The Decline of Unions: Is Labor Law to Blame?

March 8, 2006
Speaker: Julius G. Getman, Earl E. Sheffield Regents Chair at the University of Texas School of Law

Summary: The Rush McKnight Labor Law Lecture

•Has the law played a role in the decline of union membership and density?

•Should the law be amended to aid unionization?

Professor Getman is a preeminent scholar in the field of labor law, where he pioneered empirical studies and continues to do extensive field work. He joined the University of Texas law faculty in 1986 after having served as the William K. Townsend Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He has also taught at Stanford Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center. He has authored numerous works and is currently writing a book with former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall on the future of the labor union movement.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Case
• Western
• Reserve
• University
• Law
• School
• labor
• unions
• Julius
• Getman
• Rush
• McKnight

[TheClosestranger00]

Democracy in the work place is a good thing.That is true patriotism. Would most workers want to ship our job over seas? Now ask the C.E.O.s, diferent answer... seems like patriotism vs profits cause it is.

[carolynnmi]

Great talk, answered many questions for me; and leads to a new one: How does the "democracy" required for the benefit of workers in unions compare to the relatively weak "democracy" required for the benefit of stockholders in corporations?

I'd also be interested in the role of big corporate media in fostering anti-union "individualism" and "entrepreneurialsm" (we're all free-lance now).