LER 100 “Introduction to Labor Studies”



LER 100 “Introduction to Labor Studies”

Spring 2020. Three Credits. Online Seminar

Semester class. January 21 to May 6

ABOUT THE COURSE

LER 100 looks at economic, political, and workplace issues facing working people.  Labor Studies is an interdisciplinary field concerned with U.S. and global issues of social class, work, the workplace, and workers, and that also studies unions and other organizations and social movements advocating for workers’ rights.  The word “labor” in “Introduction to Labor Studies” refers simultaneously to labor as the synonym of “work” and to “labor” as shorthand for “labor unions.”  In this course we begin discussing who is “working class” versus “middle class” in America, and images of work and workers. The class analyzes U.S. employment laws and contemporary workers’ issues, and uses Wal-Mart as a case study. We then study unions and look at theories of labor relations, an overview of U.S. working class and labor history, and issues of racism and sexism in the workplace.

Course learning goals include an analysis of:

▪ Images of workers, social class, and unions in the media, entertainment, public opinion, and political discourse;

▪ Key issues facing American working people today and U.S. employment and labor laws;

▪ Wal-Mart as an example of employment relations in America;

▪ The goals, administration, and structures of unions, how workers organize unions, and collective bargaining;

▪ Competing theories of labor relations;

▪ Key themes in U.S. working class and labor history; and

▪ Racial and sexual harassment in the workplace.

The course is divided into segments. Each segment’s lecture highlights important material from the assigned reading, adds new information, and introduces the discussion forums.

Segment Days Opens Closes Topic

1 12 January 21 February 1 Work, Workers, and Social Class

2 13 February 2 February 14 Workers’ Issues and Employment Laws

3 13 February 15 February 27 Wal-Mart

4 12 February 28 March 10 Unions

5 12 March 11 March 13 Theories of Labor Relations

Spring Break is March 14 to March 22

March 23 March 31 Theories continues

6 13 April 1 April 13 U.S. Labor and Working Class History

7 12 April 14 April 25 Race and Gender in the Workplace

8 11 April 26 May 6 Analyzing a Labor Conflict: Chicago Teachers

REQUIRED READING AND VIDEOS

There is one required text which can be purchased at the Illini Union bookstore or on the web: The Unfinished Struggle by Steve Babson (Rowman & Littlefield: 1999) In addition, there are web-based articles and videos located in the “Compass Reading” and “Videos” folders in each segment.

ASSIGNMENTS

There are 330 possible points in this course. Four true/false and multiple choice exams are worth 80 points (20 points each), the Class Process Test is worth 5 points, the Family History paper is worth 15 points, the Final Exam is worth 80 points, and participation in the 10 Discussion Forums is worth 150 points (15 points per forum).

Segment Assignment Date Opens Date Closes Points

All Discussion Forums First day of segment Last day of segment 150

1 Class Process Test January 22 February 1 5

2 Exam 1 on Segs 1-3 February 15 February 27 20

3 Exam 2 on Segs 4-5 March 11 March 31 20

4 Exam 3 on Seg 6 April 1 April 14 20

4 Family History Paper January 22 April 14 15

5 Exam 4 on Seg 7 April 15 April 25 20

Extra Credit Proposal April 15 April 29 --

5 Extra Credit Paper January 22 May 6 (15)

Final Exam May 8 May 8 80

TOTAL 330

Course Grade Scale:

A+ 98% 323-330 B+ 88% 290-296 C+ 78% 257-263 D+ 68% 224-230

A 93% 307-322 B 83% 274-289 C 73% 241-256 D 63% 208-223

A- 90% 297-306 B- 80% 264-273 C- 70% 231-240 D- 60% 198-207

F 000-197

For details on exams, papers, extra credit papers, and forum grading, read the Class Process file. For details on posting to Discussion Forums and reading posts, read the Forum Posts file.

COURSE SCHEDULE AND READING

SEGMENT 1 WORK, WORKERS, AND SOCIAL CLASS

Tuesday, January 21 to Saturday, February 1 (12 days)

Reading -- About the Class

▪ Getting Started in your LER Online Class

▪ Syllabus

▪ Class Process

▪ Forum Posts

Reading and Video: Work, Workers, and Social Class

▪ What’s Class Got To Do With It? by Michael Zweig

- “The Challenge of Working Class Studies” pages 1-17

▪ “Class in America,” by Gregory Mantsios, 2006

▪ “Class Unconsciousness: Stop Using ‘Middle Class’ to Depict the Labor Movement,” by Nelson Lichtenstein, Spring 2012 New Labor Forum

▪ “Middle-Class Identification in U.S. at Pre-Recession Levels,” June 21, 2017 Gallup Poll

▪ “Obama’s Class Warfare,” January 21, 2015 National Review

▪ “Class warfare fight erupts over tax bills,” November 17, 2017 The Hill

▪ Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Studs Terkel (1972)

- Receptionist Sharon Atkins pages 57-60;  Sanitation Worker Roy Schmidt pages 150-153;  Bus Driver Will Robinson pages 274-279; Bank Teller Nancy Rogers pages 344-351; and Auto Workers Phil Stallings and Jim Grayson pages 221-232.

▪ [Optional]: “Filming Class” in New Working Class Studies by Tom Zaniello

▪ Video: Excerpt from “Class Dismissed: How Television Frames the Working Class”

Assignments:

▪ Post to the ungraded Introductions forum early in the segment.

▪ Make a first substantial post in Forum 1A by the seventh day of the segment on Tuesday, January 27 to earn the full 3 “timing” points in forum grading

▪ Take the Class Process Test by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, February 1

Discussion Forums:

▪ Introductions

▪ 1A: Work, Workers, and Social Class

SEGMENT 2: WORKERS’ ISSUES

Sunday, February 2 to Friday, February 14 (13 days)

Reading

▪ Can They Do That? Retaking Our Fundamental Rights in the Workplace by Lewis Maltby

- “You Have The Right To Remain Silent: Freedom of Speech in the Workplace,” chap. 1

▪ “The American Middle Class Under Stress,” a 2011 New America Foundation report (20 pages of charts and graphs)

▪ “The World's Most Worker-Friendly Countries in 7 Charts,” January 7, 2015 Citylab

▪ “6 Reasons That Pay Has Lagged,” February 1, 2018 New York Times

▪ “Inequality, Unbelievably, Gets Worse,” by Steven Rattner (opinion piece with many charts), November 16, 2014 New York Times

▪ “The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World,” February 2, 2014 New York Times

▪ Optional: You are also encouraged to put terms like “wage growth,” “poverty,” and “income inequality” in your search engine, and share stories that you find insightful.

Video

▪ Bill Moyers Show: “L.A. Labor” (PBS, 14 minutes)

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post in Forum 2A by the seventh day of the segment on Saturday, February 8 to earn the full 3 “timing” points in forum grading

▪ Early in the segment take the Practice Test on employment laws. Then return to the exam, read the correct answers and comments, do the assigned reading, and post to Forum 2A.

Discussion Forum

▪ 2A: Workers’ Issues and U.S. Employment Laws

SEGMENT 3: WAL-MART

Saturday, February 15 to Thursday, February 27 (13 days)

Reading and Video

▪ “Wal-Mart: The Low-Wage Colossus,” chapter 8 in The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker (2008) by Steven Greenhouse

▪ “When Wal-Mart Comes To Town, What Does It Mean For Workers?,” April 2, 2015 WBEZ-NPR Chicago radio

▪ Excerpt on Wal-Mart workers’ protests from the last chapter of Strike! (2014), a labor history text by Jeremy Brecher, pages 368-375

▪ “Wal-Mart Learns to Live Without Everyday Poverty Wages,” June 11, 2015 Bloomberg News

▪ “Wal-Mart Raises Hourly Wage to $11 in Wake of Tax Overhaul,” January 11, 2018 Bloomberg News

▪ “Making Change at Wal-Mart” (an anti-Walmart, pro-worker website)

▪ Optional Video: Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices (97 minutes)

▪ Students are encouraged to search the web for recent news articles on forum topics.

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post in Forum 3A by the seventh day of the segment on Friday, February 21 to earn the full 3 “timing” points in forum grading

▪ Take Exam 1 covering material in the first three segments by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, February 27.

Discussion Forum

▪ 3A: Wal-Mart

SEGMENT 4 UNIONS

Friday, February 28 to Tuesday, March 10 (12 days)

Reading

▪ The Union Members Complete Guide by Michael Mauer

- Chapter 1 “What are Unions?”

- Chapter 2 “How Your Union Operates”

▪ Why Unions Matter by Michael Yates

- Chapter 2 “How Unions Form”

▪ Framed: Labor and the Corporate Media by Christopher Martin

- “How Labor Gets Framed,” chapter 1

▪ “Why Unions Matter in America,” 2018, by LER faculty and Interfaith Worker Justice

▪ 2018 Union Membership Data, Bureau of Labor Statistics

▪ polls on labor and work

▪ “As Labor Day Turns 125, Union Approval Near 50-Year High,” August 28, 2019 Gallup Poll

▪ A glossary of labor terms

Videos

▪ The Hand that Feeds (union organizing) (3 minutes)

▪ Employee Free Choice Act (union organizing) (8 minutes)

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post in Forum 4A by the seventh day of the segment on Thursday, March 5

Discussion Forum

▪ 4A: Unions

SEGMENT 5 THEORIES OF LABOR RELATIONS

Wednesday, March 11 to Wednesday, March 13

Spring Break is March 14 to March 22

Class continues Monday, March 23 to Tuesday, March 31 (12 days)

Reading

▪ Chapter 2 pages 35-68 “Labor Unions: Good or Bad?” in Labor Relations: Striking a Balance by John Budd (2008)

▪ “Labor Unions Will Be Smaller After Supreme Court Decision, but Maybe Not Weaker,” June 27, 2018 New York Times

▪ “Shareholder Value Is No Longer Everything, Top C.E.O.s Say,” August 19, 2019 New York Times

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post in Forum 5A by the seventh day of the segment on Thursday, March 26

▪ Take Exam 2 covering Segments 4 and 5 by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31

Discussion Forum

▪ 5A: Theories of Labor Relations: Are Unions Good or Bad for Workers, Management, Democracy, and the Economy?

SEGMENT 6 U.S. LABOR AND WORKING CLASS HISTORY

Wednesday, April 1 to Tuesday, April 14 (14 days)

Reading

▪ The Unfinished Struggle: Turning Points in American Labor, 1877-Present by Steve Babson [text]

- Chapter 1 “The Great Uprising, 1877-1910”

- Chapter 2 “Rise and Fall, 1910-1929”

- Chapter 3 “Triumph and Containment, 1929-1941”

- Optional: Chapter 4 “Growth and Accommodation, 1941-1965”

▪ “Lessons of U.S. Labor History”

▪ Links to U.S. labor history websites

Videos

▪ Haymarket, 1886 (PBS, 5 minutes)

▪ Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 1911 (2 minutes)

▪ San Francisco General Strike, 1934 (PBS, 3 minutes)

▪ Optional: The 1912 “Bread and Roses” Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike (6 minutes)

▪ Optional: Flint auto sit-down strikes (excerpt from PBS film “Walter Reuther and the Rise of the United Auto Workers,” 15 minutes)

▪ Optional: 1937 Memorial Day Massacre, Republic Steel strike (Illinois Labor History Society, 10 minutes)

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post in both forums by the seventh day of the segment on Tuesday, April 7

▪ Take Exam 3 covering segment 6 by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14

▪ The Family History paper is due in Assignments by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14

Discussion Forums

▪ 6A: Labor Leaders in American History

▪ 6B: Lessons of Labor and Working Class History

SEGMENT 7 RACE AND GENDER IN THE WORKPLACE

Wednesday, April 15 to Saturday, April 25 (11 days)

Reading: Overview of Race and Gender in the Workplace

▪ Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement by Steven Ashby and C.J. Hawking

- Chapter 11 “The African American Workers” and pages 286-288

▪ Strike! by Jeremy Brecher

- “Staley” pages 279-283 (short overview of the labor conflict as background to reading chapter 11 in Staley)

▪ “Who still can't sit at America's table,” by Prof. Stephanie Coontz, Feb. 11, 2014 CNN

▪ “It's now much easier to be harassed at work,” July 1, 2013 Chicago Tribune

▪ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission historical chart on the number of harassment cases reported to the agency

▪ “Make America Great Again for the People It Was Great for Already,” May 16, 2016 New York Times (on race and gender in U.S. workers’ history) by Prof. Stephanie Coontz

Reading: Racial Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace

▪ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on racial harassment

▪ AFL-CIO website on fighting for civil rights (explore this website)

▪ The United Electrical workers union on fighting racial harassment on the job

▪ Questions and answers on workplace racial harassment, Workplace Fairness

▪ Optional: You are also encouraged to put “racial harassment cases” in your search engine, and share stories that you find insightful.

Video: Racial Harassment in the Workplace

▪ “Shopping While Black” (ABC News, 8 minutes); and read the accompanying article

Reading: Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

▪ “The Ideal Worker is Not Your Mother,” pages 71-96 in Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, by Bridgit Schule (2014)

▪ “Feminism and the Labor Movement: A Century of Collaboration and Conflict,” by Eileen Boris and Annelise Orleck, Winter 2011 New Labor Forum

▪ EEOC on sexual harassment

▪ The United Electrical workers union on fighting sexual harassment on the job

▪ AFL-CIO website on gender equality (explore this website)

▪ “1 In 3 Women Has Been Sexually Harassed At Work, According To Survey,” February 19, 2015 Huffington Post

▪ “Another week, another resignation; Hollywood finally addresses sexual harassment,” August 29, 2017 Los Angeles Times

▪ “Rape in the storage room. Groping at the bar. Why is the restaurant industry so terrible for women?,” June 17, 2017 Washington Post

▪ “Five Myths about the Gender Pay Gap,” July 25, 2014 Washington Post opinion

▪ Read what interests you from recent New York Times’ articles on the Me Too movement

▪ You are also encouraged to put “sexual harassment cases” in your search engine, and share stories that you find insightful.

Video: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

▪ “Is Your Daughter Safe at Work?” (PBS, 26 minutes); and read some of the accompanying articles on the website

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post in both Forums 7A and 7B by the seventh day of the segment on Tuesday, April 21

▪ Take Exam 4 covering segment 7 by 11:59 pm on Saturday, April 25

▪ The Extra Credit paper is due by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. You must first submit a proposed topic on course themes by Wednesday, April 29 and be approved by the instructor. You cannot submit this paper unless you have pre-approval of your topic.

Discussion Forums

▪ 7A: Race in the Workplace

▪ 7B: Gender in the Workplace

SEGMENT 8 ANALYZING A LABOR CONFLICT: CHICAGO TEACHERS

Sunday, April 26 to Wednesday, May 6 (11 days)

Reading

▪ A Fight for the Soul of Public Education: The Story of the Chicago Teachers Strike by Steven Ashby and Robert Bruno (2016 Cornell University Press)

- “Chicago School Teachers,” Chapter 3 (excerpt - 9 pages)

- “The Contract Campaign,” Chapter 6 (26 pages)

- “Chicago Teachers’ Strike,” Chapter 10 (24 pages)

▪ Interview with CTU President Karen Lewis after the strike (read the transcript or watch the video)

▪ “First, it was West Virginia. Then, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Now, Arizona and Colorado teachers prepare to walk out,” April 26, 2018 Washington Post

▪ “Making Teachers’ Strikes Illegal Won’t Stop Them,” May 9, 2018 New York Times opinion piece putting the 2018 teacher strikes in a historical context

▪ Optional: “The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve,” a 2012 CTU Report

▪ Optional: “Beyond the Classroom: An Analysis of a CPS Teacher's Actual Work Day,” April 2012 University of Illinois LER study

Videos

▪ Video: Highlights of the CTU Strike, Labor Beat, including interviews with teachers on the picket lines and images of the pickets and marches (26 minutes)

▪ Optional: Jitu Brown, community leader speaking at a September 17, 2012 community and parent press conference (13 minutes)

▪ Optional: Jen Johnson, teacher and one of the strike coordinators, speaking one week after the strike (11 minutes)

▪ Optional: Jackson Potter, teacher, union Chief of Staff, founder of the Caucus of Rank and File Educators, speaking one week after the strike (12 minutes)

▪ “We Talked To 18 Teachers In Oklahoma Calling It Quits” (2018, 8 minutes)

Assignments

▪ Make a first substantial post to Forum 8A by the seventh day of the segment on Saturday, May 2

▪ The Extra Credit paper is due by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. You must first submit a proposed topic on course themes by Wednesday, April 29 and be approved by the instructor. You cannot submit this paper unless you have pre-approval of your topic.

▪ The Final Exam, covering all course material, is open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 8. Read the Final Exam directions first as this exam is essay and accessible only one time. You must also take the Academic Integrity test before taking the exam, and in order to find the password to access the Final Exam in the last test question.

Discussion Forum

▪ 8A: Chicago Teachers

# # # #

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download