Core Courses
Other Courses
Advanced Courses
Graduate Courses

Core Courses

L100 Survey of Unions and Collective Bargaining (3 cr.) A survey of labor unions in the United States, focusing on their organization and their representational, economic, and political activities. Includes coverage of historical development, labor law basics, and contemporary issues.

L101 American Labor History (3 cr.) A survey of the origin and development of unions and the labor movement from colonial times to the present. The struggle of working people to achieve dignity and security is examined from social, economic, and political perspectives.

L110 Introduction to Labor Studies: Labor and Society (3 cr.) This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary and advocacy approach of labor studies. Exploring labor's role in society, the class will look at how unions have changed the lives of working people and contributed to better social policies. Discussions will highlight the relationship of our work lives to our nonwork lives and will look at U.S. labor relations in a comparative framework.

L190 The Labor Studies Degree (1 cr.) Required for all DLS majors. This course will provide an introduction to the Labor Studies degree and to the knowledge and skills needed by students to progress toward a degree in a reasonable time frame. Students will learn how to build a plan of study that takes advantage of both credit for prior learning and new learning opportunities.

L200 Survey of Employment Law (3 cr.) Statutes and common-law actions protecting income, working conditions, and rights of workers. Topics include workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, fair labor standards, Social Security, retirement income protection, and privacy and other rights.

L201 Labor Law (3 cr.) A survey of the law governing labor-management relations. Topics include the legal framework of collective bargaining, problems in the administration and enforcement of agreements, and protection of individual employee rights.

L203 Labor and the Political System (3 cr.) Federal, state, and local governmental effects on workers, unions, and labor-management relations; political goals; influences on union choices of strategies and modes of political participation, past and present; relationships with community and other groups.

L205 Contemporary Labor Problems (3 cr.) An examination of some of the major problems confronting society, workers, and the labor movement. Topics may include automation, unemployment, international trade, environmental problems, minority and women's rights, community relations, and changing government policies.

L210 Workplace Discrimination and Fair Employment (3 cr.) Examines policies and practices that contribute to workplace discrimination and those designed to eliminate it. Explores effects of job discrimination and occupational segregation. Analyzes Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and related topics in relation to broader strategies for addressing discrimination.

L220 Grievance Representation (3 cr.) Union representation in the workplace. The use of grievance procedures to address problems and administer the collective bargaining agreement. Identification, research, presentation, and writing of grievance cases. Analysis of relevant labor law and the logic applied by arbitrators to grievance decisions.

L230 Labor and the Economy (3 cr.) Analysis of the political economy of labor and the role of organized labor within it. Emphasis on the effect on workers, unions, and collective bargaining of unemployment, investment policy, and changes in technology and corporate structure. Patterns of union political and bargaining responses.

L240 Occupational Health and Safety (3 cr.) Elements and issues of occupational health and safety. Emphasis is on the union's role in the implementation of workplace health and safety programs, worker and union rights, hazard recognition techniques, and negotiated and statutory remedies—in particular the OSHA Act of 1970.

L250 Collective Bargaining (3 cr.) The development and organization of collective bargaining in the United States, including union preparation for negotiations; bargaining patterns and practices; strategy and tactics; economic and legal considerations.

L251 Collective Bargaining Laboratory (1-3 cr.) Provides collective bargaining simulations and other participatory experiences in conjunction with L250. L250 is either a prerequisite or a corequisite.

L255 Unions in State and Local Government (3 cr.) Union organization and representation of state and municipal government employees, including patterns in union structure, collective bargaining, grievance representation, and applicable law.

L260 Leadership and Representation (3 cr.) Organizational leadership issues for union, community, and other advocate organizations. Analyzes leadership styles, membership recruitment, and leadership development. Examines the role of leaders in internal governance and external affairs, including committee building, delegation, negotiations, and coalition building.

L270 Union Government and Organization (3 cr.) An analysis of the growth, composition, structure, behavior, and governmental processes of U.S. labor organizations, from the local to the national federation level. Consideration is given to the influence on unions of industrial and political environments; to organizational behavior in different types of unions; and to problems in union democracy.

L280 Union Organizing (3 cr.) Explores various approaches and problems in private- and public-sector organizing. Traditional approaches are evaluated in light of structural changes in labor markets and workforce demographics. Topics range from targeting and assessments to committee building and leadership development.

L285 Assessment Project (1 cr.) Capstone experience for associate degree students.

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Other Courses

L199 Portfolio Development Workshop (1 cr.) Emphasis on developing learning portfolios as foundation documents for academic self-assessment and planning and as applications for self-acquired competency (SAC) credit. Applies only as elective credit to labor studies degrees.

L290 Topics in Labor Studies (1-3 cr.) A variable-title course, L290 can be repeated for credit with different subjects. The transcript will show a different subtitle each time the course is taken. Some courses focus on contemporary or special areas of labor studies. Others are directed toward specific categories of employees and labor organizations. Inquire at Division of Labor Studies offices.

L299 Self-Acquired Competency in Labor Studies (1-15 cr.) See the Credit for Prior Learning section of this bulletin for a description of Self-Acquired Competency.

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Advanced Courses

L315 The Organization of Work (3 cr.) Examines how work is organized and how jobs are evaluated, measured, and controlled. Explores social and technical elements of work through theories of scientific management, the human relations school of management, and contemporary labor process literature.

L320 Grievance Arbitration (3 cr.) (Recommended only after L220 or with permission of instructor.) The legal and practical context of grievance arbitration, and its limitations and advantages in resolving workplace problems. Varieties of arbitration clauses and the status of awards. Students analyze, research, prepare, and present cases in mock arbitration hearings.

L350 Issues in Collective Bargaining (3 cr.) Readings and discussion of selected problems. Research paper usually required.

L360 Union Administration and Development (1-3 cr.) Practical and theoretical perspectives on strategic planning, budgeting, and organizational decision making. Addresses the needs and problems of union leaders by studying organizational change, staff development, and cohesiveness within a diverse workforce. May be repeated for up to 3 credits with department approval.

L380 Theories of the Labor Movement (3 cr.) Perspectives on the origin, development, and goals of organized labor. Theories include those that view the labor movement as a business union institution, an agent for social reform, a revolutionary force, a psychological reaction to industrialization, a moral force, and an unnecessary intrusion.

L385 Class, Race, Gender, and Work (3 cr.) Historical overview of the impact and interplay of class, race, and gender on shaping U.S. labor markets, organizations, and policies. Examines union responses and strategies for addressing class, race, and gender issues.

L410 Comparative Labor Movements (3 cr.) Labor movements and labor relations in industrial societies from historical, analytical, and comparative perspectives. Emphasis on interaction between unions and political organizations, national labor policies, the resolution of workplace problems, the organization of white collar employees, and the issues of worker control and codetermination.

L420 Labor Studies Internship (1-6 cr.) Application of knowledge gained in the classroom in fieldwork experience. L420 may be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

L430 Labor Research Methods (3 cr.) Study of research design, methods, techniques, and procedures applicable to research problems in labor studies.

L480 Senior Seminar or Readings (3 cr.) Designed as either a classroom seminar or directed reading course. Addresses current issues, historical developments, and other labor-related concerns. Topics may vary each semester.

L490 Topics in Labor Studies (1-3 cr.) A variable-title course, L490 can be repeated for credit with different subjects. The transcript will show a different subtitle each time the course is taken. Some courses focus on contemporary or special areas of labor studies. Others are directed toward specific categories of employees and labor organizations. Inquire at Division of Labor Studies offices.

L495 Directed Labor Study (1-6 cr.) A variable credit course, L495 may be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours. Students arrange to study with an individual labor studies faculty member, designing a course of study to suit their individual and varied needs and interests. The contract might include reading, directed application of prior course work, tutorials, or internships. Competencies are assessed through written papers, projects, reports, or interviews.

L499 Self-Acquired Competency in Labor Studies (1-15 cr.) See the Credit for Prior Learning section of this bulletin for a description of Self-Acquired Competency.

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Graduate Courses

Students must have completed a bachelor's degree and be accepted into a graduate program before registering for graduate courses.

L580 Graduate Seminar (3 cr.) This course will examine major questions in labor studies from a variety of perspectives. Readings will explore historical as well as strategic analyses, theoretical as well as applied knowledge. Subjects include pedagogical approaches to labor education, labor history reexamined, and social policy analysis from a labor perspective.

L590 Poverty, Welfare, and Workfare(3 cr.) This course examines the political-economic relationship that exists between the prescriptions of welfare reform and the introduction of workfare legislation and addresses the following questions: How are attacks on labor-union rights, privatization, and lower taxes on the affluent linked to welfare reform and workfare legislation? What are the consequences of welfare reform and workfare for Americans?

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