Intended for students, practitioners, policymakers, and academicians in personnel and industrial relations, this book presents findings of a 5-year study of joint union-management programs to improve productivity. Chapter 1 underscores the growth and importance of union-management cooperation and discusses union and management attitudes toward…

This report was based on telephone interviews with 86 individuals from 53 workplaces across Canada. The study sample included a diverse range of workplace types and sizes from both large and small communities. Of the eligible workplaces contacted, 93% were able to participate. The interview questions focused on why workplaces started basic skills…

This report summarizes the experiences of the Massachusetts Quality of Working Life Center in assisting the attempted and actual start-up of a number of quality of work life (QWL) programs in 1976 and 1977 and in providing ongoing assistance. Lessons learned by the three sites the center launched, other sites, as well as those sites that chose not…

Labor unions hold a somewhat different view of "workplace literacy" efforts than company management often does. Unions believe that workplace literacy programs should be voluntary and involve more that just "work" skills. As in union education of the past, union programs focus on education of the whole worker for life, not just for work. Unions…

Though bound by a number of political, economic, and institutional constraints on options for staff development, Niagara College (Ontario) made a commitment to design a formal human resource development strategy to meet the needs of all college staff through the 1990s. In 1982, a Human Resource Development Committee was mandated to assess current…

In its ongoing study of changes in the situation of workers and unions, the AFL-CIO Executive Council's Committee on the Evolution of Work determined that information on job training and jobs is a top priority for today's workers. The AFL-CIO Training and Education Conference was planned in an effort to respond to this need. The conference brought…

This paper, translated from French, is a transcript of a roundtable discussion on workplace literacy programs in Canada (especially in Quebec). During the roundtable, the panelists discussed various workplace literacy programs being conducted in their companies through joint partnerships of employers and unions, sometimes with government financial…

AFL-CIO unions representing a wide range of workers in virtually every sector of the economy have teamed with employers to develop and sustain successful programs resulting in better trained, more productive workers. Joint training and education programs come in various forms and offer a wide range of services depending on the industry and worker…

This report includes two sections: (1) an overview of the issues involved in joint labor/management workplace education programs and (2) a description of such a program partnering two union locals, nine hospitals, and Bunker Hill Community College to implement a workplace-based career ladder program. The first section explains that unions and…

This report describes a joint labor-management workplace literacy program called SET (Skills Enhancement Training) that targeted the more than 2,000 unionized employees of food service contractors at U.S. government institutions in Washington, D.C. Nineteen classes were offered and a total of 191 people self-selected themselves into the program.…

This document is the first issue of a National Alliance of Business publication designed to present proven solutions, cutting-edge strategies, and comprehensive reference materials and to examine in depth in each issue a critical issue related to public/private employment and training partnerships. This first issue addresses one of the most…

A workplace literacy partnership program model was demonstrated at four Chrysler plants in Indiana. Objectives were to improve workers' individual skills, enhance personal productivity, and increase work force job security and plant competitiveness. During the 3-month start-up phase, project staff worked with management and labor representatives…

An evaluation of the Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative brings together three phases: (1) a pilot outcome study conducted with a sample of six local workplace education programs and featuring the perspectives of workers, labor, and management; (2) program profiles for seven federally funded workplace education programs coordinated by the…

A study identified United States Department of Labor efforts to expand apprenticeship to new occupations and explained impediments to establishing apprenticeship programs in fields not traditionally apprenticed (e.g., high technology and biotechnology). Labor had not systematically identified new occupations suitable for apprenticeship programs…

As part of its ongoing reform of occupational and technical training, Quebec has adopted a sectoral initiatives policy that has provided the mandate and organizational structure to sectoral committees for planning occupational and technical training based on dual cooperation between employers and unions in various sectors and between…