The movement away from professionalization and toward unionization is examined. It is noted that the traditional stance taken by the leadership of the American Association of University Professors seems to ignore the obstacles (i.e., the distribution of power in organization) in the path of attaining full professional status. (Author/LBH)

In both developed and developing countries, service industries and white-collar occupations have expanded; increasing white-collar unionization in economically advanced nations points to a new concern with shaping satisfying jobs. (Editor)

Competency-based training (CBT) policy has contributed to the decline of unions in Britain through focus on individual performance, employer-defined nature of standards, narrow scope, and the centrality of flexibility and transferability. CBT has been supported for its ostensibly rational, neutral aspects despite the clear ideological assumptions…

Two theme articles examine the union situation in Italy and Belgium respectively: "Trade Unions and Training: Workers' Rights to Training from the Early 1970s to the Early 1990s" (Vittorio Capecchi); and "Paid Educational Leave in Belgium: Is Legislation Slipping off the Track?" (Christian Piret, Emile Creutz). (SK)

Questions the value of MARC records and considers the need for a new bibliographic standard. Topics include language and hierarchy; problems with print and electronic copies of the same work, especially in union catalogs; XML; merging records and authority control; and what to do with existing MARC records. (LRW)

Data on employees in 168 colleges and universities were analyzed using collective bargaining coverage as an exogenous variable. Union-covered staff enjoyed a 9-11% salary premium. The union/nonunion differential was larger in two-year than four-year institutions, with no public-private differences. Where faculty were union covered, staff had an…

Politicians are increasingly pressuring school districts to improve instruction while holding down costs. To achieve this aim, western New York school districts are experimenting with mutual gains bargaining, an alternative negotiation process based on Roger Fisher and William Ury's 1991 book "Getting to Yes." Instead of bargaining from…

Describes the renovation and expansion of Palmer Hall, New Jersey-based Princeton University's original physics laboratory, to house the Frist Campus Center. Includes before and after photographs. (EV)

A study of the United Packinghouse Workers of America compared the postwar years and the Reagan era. Using event-structure analysis, the development of new corporate strategies (new technologies, production reorganization, cheap nonunion labor) fundamentally transformed the capital-labor relationship and led to the collapse of industrial unionism…

Panel data from 188 public school districts that changed teacher salaries between 1987 and 1994 were used to investigate whether salary increases improved the quality of teachers hired. In nonunion districts only, teacher salaries were significantly related to the probability of hiring well-qualified teachers. (Contains 21 references.) (SK)

Describes Iowa Memorial Union's method for creating its virtual tour, lists equipment and software needed, and offers helpful tips for any institution considering virtual tour development. (EV)

Describes the Arizona Blue Chip Program developed by the University of Arizona student union, a 4-year program that instills leadership skills and qualities in selected students. (EV)

Case studies of South African companies (mining, manufacturing, and telephone call centers) reveal a mix of management strategies that converge with and diverge from past practices. South Africa is attempting to balance the demands of efficiency, employee rights, and racial equity, a challenge that requires overcoming the legacy of the apartheid…

Offers advice for student union professionals facing preliminary budgeting for renovation or construction projects, including relevant industry terminology. (EV)

Provides a history of the establishment of the AFL-CIO/ALA (American Federation of Labor (AFL)-Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)/American Library Association (ALA)) Joint Committee on Library Service to Labor Groups. Topics include public learning, labor, and libraries; services to labor; problems and issues, including conflicts between…