiconductors. The analysis also extends to India's rise as a leading provider of world-class services and questions about the future sustainability of this trend. The conference represented not only a critical step forward in theoretical and empirical understanding of offshoring but also in defining a coherent policy response to the trend.

News Source: The Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City.

New Statistics on Women and Occupations

2005-05-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Women's Bureau

20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women, 2004
http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/20lead2004.htm

Nontraditional Occupations for Women in 2004
http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/nontra2004.htm

Quick Stats 2004
http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/main.htm

Public Policy Institute of California Publishes New Report on Second Generation of California Immigrants

2005-05-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Second-Generation Immigrants in California

By S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Hans P. Johnson

Public Policy Institute of California, May 2005
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/CC_505KRCC.pdf

Union Membership and Health Care Access

2005-05-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)Press Release
9 May 2005
Union Membership a Key to Health Care Coverage
This will soon appear at - http://www.ebri.org/prrel/index.htm

WASHINGTON Union members are much more likely to have employment-based health insurance than nonunion workers, but the erosion of union membership is likely to coincide with an overall decline in the percentage of workers with health benefits, a new study by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) says.

The study reported that 86 percent of union members were covered by health benefits through their job, compared with 60 percent of nonunion workers, as of September 2003 (the most recent data available). Union workers in several private-sector fields had very high levels of health insurance coverage, as did union workers in public-sector jobs, the study said.

For example:

* 91 percent of union manufacturing workers had health benefits, compared with 74 percent for nonunion workers.

* 88 percent of union workers in agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and construction had coverage, compared with 40 percent for nonunion workers.

* 84 percent of union wholesale and retail trade workers had coverage, compared with 55 percent of nonunion workers.

The study is published in the May EBRI Notes and is available at the Institutes Web site, www.ebri.org. soon to appear at -- http://www.ebri.org/store/notes.htm

Some 17.2 million workers were union members, accounting for 15 percent of all wage and salary workers ages 1864, as of September 2003, the study said. Union workers were typically concentrated in jobs with high levels of employment-based health coverage.

Union members accounted for 36 percent of public-sector workers, but 86 percent of union members had health benefits from their public-sector employers, compared with 68 percent for nonunion workers.

Hence, unionization appears to increase the probability of having health benefits in the public sector by 26 percent,said Dallas Salisbury, EBRI president.

Union membership also had a major impact on the probability of workers in small firms having health care benefits, the study said. Eighty-two percent of union members in firms with fewer than 25 employees had employment-based health benefits, compared with 36 percent of nonunion workers in firms of the same size.

Overall, only 2.5 percent of union workers were uninsured in September 2003, compared with 15 percent of nonunion workers, the study said. Union workers across the board are more likely to have health benefits than nonunion workers,the study concluded. All else being equal, if unionization in the United States continues to decline, the percentage of workers with health benefits will continue to decrease and the percentage of workers who are uninsured will continue to increase.

EBRI previously reported that 44.7 million U. S. residents, or 17.7 percent of the nonelderly population (under age 65), were uninsured in 2003. In 2004, 12.5 percent of wage and salary workers were union members. The union membership rate in the United States has declined steadily for the past two decades, according to the Department of Labors Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Established in 1978, EBRI is an independent, nonprofit organization committed exclusively to data dissemination, policy research, and education on economic security and employee benefits. The Institute's mission is to advance the public's, the media's and policymakers' knowledge and understanding of employee benefits and their importance the nations economy.

NBER Working Paper: The Mexican-Born US Workforce

2005-05-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States
http://papers.nber.org/papers/w11281.pdf[full-text, 65 pages]
George J. Borjas, Lawrence F. Katz
NBER Working Paper No. 11281
Issued in April 2005

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of the Mexican-born workforce in the United States using data drawn from the decennial U.S. Census throughout the entire 20th century. It is well known that there has been a rapid rise in Mexican immigration to the United States in recent years. Interestingly, the share of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. workforce declined steadily beginning in the 1920s before beginning to rise in the 1960s. It was not until 1980 that the relative number of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. workforce was at the 1920 level. The paper examines the trends in the relative skills and economic performance of Mexican immigrants, and contrasts this evolution with that experienced by other immigrants arriving in the United States during the period. The paper also examines the costs and benefits of this influx by examining how the Mexican influx has altered economic opportunities in the most affected labor markets and by discussing how the relative prices of goods and services produced by Mexican immigrants may have changed over time.

Mercer Executive Compensation Study

2005-05-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

Mercer issues annual study of CEO compensation at large US firms
CEO pay, company performance show close alignment for 2004
United States
New York, 11 April 2005

Mercer CEO compensation study

Many changes made to CEO compensation programs in recent years were designed to forge a stronger connection between CEO pay and overall company performance. Those efforts appear to be having the desired effect, according to an annual study of 350 of the largest public companies in the US.

According to the 2004 edition of The Wall Street Journal/Mercer Human Resource Consulting CEO Compensation Survey, the median annual CEO bonus rose 20.0% to $1.5 million in 2004, correlating closely to a median annual increase in net income of 23.0% in 2004 among the companies studied. At the same time, median total direct compensation (base salary, annual bonus, and the present value of long-term incentives) for CEOs rose 17.1% to $7.0 million in 2004, mirroring the median 17.4% increase in total shareholder return (TSR) in 2004.

CEO salaries, meanwhile, stayed relatively flat, rising 3.7% to a median $975,000 in 2004, and nearly one-third of the CEOs (112) received no base salary increase last year. This led to an increase in median total annual compensation (base salary and annual bonus) of 14.5% to $2.5 million.

Source: Institute for Workplance Studies, Cornell University

Census Report on Arab Americans

2005-05-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

U.S. Department of CommerceEconomics and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAUCensus 2000 Special Reports

We the People of Arab Ancestry in the United States [8 March 2005]
CENSR-21Issued March 2005

http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-21.pdf[full-text, 21 pages]

This report provides a portrait of the Arab population in the United States, and discusses some of the largest groups within this population at the national level.1 It is part of the Census 2000 Special Reports series that presents several demographic, social, and economic characteristics collected from Census 2000.

RAND Report on Immigrant Status and Health Coverage

2005-05-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

RAND CorporationImmigration Status and Health Insurance Coverage: Who Gains? Who Loses?
Julia C. Prentice, Anne R. Pebley, Narayan Sastry, RP-1154,2005

http://www.rand.org/publications/RP/RP1154/ or
http://www.rand.org/publications/RP/RP1154/RAND_RP1154.pdf
[full-text, 13 pages]

Abstract: Objectives. We compared health insurance status transitions of nonimmigrants and immigrants. Methods. We used multivariate survival analysis to examine gaining and losing insurance by citizenship and legal status among adults with the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. Results. We found significant differences by citizenship and legal status in health insurance transitions. Undocumented immigrants were less likely to gain and more likely to lose insurance compared with native-born citizens. Legal residents were less likely to gain and were slightly more likely to lose insurance compared with native-born citizens. Naturalized citizens did not differ from native-born citizens. Conclusions. Previous studies have not examined health insurance transitions by citizenship and legal status. Policies to increase coverage should consider the experiences of different immigrant groups.

Monthly Labor Review Online

2005-05-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Monthly Labor Review Online [28 February 2005]
February 2005Vol. 128, Number 2
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/mlrhome.htm

25 Years of the National Longitudinal Survey - Youth Cohort

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: 1979 cohort at 25
Charles Pierret
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art1full.pdf
[full-text, 5 pages]

Antecedents and predecessors of NLSY79: paving the course
James R. Walker
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art2full.pdf
[full-text, 7 pages]

Education data in the NLSY79: a premiere research tool
Kenneth I. Wolpin
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art3full.pdf
[full-text, 6 pages]

The transition from school to work: education and work experiences
Julie A. Yates
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art4full.pdf
[full-text, 12 pages]

Job mobility and wage growth: evidence from the NLSY79
Audrey Light
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art5full.pdf
[full-text, 7 pages]

Self-employment, entrepreneurship, and the NLSY79
Robert W. Fairlie
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art6full.pdf
[full-text, 8 pages]

Worker training: what we've learned from the NLSY79
Harley J. Frazis and James R. Spletzer
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art7full.pdf
[full-text, 11 pages]

Children of the NLSY79: a unique data resource
Lawrence L. Wu and Jui-Chung Allen Li
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art8full.pdf
[full-text, 4 pages]

The problem of respondent attrition: survey methodology is key
Randall J. Olsen
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art9full.pdf
[full-text, 8 pages]

Long Term Projections for Social Security

2005-05-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security [31 January 2005]http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/60xx/doc6064/01-31-Long-Term_Projections.pdf[full-text, 10 pages]

The Congressional Budget Office most recently released long-term (100-year) Social Securityprojections in The Outlook for Social Security (June 2004). As a result of both economic andtechnical revisions, those projections have changed slightly. The attached tables and figures present theupdated projections. The Outlook for Social Security presented ranges of uncertainty around thecentral projections; those estimates will also be updated and will be posted in the near future.CBO presents future Social Security benefits under two scenarios. In one scenario, outlays include thefull benefits owed. This is the "scheduled benefits" scenario. In the second analysis, outlays include onlythose benefits that the Social Security Administration has legal authority to pay under current law. Thus,that scenario assumes that all benefits are reduced annually once the trust funds are exhausted so thattotal outlays equal available revenues. In the June report, that was described as the "trust-fundfinanced"scenario. This is now labeled "current law."

CBO projects that under current law Social Security outlays will first exceed revenues from payrolltaxes and taxation of benefits in 2020 and that the program will exhaust the trust funds in 2052. Afterthe trust funds are exhausted, Social Security spending cannot exceed annual revenues. As aconsequence, because dedicated revenues are projected to equal 78 percent of scheduled outlays in2053, CBO finds that the benefits paid will be 22 percent lower than the scheduled benefits.

Since the last estimates were released, CBO has updated its economic and budget forecast for the next10 years (see The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2006 to 2015), incorporatedupdated Social Security earnings records, and refined the method used to estimate retroactive disabilitypayments. While the major long-term economic assumptions did not change, there were small revisionsin the estimated historical values and projected values of hours worked in the economy, as well as theprojected differential growth in two measures of prices: the price index for gross domestic product(GDP) and the consumer price index.CBO projects that, over the next 10 years, Social Security outlays will average about 0.2 percentagepoints lower relative to GDP than was projected last summer, primarily because of an increase inprojected GDP. The difference diminishes over the following decade, and

CBO projects that, for 2030to 2050, outlays will average 0.1 percentage points higher as a percent of GDP than projected lastsummer. Projected outlays for later years are essentially unchanged.

CBO revised its projection of Social Security revenues relative to GDP down slightly. By the end ofthe 100-year projection period, CBO projects, revenues will be 4.7 percent of GDP, 0.1 percentagepoint lower than projected last summer.

News Source: Institute for Workplance Sudies, Cornell University

Changes in the Occupational and Industry Classification Systems

2005-05-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Changes to the occupational and industry classification systems used in the Current Population Survey
[27 January 2005](includes crosswalk information and conversion factors)
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsoccind.htm

In January 2003, the Current Population Survey (CPS or "household" survey) adopted the 2002 Census occupational and industry classification systems, which are derived, respectively, from the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Previously, the 1990 Census occupational and industry classifications were used; CPS statistics from 1983-2002 were coded to the 1990 classifications. For more information on the significant differences between these systems, see the February 2003 Employment and Earnings article on changes introduced to the Current Population Survey in January 2003 (<http://www.bls.gov/cps/rvcps03.pdf>PDF 133KB)

The 2002 Census Classification Systems with SOC and NAICS Crosswalks

Because the Census occupational and industry classifications are adaptations of the SOC and NAICS, occupational and industry statistics from the Current Population Survey are not strictly comparable with statistics from other sources that use the SOC and NAICS directly. The following documents provide listings of the specific or "detailed" 2002 Census occupational and industry classifications and the broad or "major" groups to which they are aggregated in many data presentations. These listings include SOC and NAICS crosswalk information; that is, they show the corresponding SOC and NAICS codes for the detailed Census occupations and industries. Data users should note that there is not always a one-to-one match between the Census classifications and the SOC and NAICS.

2002 Census Occupational Classification--list of detailed occupations with major occupational groups and crosswalk to the 2000 SOC (PDF 62KB)

2002 Census Industrial Classification--list of detailed industries with major industry groups and crosswalk to the 2002 NAICS (PDF 46KB)

2004 Union Membership Data

2005-05-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

UNION MEMBERS IN 2004 [27 January 2005]
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm or

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf[full-text, 12 pages]

In 2004, 12.5 percent of wage and salary workers were union members,down from 12.9 percent in 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau ofLabor Statistics reported today. The union membership rate has steadilydeclined from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for whichcomparable union data are available. Some highlights from the 2004 dataare:

--About 36 percent of government workers were union members in 2004, compared with about 8 percent of workers in private-sector industries.

--Two occupational groups--education, training, and library occupations and protective service occupations--had the highest unionization rates in 2004, at about 37 percent each. Protective service occupations include fire fighters and police officers.

--Men were more likely to be union members than women.

--Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic or Latino workers.

Membership by Industry and Occupation

In 2004, workers in the public sector had a union membership rate morethan four times that of private-sector employees. At 36.4 percent, theunionization rate for government workers was down slightly from 37.2percent a year earlier. The rate for private industry workers, at 7.9percent in 2004, was about half what it had been in 1983. Within thepublic sector, local government workers had the highest union membershiprate, 41.3 percent. This group includes several heavily unionized occu-pations, such as teachers, police officers, and fire fighters. Amongmajor private industries, transportation and utilities had the highestunion membership rate, at 24.9 percent. Construction (14.7 percent),information industries (14.2 percent), and manufacturing (12.9 percent)also had higher-than-average rates. Within the information industry,telecommunications had a 22.4 percent union membership rate. Financialactivities had the lowest unionization rate in 2004--2.0 percent. (Seetable 3.)

Among occupational groups, education, training, and library occupations(37.6 percent) and protective service workers (37.3 percent) had the high-est unionization rates in 2004. Construction and extraction occupations(19.6 percent), installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (19.4percent), transportation and material moving occupations (18.8 percent),community and social services occupations (17.4 percent), and productionoccupations (16.3 percent) also had higher-than-average rates. Farming,fishing, and forestry occupations (3.1 percent) and sales and related oc-cupations (3.6 percent) had the lowest unionization rates. (See table 3.)

News Source: Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University

Conference Papers on Labour and the European Union

2005-05-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Organised labour - an agent of EU democracy?
Trade union strategies and the EU integration process
30 October 2004
http://www.ucd.ie/indrel/news.htm#intro)
Quinn School of Business, University College Dublin (UCD),
Belfield, Dublin 4
funded under the IRCHSS Government of Ireland Projects Grant Scheme

Trade Unions and the Politics of the European Social Model
Richard HYMAN , London School of Economics

http://www.ucd.ie/indrel/Hyman.pdf[full-text, 38 pages]
[excerpt]There is a consensus among European trade unions that economic integration should be complemented by a strong .social dimension.. What is far less clearly agreed is what .Social Europe. means, and how it should be defended against the challenges inherent in a neoliberal approach to economic integration, the dominant logic of .competitiveness., and the pressures for .modernization. of social welfare. Unions. ability to resist these challenges is weakened by their integration into an elitist system of EU governance in which mobilization and contention are inhibited. The article concludes that a new mode of trade union action is required if the .social model. is to be sustained.Wage bargaining, National Competitiveness and European coordination

Dr. Philippe Pochet, Observatoire Social Européen, Brussels
http://www.ucd.ie/indrel/papierdublin.pdf[full-text, 29 pages - in FRENCH)
Pochet Diagrams
http://www.ucd.ie/indrel/schema4.pdf
The Role of Labour in an Enlarged EuropeWorker Responses to Multinational Companies in Central Europe

Guglielmo MEARDI, University of Warwick
http://www.ucd.ie/indrel/Meardi.pdf[full-text, 13 pages]

ABSTRACT: The new central European EU member states have emerged as one of the mostattractive regions in the world for foreign investors, according to both FDI data andconsultancy surveys. Low labour costs, high productivity and relatively weak tradeunions at very short geographic distance are certainly an efficiency factor, asexemplified by the dozens of investors in the automotive sector which re-export toWestern Europe more than 90% of their production.The region is often portrayed as a relatively homogeneous permissive environment andpassive receiver of external influences. The paper, by presenting research in progresson case studies of North American and German investors in the automotive componentsector in Poland, Hungary, and Slovenia critically assesses this view. It will bediscussed whether the differences between host countries are a more importantpredictor of MNC employment practices than the notorious distinction betweenGerman and US HRM models. The informal as well as the formal forms of resistance,and the capacity to develop international links are put in evidence.To conclude, considerations will be drawn for the politically sensitive issue ofrelocations and social dumping within the European single market.Connecting employee representatives response across-borders: A comparative study of American-based multinational subsidiaries inEurope in two sectors

Valeria PULIGNANO,
University of Warwick
http://www.ucd.ie/indrel/Pulignano.pdf[full-text, 33 pages]

Abstract: Discussion regarding the extent to which European Works Councils (EWCs) can be considered aspotential mechanisms to foster a progress towards European trade union co-operation has been atthe forefront of the industrial relations research agenda since mid-1990s. The paper argues that inorder to explore prospects and constraints underlining cross-national union representatives co-operation within the context of European regional integration, co-ordination at both horizontal(across-borders) and vertical (articulation between central and local union representatives) levels,need to be examined. Comparative research in three European Works Councils (EWCs), across-twosectors (i.e. metalworking and chemical), within three business divisions of the same Americanmultinational company, reveal divergence in the nature and the mode of co-ordination withinEWCs. This is because of the diverse European Industry Federations. engagement to monitor thesetting up of EWCs agreements within each sector. However, convergence is also highlighted as theresult of the diverse union attitudes and orientations across (and within) countries towards theEuropean union initiatives at sector level.The unions, the movements, Europe, and democracy.

--Source: Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University

Institute of Industrial Relations eNews, May 2005

2005-05-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Institute of Industrial Relations eNews
May 2005 (No. 7)
On the Web at:http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/enews

News, Events and SeminarsSelected for Interest to the IIR Community
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In This Issue:
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IIR NEWS AND EVENTS
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Reminder: Deadlines for Statewide Labor and Employment Fund and IIR Research Grants
Chancellor Robert J. Birgenau Addresses Large Audience at IIR
Michael Reich and Marcy Whitebook Testify in Sacramento
Faculty Seminar: Sandra Smith
New IIR Faculty Working Papers
Important Computing News: New Campus Minimum Security Standards
CPER ActivitiesLabor Center NewsCenter for the Study of Child Care Employment
Labor Project for Working FamiliesInstitute of Industrial Relations Library
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UC BERKELEY CAMPUS EVENTS:
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Bancroft Library Lecture
Economics Department Seminar
Goldman School of Public Policy

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Special Note: The next edition of eNews will appear on September 1, 2005.

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IIR NEWS AND EVENTS

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Reminder: Deadlines for Statewide Labor and Employment Fund and IIR Research Grants

The deadline for applications for funding under the UC Systemwide Labor and Employment Fund program is May 6, 2005. All interested researchers should be sure to check the Web page for guidelines and to meet this deadline. Information may be found at http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/lefund.html.

Also, the IIR deadline for 2005-2006 IIR Research Grants is May 16. The grant program includes several new categories this year and is an important new opportunity for IIR’s affiliated faculty. Information may be found at http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/faculty/grants/index.html.

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CHANCELLOR BIRGENEAU ADDRESSES LARGE AUDIENCE AT IIR

Berkeley’s newly appointed Chancellor, Robert J. Birgeneau, spoke at IIR on March 30, 2005, at a welcoming reception in his honor. Art Pulaski, Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO spoke as well. The event was attended by many of IIR’s affiliated faculty members, staff and students, together with many community friends and leaders from the labor movement.

In introducing the Chancellor and Mr. Pulaski, IIR Director Michael Reich commented on the resurgent interest in labor and employment among newly recruited faculty members. “We have seen a growing interest in labor issues among our new colleagues, and the trend spans many disciplines. New recruitments in public policy, sociology and environmental resources have brought new vitality to Berkeley’s already-strong focus on industrial relations issues.”

Chancellor Birgeneau spoke about his overall career, during which he worked closely with labor groups in many settings. While at MIT, he was instrumental in advancing faculty equity and recruiting women to MIT. At the University of Toronto, he inherited a fragmented labor relations environment that was marked by tense relations. “If you looked at the bigger picture, everybody, including the faculty, was upset about compensation issues. The big difference was that the faculty was treated with more respect than the labor unions that were represented on campus. When I started according the labor unions the same respect as everyone else expected, the result was four years of labor ‘peace’ at the University of Toronto.”

Art Pulaski, Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, expressed his strong interest in working closely with Chancellor Birgeneau. “Throughout California’s history, the Labor Movement has always supported the University—indeed, the movement was instrumental in its formation and development. The California Labor Federation is looking forward to working with Chancellor Birgeneau and his administration to advance Berkeley, which is a great public institution and resource for the people of California.” Pulaski also highlighted the influential role of IIR and CLRE on public policy, citing recent studies on such topics as paid family leave, minimum wage impacts and the hidden public costs of low-wage employment.

Chancellor Birgeneau also addressed the points in his March 27, 2005 opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times. In that opinion piece, the Chancellor reaffirmed the University’s historic role as one of the most important gateways to education and career success for California’s multicultural population. He cited the fact that many business leaders agree that it is crucial for the University to train a student body that reflects every ethnic and cultural group within the state, because Berkeley graduate will be leaders in the future. “The system is broken,” the Chancellor said, “and it is up to us to fix it.”

The Chancellor’s enthusiasm was infectious, and the event was reminiscent of the reception that was held in honor of Dolores Huerta, when she was appointed as a Regent. “It was opportune for the Chancellor to visit IIR just now,” Michael Reich said. “The University of California at Berkeley is strongly positioned at the ‘crossroads’ where labor and employment issues intersect, with clear benefits not only for policy makers and academics, but also for the working people of California. IIR is very pleased to welcome the Chancellor to Berkeley, and we’re expecting great things in the coming years.”

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Michael Reich and Marcy Whitebook Testify on Minimum Wage and Universal Pre-School Bills

Michael Reich testifies before the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee

Michael testified in Sacramento in support of minimum wage adjustments. Assembly Bill 48, authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose), seeks to increase the minimum wage for the state's poorest workers from $6.75 an hour to $7.25 in July 2006, to $7.75 in July 2007, and then to be indexed annually according to the Consumer Price Index beginning in 2008.

Marcy Whitebook Testifies before the Assembly Higher Education Committee

Marcy Whitebook, Director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, also testified recently in Sacramento, before the Assembly Higher Education Committee regarding AB 172 (Chan). Marcy focused on the potential impact of pending legislation on the higher education system’s ability to train child care workers in response to those new programs.

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May 2, 2005 Faculty Seminar: Sandra Smith

Monday, May 2, 2005 ~ 12noon – 1pm
"I LIKE DOING THINGS ON MY OWN" THE IRONIES OF INDIVIDUALISM AMONG BLACK, URBAN POOR JOBSEEKERS

Sandra S. Smith, Professor of Sociology, UC Berkeley

In the urban poverty, joblessness, and job search literatures, the assumption is that when connected to friends, relatives and acquaintances in possession of job information and influence, jobseekers will embrace assistance from these relations to find work. Thus, black joblessness results in part from the lack of these vital social resources. My research suggests that the problem is far more complicated. Drawing from 105 in-depth interviews of low-income blacks from Southeast Michigan, I find that roughly one-third refused to seek or accept assistance from their personal contacts with job information and influence and instead chose to go it alone. In this paper, I investigate why and examine the conditions that facilitate social resource mobilization for job-finding. I link reluctance to accept aid to fears of losing face—of falling short of expectations and/or being maligned by their personal contacts for being jobless—and I show that fears of losing face were greatest among those who deployed joblessness discourses that give primacy to individual and cultural deficiency explanations. In other words, reluctant jobseekers embraced self-reliance during the job search process in an effort to avoid failure and to show their worth, but in so doing, reduced their chances of finding work in low-wage labor markets where employers rely heavily on informal job referral networks for screening and recruitment of job applicants.

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New IIR Faculty Working Papers

The following new working papers have been received and will be posted in the eScholarship Repository (http://repositories.clib.org). Additional faculty working papers will be appear in the series in the next two months.

Neil Fligstein and Jennifer Choo (March 1, 2005) Law and Corporate Governance

(There is no abstract for this paper)

Neil Fligstein and Taek-Jin Shin (February 1, 2005)
Shareholder Value and Changes in American Industries, 1984-2000

There is now a solid set of results from economic sociologists concerning the spread and implementation of "shareholder value" strategies across publicly held corporations in the United States during the 1980s. Corporations were financially reorganized and used the tactics of selling off unrelated product lines, engaging in mergers with firms in similar industries, various financial ploys such as stock buybacks, and downsizing their labor forces. This paper explores empirically the connections between mergers, layoffs, de-unionization, computer technology, and subsequent industry profitability. Mergers occurred in sectors where economic conditions were not good in line with shareholder value arguments. Mergers subsequently led to layoffs, consistent with the shareholder value perspective that emphasizes that firms needed to deploy their resources more efficiently as they reorganized. There is also evidence that managers who engaged in mergers invested in computer technology. This technology directly displaced workers through layoffs and was focused on reducing unionized work forces. There is no evidence that mergers or layoffs returned industries to profitability. Only industry growth and computer investment led to increased profits. This suggests that shareholder value ideology was not, by itself, successful in righting the problems of American business.

Mary C. Noonan, Sandra S. Smith, and Mary E. Corcoran (April 1, 2005)
Examining the Impact of Welfare Reform, Labor Market Conditions, and the Earned Income Tax Credit on the Employment of Black and White Single Mothers
(Note: This paper will be posted to the Web during May 2005)

Using the Annual Demographic Files of the March Current Population Survey, we determine the extent to which change in welfare policies, labor market conditions, and the earned income tax credit (EITC) account for the changes in employment of black and white single mothers from 1991-2003. Compared to white single mothers, black single mothers are more likely to be high school dropouts, never married, and central city residents, and our results show that policy and labor market changes had a more profound affect on the employment of these groups. However, these demographic differences and interaction effects are not substantial enough to produce dissimilar explanations for the changes in employment by race. During the period 1991-2000, the increase in the EITC was the most important factor, accounting for approximately 25 percent of the increase in employment. Declines in the unemployment rate and welfare reform were less important, together accounting for an additional 25 percent of the increase. Our results also show that the decline in employment between 2000 and 2003 for both black and white single mothers was primarily due to the weakening economy during those years.

Marko Tervio (April 27, 2005)
Overworked and Overpaid: The Costs of Learning-By-Doing

In medicine, law, consulting, and many other careers, a significant proportion of human capital is created through profession-specific learning-by-doing (LBD. In the absence of long-term wage contracts, if LDB effects are sufficiently large, then young workers should face a negative wage in return for high future wages. However, if workers are liquidity constrained, then young workers compete away those returns to experience by working inefficiently hard. This inefficiency results in higher lifetime earning, causes older workers to exert too little effort, and tends to lower the observable (monetary) returns to experience. Unlike traditional models, this can explain "career concerns" in professions where effort and ability are observable.

Ximing Wu and Jeffrey M. Perloff (March 1, 2005)
GMM Estimation of a Maximum Distribution With Interval Data

We develop a GMM estimator for the distribution of a variable where summary statistics are available only for intervals of the random variable. Without individual data, once cannot calculate the weighting matrix for the GMM estimator. Instead, we propose a simulated weighting matrix based on a first-step consistent estimate. When the functional form of the underlying distribution is unknown, we estimate it using a simple yet flexible maximum entropy density. our Monte Carlo simulations show that the proposed maximum entropy density is able to approximate various distributions extremely well. The two-step GMM estimator with a simulated weighting matrix improves the efficiency of the one-step GMM considerably. We use this method to estimate the U.S. income distribution and compare these results with those based on the underlyign raw income data.

Ximing Wu and Jeffrey M. Perloff (February 1, 2005)
China's Income Distribution, 1985-2001

We employ a new method to estimate China's income distributions using publicly available interval summary statistics. We examine rural, urban and overall income distributions from 1985-2001. We show how the distributions change directly as well as examine trends in equality. Using an inter-temporal decomposition of aggregate inequality, we determine that increases in inequality within rural and urban sectors and the growing rural-urban income gap have been equally responsible for the growth in overall inequality over the last two decades. However, the rural-urban gap has played an increasingly important role in recent years. We also show that urban consumption inequality rose considerably.

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Important Computing News: New Minimum Standards for Security of Berkeley Campus Networked Devices

On May 1st, 2005, U.C. Berkeley will require that any computer that will connect to the UCB network comply with the following minimum standards. Devices that do not meet these minimum standards may be disconnected.

(1) Install anti-virus software with regular virus definition updates.
(2) Make sure you have the latest software patches for your computer.
(3) Have a personal firewall installed and running at all times.
(4) Create a strong administrative password.
(5) No unencrypted authentication
(6) No unauthenticated email relays
(7) No unauthenticated proxy services
(8) Physical security
(9) No Unnecessary services

The full document on the standards can be found here:
http://security.berkeley.edu/MinStds/

For more information about computer security, please visit:
http://security.berkeley.edu

If you still have questions, please feel free to contact your IT staff.Remember: Security is not a goal – it is an ongoing process.

--Robert Hiramoto

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CPER Activities

CPER is working its June issue (No. 172), which will include articles on bargaining in Los Angeles County, learning lessons about negotiations from major league baseball, and privacy in the workplace (focusing specifically on employer medical inquiries under state and federal law.

For a full report on CPER activities, take a look at the CPER Web at
http://cper.berkeley.edu.

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Center for labor Research and Education

CA Union Leadership School
June 5-10, 2005
Deadline extended to: May 1, 2005
http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/leadershipschool/index.shtml

The Labor Center is once again offering the California Union Leadership School, which will be held at Asilomar, June 5-10, 2005. This educational and interactive program brings together senior-level union leaders in a unique learning environment with experienced labor educators. This year, the school is launching a special recruitment for participants from the Central valley, and a principal outcome of the school with be the deveoplment of collaborative projects in the north and valley regions.

Strategic Training Workshop
June 20-23, 2005
Deadline for Registration: Friday, May 27, 2005
Information on this workshop will be posted on the Labor Center Web in the near future.
(http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu)

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Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell has appointed Marcy Whitebook as one of 44 members of the newly established Superintendent's California P-16 Council. The Council has been charged with developing strategies to better coordinate, integrate, and improve education for California students from preschool through college.

"Different segments of California's education system have been working in isolation for too long," O'Connell noted during his announcement of the council. "We can better help our students meet the challenge of high standards and high expectations if the entire system is better coordinated. I have asked this impressive group of education leaders and experts to find ways to break down traditional barriers and work toward building a seamless education system that better serves all California students."

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Institute of Industrial Relations Library

IIR Library to Pursue NEH Grant for UC Berkeley Labor Collections

The IIR Library is joining with the Bancroft Library to pursue funding for campus labor collections, from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project will involve surveying all locations where labor materials reside, and identifying good prospects for digitization. Chief among these is the IIR Library’s full run of the publications of IIR-Berkeley and UCLA—which constitute an important resource, especially for scholars interested in mid-century U.S. industrial relations.

IIR Library Labor Blog Relaunched

The IIR Library is blogging again, capturing global news on labor events, local events, and reports of interest to researchers. The Blog enables the Library to make a selective digest of news and events available using RSS (Rich Site Summary), which allows enables automated newsfeeds, and is increasingly popular with non-governmental organizations that track labor issues. Find the link to the blog at http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/library/laborportal.html .

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CAMPUS EVENTS

Bancroft Library Lecture
Economics Department Seminar

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Bancroft Library

Thursday, May 19, 2005
Noon
Faculty Club, Lewis-Latimer Room

Working Women and Racial Politics in San Francisco During the Late 19th Century
Hellen Lee (UC San Diego Literature Department, Bancroft Study Award winner)

The circulation of contradictory visual images and journalistic accounts of prostitutes negatively shaped perceptions of racialized working women in San Francisco in the late 19th century. Ms. Lee explores issues of entrepreneurship, sexuality, media representation and the role of the legal system.

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Economics 251 - Labor Economics Seminar
Thursday May 5, 2005 2:pm – 4:pm
Evans Hall, 608-7
Judy Hellerstein, University of Maryland

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Goldman School of Public Policy

Wednesday May 4, 2005
5:pm
Andersen Auditorium, Haas School of Business

The Nation’s Growing Fiscal Imbalance: Perspectives and Issues
David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the US

The United States and other major industrialized nations face a large and growing fiscal imbalance that, if left unchecked, will impede economic growth and imperil key government programs. Largely because of rising health care costs, a growing elderly population, and reduced federal revenues, the federal government now faces decades of deficits. Without changes to current policy, these trends will put increasing pressure on the nation’s spending and tax policies.

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Editor: Terry Huwe (thuwe@library.berkeley.edu) Contributors: Elizabeth del Rocio Camacho, Janice Kimball

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Scope of This Newsletter: This email newsletter alerts the IIR community and affiliates to new resources and upcoming events on labor and employment-related topics at IIR, around the campus and beyond the campus. The goal of this service is to provide you with news at a glance, with links to Web-based information for further information. For those of you in a hurry or overloaded with email, you can view this eNewsletter on the IIR Web, at http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/enews.
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How to Subscribe: Send a message to thuwe@library.berkeley.edu expressing an interest in receiving this email publication. You may also wish to subscribe to our general community email listserv, available to all interested friends of IIR. This list is called iirucbnews@lists.berkeley.edu . Please indicate if you wish to be added to that list in your message.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Mass Layoff Data, March 2005

2005-04-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

MASS LAYOFFS IN MARCH 2005 [26 April 2005]
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm
full-text, 10 pages]

In March 2005, employers took 1,194 mass layoff actions, seasonallyadjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefitsduring the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department ofLabor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from asingle establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 130,848,on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoffevents rose by 66, and the number of associated initial claims increased by13,164 from February. In the manufacturing sector, 371 mass layoff eventswere reported during March 2005, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 55,377initial claims, both figures higher than a month earlier. (See table 1.) From January through March 2005, the total number of events (seasonallyadjusted), at 3,779, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted), at 399,522,were lower than in January-March 2004 (4,043 and 415,048, respectively).

Source: Stuart Basefsky, Cornell Institute for Workplace Studies

OECD Creates New Country-Level Data "Portal"

2005-04-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

OECD launches sites for each of its member countries on www.oecd.org

www.oecd.org/infobycountry, is a one-stop-shop for OECD work on member countries. Regular visits to one of these country Web sites will allow you to be kept informed of the latest news or events and the most recent OECD documents and publications on a given country. From one country site, you can widen your research and compare the results of a specific country with other OECD economies, thus, fully benefiting from the OECDs comparative approach. To satisfy increasing demands, the Country Web sites also feature a statistical profile for each OECD country. Some 100 key statistical indicators are provided and users can compare the figures with those of the other member countries (see the table below). Finally, the Country Web sites propose several ways of navigation: by topic, in chronological order, by document category or by language. Country portal: www.oecd.org/infobycountry

Source: Stuart Basesfky, Cornell Institute for Workplace Studies

March 2005 Regional and State Employment and Unemployment News

2005-04-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: MARCH 2005 (22 April 2005)
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/laus.pdf
[full-text, 19 pages]andSupplemental Files
Table of Contents
http://www.bls.gov/web/laus.supp.toc.htm

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable or downslightly in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Departmentof Labor reported today. Three of the four regions and 35 states record-ed unemployment rate shifts of 0.2 percentage point or less from February.Over the year, jobless rates were down in 36 states and up in 14 statesand the District of Columbia. In March, the national unemployment rate de-clined to 5.2 percent and was 0.5 percentage point lower than a year ago. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 40 states over the month,decreased in 9 states and the District of Columbia, and was unchangedin 1 state. Five states had employment gains of 10,000 or more--Florida(+19,400), California (+17,600), Illinois (+16,200), Texas (+10,600), andMissouri (+10,000). Only one state--Michigan--had an employment loss ofa similar magnitude in March (-17,000). Over the year, nonfarm employmentincreased in 48 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 2states (Michigan and South Carolina). The largest percentage gain inemployment was in Nevada (+6.7 percent), followed by Arizona (+3.9 per-cent), Oregon (+3.8 percent), Utah (+3.7 percent), and Florida (+3.5 per-cent).

--Notice courtesy of the Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University

2005-04-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Annual Report on the Federal Work Force Fiscal Year 2004 [22 April 2005]
http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/fsp2004/index.html
Press Release
EEOC ISSUES REPORT ON FEDERAL WORK FORCE FOR 2004
[22 April 2005]Improved Data Analysis, Practical Tips and Best Practices Included to Help Agencies Boost EEO Performancehttp://www.eeoc.gov/press/4-22-05.html

WASHINGTON - Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has released the EEOC's <../federal/fsp2004/index.htm>Annual Report on the Federal Work Force for Fiscal Year 2004, which provides detailed agency-by-agency profiles of discrimination complaint processing and other equal opportunity measures. The full text of the report, which informs and advises the President and the U.S. Congress on the state of equal employment opportunity (EEO) throughout the federal work force, is available on the Commission's web site at www.eeoc.gov.The report contains practical tips and best practices to help agencies improve their EEO performance, including the processing of discrimination complaints. Additionally, the report presents a refined analysis of data examining the three major stages of the EEO complaint process: pre-complaint counseling, complaint investigation, and issuance of a final agency decision.

--Notice courtesy of the Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University

OECD Issues Working Paper on Service Economy Issues

2005-04-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT WORKING PAPERS No. 427THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL POLICIES ON TRADE-RELATED ADJUSTMENT AND THE SHIFT TO SERVICES

By Per Mathis Kongsrud and Isabelle Wanner

http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/
full-text, 86 pages]

Abstract:What policy reforms are most urgently needed to remove obstacles to outputand employment growth in service sectors and to enhance economies’ abilityto adjust to structural change as a result of changing trade patterns?This paper reviews the impact of the structural policy frameworkconditions on the development of the service sector and economies'adjustment capacities. The paper builds on and summarises a vast body ofprevious work and briefly reviews policy recommendations given tocountries in various surveillance processes in the OECD.

--Notice courtesy of the Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University