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Labor Relations Concentration
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2/1/93 -- AOS Guidelines: Business, Management and Economics
Concentration in Labor Relations
The area of labor relations is related to economics, personnel management and labor studies. While students frequently approach it from either a managerial perspective or a union perspective, the basic core concepts are the same.
Students who seek a concentration in the area of labor relations will be prepared to work in union management negotiations (collective bargaining), contract administration, union organizing efforts and what management calls "preventative labor relations." The study of labor management relations is only one subject area within the diverse field of industrial relations. It encompasses all issues that affect the relations among organized groups of workers, employers, and government officials and agencies. It requires the need to integrate knowledge of multiple disciplines: sociology, psychology, law, economics and politics. It is heavily dependent upon history and historical precedents.
By its very nature, a degree in labor relations must be broad. Programs that go beyond studies in classic labor areas and business will be most helpful to students who intend to work in this field.
The guidelines that follow provide a basic program outline that can be augmented with additional relevant studies.
Such studies as psychology, sociology, macro and micro economics, American business or labor history, logic, the use of computers, oral communications skills, writing skills and math and statistics are highly recommended as possible foundation studies that will enable students to do further study of a more specific nature. The skills developed through writing, oral communications and mathematics are constantly being applied in day-to-day labor relations activities.
Studies that are specific and essential to the field of labor relations include: labor economics, which looks at the underlying relationship between wages, skills, number of people looking for work and related issues; labor relations, which examines the relationship between organized labor and management; labor law, which looks at all of the laws that govern the work place (but with an emphasis on the National Labor Relations Act and amendments, which govern the formal relationship between labor and management); labor history, which looks at the social, political and legal history of organized labor within the United States; collective bargaining, which examines the formal process between labor and management in arriving at a labor contract.
Additional studies in the field of labor relations could include studies in labor arbitration or dispute settlement, labor and politics, international labor relations, or specific studies dealing with state labor laws (such as New York Taylor Law). Students can study great labor leaders, issues dealing with unions, multinational firms and globalization. The current issue of free trade and the impact it has on unions would make an interesting study.
Supporting studies in the personnel field would be helpful to someone concentrating in labor relations. Of specific interest would be those studies that deal with wage and price theory, employee benefits theory, employee assistance programs, total quality management and/or participative management concepts. Studies in organizational behavior would also be helpful.
In the scientific area, a knowledge of how science and technology is impacting society and the workplace would help the student understand future issues. A study in demographics and the changing nature of the work force (women, minorities, different cultures) would help the student see the different forces that are affecting labor relations. This area could include specific studies dealing with women in unions, the role of minorities in unions or related topics.
Because practitioners of labor relations are frequently called on to analyze financial data either to determine proposed changes to contracts, to recommend wage or benefit increases, or to determine ability to pay, studies in accounting and finance can be very helpful.
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