Law

Labor and Employment law programs and classes
Resources on labor and employment law

Labor and Employment law programs and classes

On-campus: Examples of programs include :

Iowa Workers’ Compensation

The Labor Center’s three-day workers’ compensation program covers the basics of Iowa’s workers’ compensation system and is intended for union officers, stewards, representatives and interested union members.

Labor & Employment Law

This program provides an introduction to public and private sector labor law and a review of recent changes to employment law. The program is intended for union representatives, officers, stewards, and interested union members.

Union Financial Officers

A two-day intensive course for union officers responsible for private and public sector union financial record-keeping. Instruction by expert practitioners in the law and practice of union finances.

Off-campus: Programs are designed with local unions to meet their needs. Below are some examples of off-campus labor and employment law classes.

Your Rights in the Workplace

• Overview of labor law
• How the law affects organizing, bargaining, and contract enforcement
• Laws on wages, discrimination, unemployment, and work-related injury compensation

Workers' Compensation

• Understanding Iowa workers' compensation law
• Calculating weekly benefits
• Helping members pursue alternate medical care
• Responses to workers' compensation issues

Family and Medical Leave Act: What are our rights?

6 KEY PROBLEM AREAS -- and more… for stewards, officers, and members who want to use FMLA or help members who need leave

• "How sick is sick? Recognizing health conditions covered by FMLA
• We are family!" What the FMLA has to say about it
• Hoops and barriers: Why it seems that FMLA has made things worse
• Notifying and proving: How the employer's notice and certification requirements affect your rights to get leave
• Vacation and sick leaves vs FMLA: Employer rights and employee needs
• Migraines, bad backs and other chronic pains: Rights of the afflicted

Public Sector Labor Law

• Rights of union activists under PERA
• Bargaining under the PERA
• Organizing under the PERA

Fighting Sexual Harassment and Discrimination

• Our rights under the law
• Recent federal and state case law
• How to use the law

Workplace Safety and Health

• Safety and Health and Right to Know laws
• Using the OSHA 300 form
• Filing OSHA complaints
• Investigating problems and incidents

Collective Bargaining

• The legal framework of collective bargaining
• Mandatory, permissive and illegal subjects of bargaining
• What is “good faith” bargaining?
• Unfair labor practices in the bargaining process

Drug Testing

• 1998/1999 Iowa Private Sector Drug Testing law
• Bargaining about drug testing programs

The Americans With Disabilities Act

• Understanding the ADA
• Negotiating reasonable accommodations

Privacy in the Workplace

• Workplace searches and monitoring
• Confidentiality of medical records
• Contractual and statutory protections

Our publications and links on labor and employment law

Labor Center publications
Helpful links

Labor Center publications

We hope to add a growing list of publications produced by Center staff to this Web site. In the mean time, please contact us for information about current publications, availability and cost. (Costs vary from $2 - $10) We have a constantly growing collection of manuals and handbooks for workers on organizing, bargaining issues and labor and employment law. If you don't see what you need here, call and ask us. 319/335-4144.Available now through the Center:

Helpful links

(Thanks to the University of California at Berkeley Labor Center for many of the links below.)

Iowa links

Labor Services Division, Iowa Occupational Safety and Health ---http://www.iowaworkforce.org/labor/iosh/index.html

Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation ---
http://www.iowaworkforce.org/wc/index.html

Drug Testing General Questions from Iowa Division of Labor Services
http://www.iowaworkforce.org/labor/drugtesting.htm

AFL-CIO Guides
http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/rights/rightsatwork/disc_union.cfm
The national AFL-CIO website includes helpful "know your rights" guides and materials on how employers can legally react to worker efforts to form a union, as well as information on health and safety, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, paid overtime and leave.

American Rights at Work
http://www.americanrightsatwork.org
American Rights at Work is an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the climate in which workers can exercise their rights in the workplace. This is the most comprehensive site on workers rights to organize a union; it includes legislative updates, case studies, background materials, and links to research and resources.

NLRB Frequently Asked Question Topics  http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/faqs/default.asp?useShared=/nlrb/employee/faqs/default.asp/
Question & Answers from the National Labor Relations Board

ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principle and Rights at Work
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc86/com-dtxt.htm
The text of the International Labour Organization's most basic text on workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively. Visit the ILO website at: www.ilo.org

Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention (Convention No. 98)
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/j_ilo98.htm
This page includes the full text of Convention (No. 98) concerning the "Application of the Principles of the Right to Organize and to Bargain Collectively" adopted by the International Labour Organization, 1949.

It's Your Right to Organize!
http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/org_rights.html
A good quick resource on worker rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act from the United Electrical Workers.

What Can You Expect From the Boss
http://www.uswa.org/organizing/theboss.html
A quick overview of how bosses frequently react to union organizing efforts from the United Steelworkers.

Your Rights as a Worker
http://www.pipeta.org/ptaright.htm
"35 Things Your Employer Cannot Do!" to interfere with union organizing from the Pipe Trades Association.

Tattletail's Labor Rights
http://www.tattletail.org/pages/organizeing.html
A short survey of Federal protection for union organizing from Tattletail.org

Know Your Rights
http://www.ilwu19.com/edu/kyr.htm
A quick overview of workers' rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act, designed for ILWU members.

Organize Your Workplace
http://www.cwa-union.org/about/organize.asp
A quick overview of why and how to organize a union from the Communications Workers of America.

What Faith Groups Say About the Right to Organize
http://www.nicwj.org/images,etc/faithgroupssay2.pdf
A fact sheet from the Nation Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice

National Employment Law Project
http://www.nelp.org/
Based in New York, NELP is one of the nation's most active nonprofit legal advocacy groups committed to labor issues, with a focus on organizing among immigrant workforces and nonstandard industries. Website has extensive resource materials.

Workplace Fairness
http://www.workplacefairness.org/
San Francisco based Workplace Fairness is a nonprofit education and advocacy group allied with the National Labor Lawyers Association and home to the National Employee Rights Institute. Website includes useful "know your rights" information and other materials.

FMLA opinion letters
FMLA opinion letters issued by the Department of Labor can be viewed at the website below.  To access all current opinion letters, choose "FMLA" as the regulation, and then "submit query".  To access an opinion letter on a particular topic, enter the topic under "subject".
http://apps.shrm.org/dbtw-wpd/textbase/dolweb.htm


National Employment Lawyer's Association Rights Database
http://www.workplacefairness.org/yourrights.php?agree=yes
A terrific online interactive database on workers rights, covering hiring, termination, discrimination, harassment, pay and hours, health and safety, unemployment insurance, and other rights.

Nolo.com's Encyclopedia of Employment Law
http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/index.cfm/catID/4BEF1F62-722F-435E-98AB18960A6EAB0E
A accessible and comprehensive online resource for basic info on employment laws, covering such issues as discrimination, health and safety, fair play, privacy, and other topics.

U.S. Department of Labor
http://www.dol.gov/
This government site includes extensive economic and statistical information on workers in the U.S., including some data sets on organizing and union representation.

National Immigration Law Center
http://www.nilc.org/
NILC is national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of low income immigrants and their families, including many programs focused on protecting immigrant workers' rights to organize unions.

Worker Rights in America: What Workers Think About Their Jobs And Employers
http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/rights/workersrights/upload/report.pdf
By AFL-CIO, 2001

Unfair Advantage: Workers' Freedom of Association in the United States under International Human Rights Standards
By Human Rights Watch, 2000.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslabor/

AFL-CIO. "The Silent War: The Assault of Workers' Freedom to Choose a Union and Bargain Collectively in the United States", Issue Brief, June 2002
http://www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/joinunions/howjoin/upload/vatw_issuebrief.pdf