LAW 6073 - Contemporary Challenges in Labor and Employment Law

(crosslisted)
(also ILRLR 6073)

Fall. 3 credits.

Attendance mandatory at first class. Co-meets with ILRLR 4073.

W. Liebman.

Labor law or employment law course, or related background, strongly recommended (not required). This course will explore the challenges in enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) – first enacted during the New Deal and not significantly amended since 1947 – in a dramatically changed social and economic environment. The course will also take into account parallel developments in individual employment rights. Students will consider the complexity of administering labor law in a politically polarized climate. They will study how new developments in information technology (e.g., electronic monitoring, social media), a changing employment model, and other evolving workplace trends are creating tensions with existing law, including certain statutory concepts (like who is an “employee,” an “independent contractor,” or an “employer”) and legal doctrines (like the scope of mandatory bargaining, privacy rights and rules on communicating at work). The class will examine whether institutional features of the basic labor law fit with today’s competitive economy, labor market conditions, and worker preferences: for example, the traditional, adversarial model of labor-management relations; the principle of exclusive union representation in decentralized bargaining units; and the prohibition of other forms of workplace representation. Students will also look at other current issues related to the employment of undocumented workers; efforts to organize workers excluded from NLRA coverage; and the growing use of mandatory arbitration to resolve disputes arising in non-union workplaces.