Nonunion Employee Representation

This book breaks new ground on a controversial subject in industrial relations and human resource management -- nonunion forms of employee representation in the workplace. Practiced in many different ways, such as joint committees, employee forums, and plant councils, nonunion methods of employee representation are spreading rapidly as part of employee involvement and participation programs. But these employee groups remain highly controversial and heavily restricted by labor law in the United States because of their potential abuse in union avoidance. The American approach stands in sharp contrast to policies in other countries, such as Canada, Germany and Japan, where nonunion employee representation is largely unrestricted or even encouraged by law.In this volume a distinguished, international set of authors provide an in-depth, balanced analysis and evaluation of this timely and much-debated topic. They give special emphasis to an historical assessment of nonunion employee representation, its practice and performance in modern workplaces, and cross-national differences in law and public policy. Recent proposals for reform of American legal treatment of nonunion employee representation are also carefully considered, and an evaluation and suggested plan of action are put forward.