Labor Studies

ILSR Programs

Effective Leadership Through Strategic Programming

Every year ILSR conducts a variety of courses for thousands of trade unionists throughout the state and region. Our noncredit programs are jointly planned with the sponsoring group and range in length from one hour to one week. Classes are conducted wherever and whenever it is convenient for the organization, including nights and weekends. The quality of instruction is high and the cost of the program is low. ILSR has a number of core courses (see below), but we continually work to develop innovative and educational courses for local unions.

Labor History

The growth of American Industry and the development of Labor’s Politician, economic and social agenda.

Union Administration

Organizational structures, functions, and administrative problems of labor unions.

Economic Development, Labor and the Economy

Economics applied to individual and union concerns, wages, prices, productivity and profits, national and international economic issues.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Arbitration and mediation.

Labor and Society

Power structures, mass psychology, social mobility and the impact of race, gender, and social status.

Labor’s Current Goals

The future of the American labor movement: objectives, prospects and strategies.

Collective Bargaining for private, public, and federal sectors

Preparation and conduct of negotiations, use of economic data proposal development and strategy at the bargaining table.

Labor Law

Unfair practices, FMLA, ADA, new developments and court cases, status of collective bargaining, NLRB procedures, boycotts and strikes.

Labor’s Current Problems

The changing nature of work and the work force, the environment of labor relations, and contemporary issues facing unions.

Labor and Politics

Politics, parties, voters, and pressure groups in the American political process. The Political System and Electoral Process, Negotiating Benefits, Time and Motion Studies, and Job Evaluation.

Worker Compensation

Addressing changes in the law and how it affects workers.

Women in the Workforce

Addressing the specific challenges facing working women.

Safety Courses

OSHA, violence in the workplace, and labor-management safety teams.

Steward Training and Grievance Handling

Designed specifically for new and seasoned union stewards defining their special status, examining grievance preparation techniques, and presentation.

Psychology of Union Leadership

Principles of human behavior, motivation and the communication in relationship to elected and appointed positions in the labor movement.

Labor in the Mountains – A Grandfather’s Story

– is a 55-minute video on the history of labor in West Virginia, told from the viewpoint of a retired worker who lived through much of that history, in response to questions about labor unions from his teen-age granddaughter. Read more...

Labor in the Mountains is a production of the non-profit Labor in the Mountains Foundation. It is available in DVD or VHS formats at $5 for either. Please contact Dave Cormier for additional information.