Labor Policy and Politics

U.S. Government Agencies

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

National Mediation Board (NMB) 

U.S. Department of Labor

• Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), U.S. Dept. of Labor

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Dept. of Labor

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Dept. of Labor 

FLRA (Federal Labor Relations Authority)

U.S. Labor Unions

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

• Here is a complete list of AFL-CIO affiliated unions (with links to web sites and social media).

• Here are some examples of AFL-CIO affiliated unions:

  • Communication Workers of America (CWA) | Industrial Union of Electronic Workers (IUE-CWA) |  Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA) | Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) 

  • United Auto Workers (UAW) (United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union)

  • United Steelworkers (USW) (United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union)

  • UNITE HERE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees - Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union)

  • Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) 

  • The Boilermakers Union-- International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers

  • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)

  • International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)

    • Transportation Communications Union

  • International Longshoremen's Association (ILA)

  • International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)

  • International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)

  • American Federation of Teachers (AFT) (See also NEA below.)

  • American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)

  • American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

  • American Postal Workers Union

Strategic Organizing Center

• Formerly "Change to Win." Current member unions:

  • Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

    • Union of Southern Service Workers 

  • United Farm Workers of America (UFW)

  • United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)

International Brotherhood of Teamsters 

Other Independent Unions:

• UE Union (United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America) 

• Starbucks Workers United 

New and Old Organizing Forms and Strategies

• Southern Workers Assembly | Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee | Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) | Fight for 15 | Working America | Jobs with Justice | Nonprofit Professional Employees Union | Freelancers Union | Restaurant Opportunities Centers | Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) | Independent Drivers Guild (IDG)    

Dispute Resolution

The following government agencies and private organizations provide support for dispute resolution (e.g. mediation, fact finding, and interest arbitration) in the event of a bargaining impasse.

Government agencies

• Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS): https://www.fmcs.gov/ --An agency mandated by the Federal Labor Relations Act (FLRA) to provide mediation services in negotiations covered by the Act.

• National Mediation Board (NMB): http://www.nmb.gov/ --Agency mandated by the Railway Labor Act to oversee representation elections and provide mediation and arbitration services in the railway and airline industries.

• Bureau of Mediation, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry: https://www.dli.pa.gov/Businesses/Labor-Management-Relations/mediation/Pages/default.aspx --Provides mediation services for both private and public-sector collective bargaining in Pennsylvania.

• Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB): https://www.dli.pa.gov/Individuals/Labor-Management-Relations/plrb/Pages/default.aspx --Among its other duties, PLRB conducts fact finding reports in collective bargaining for public school teachers and provides interest arbitration for those public-sector workers who do not have the right to strike (police and firefighters).

Private organizations

These organizations provide arbitrators and procedures for facilitating arbitration. They work mostly with grievance arbitration but AAA and NAA arbitrators can also be involved with interest arbitration.

• American Arbitration Association (AAA): https://www.adr.org/ --Nonprofit organization that facilitates mediation and arbitration. 

• National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA): https://naarb.org/ --Professional society of arbitrators.

• Alternative Dispute Resolution Forum (Forum): http://www.adrforum.com --Provider of arbitration and mediation services, especially for employment disputes (e.g. grievances) and business-to-business disputes.

Contract Collections Online

Find negotiated collective bargaining agreements in these collections/databases:

• U.S. Department of Labor file of collective bargaining agreements: https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/cba/ --collective bargaining agreements submitted voluntarily to the U.S. Department of Labor

• National Mediation Board searchable database of contracts and other documents: http://knowledgestore.nmb.gov

• Cornell University ILR School Digital Commons: These are from the Department of Labor collection

• Transnational labor agreements: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=978&langId=en --transnational labor agreements cataloged by the International Labor Organization and the European Commission (European Union)

Public Sector Labor Unions

• AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees)

  • Pennsylvania AFSCME Councils

• AFT (American Federation of Teachers)

  • Pennsylvania AFT | Philadelphia Federation of Teachers 

  • TAUP (Temple Association of University Professionals)--an AFT local

  • PSC-CUNY (Professional Staff Congress-City University of New York)--AFT local, also an AAUP affiliate

• NEA (National Education Association)

  • PSEA (Pennsylvania State Education Association)

• FOP (Fraternal Order of Police)

  • PA FOP (Pennsylvania FOP)

• IAFF (International Association of Firefighters)

  • PPFFA (Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association)

• AAUP (American Association of University Professors)

  • AAUP CBC (AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress)--unionized AAUP chapters

• APSCUF (Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties)--an independent union representing PASSHE faculty and coaches

• AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) --U.S. federal government employees

State Labor Laws and Agencies

Pennsylvania Agencies and Laws

State Agencies

• Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB)

• Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Mediation

Pennsylvania Public Sector Collective Bargaining Laws

• Public Employee Relations Act (Act 195 of 1970)

• Article XI-A, collective bargaining provisions of Public School Code of 1949, as amended by Act 88 of 1992

• Policemen and Firemen Collective Bargaining Act (Act 111 of 1968)

• PLRB Rules and Regulations

New York Agencies and Laws

• Public Employment Relations Board (PERB)

• The Taylor Law (Public Employees Fair Employment Act)

• PERB Taylor Law Rules

International and Comparative Labor Relations

• International Labour Organization (ILO) 

Selected National Labor Unions and Federations

• Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)

• Korean Federation of Trade Unions

• Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

• Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB)

• IG Metall

• ver.di

• Honda Motor Workers Union - member of Confederation of Japanese Auto Workers' Unions (JAW)

• All-China Federation of Trade Unions

Resources for Further Study of Labor Perspectives

• Monthly Labor Review  (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• Labor and Employment Law News  (JD Supra)

• Labor and Working Class History Association 

• Labor Notes 

• Economic Policy Institute 

• Jacobin magazine 

• Inequality.org Labor blog (Institute for Policy Studies)

• ILR Worker Institute | ILR Scheinman Institute  (ILR School at Cornell University)

• UCLA Labor Center 

• Labor Heritage Foundation | American Labor Studies Center 

• Union Songs | Joe Glazer labor song anthologies on YouTube: We've Only Just Begun | Labor Songs II 

• American Compass Labor articles (American Compass)