This one-volume, concise treatise on labor law explains the analytical structure that governs how employees form workplace organizations and bargain over the terms and conditions of employment. It covers new forms of labor organizing, such as the corporate campaign, card check/neutrality agreements, and worker centers. It is designed to complement leading labor law casebooks with analysis of the principal decisions, context, and social justice policy. It reflects decisional and other developments through August 2019.

Over the last fifty years in the United States, unions have been in deep decline, while income and wealth inequality have grown. In this timely work, editors Richard Bales and Charlotte Garden - with a roster of thirty-five leading labor scholars - analyze these trends and show how they are linked. Designed to appeal to those being introduced to the field as well as experts seeking new insights, this book demonstrates how federal labor law is failing today's workers and disempowering unions; how union jobs pay better than nonunion jobs and help to increase the wages of even nonunion workers; and how, when union jobs vanish, the wage premium also vanishes. At the same time, the book offers a range of solutions, from the radical, such as a complete overhaul of federal labor law, to the incremental, including reforms that could be undertaken by federal agencies on their own.

Mastering Labor Law provides necessary procedural and substantive material without overwhelming the reader with details that are unduly esoteric or tangential. The book begins with an introduction to private and public sector labor law. It then turns to United States labor history and procedure, organization, and jurisdiction issues under the National Labor Relations Act. The book then comprehensively addresses the organizational and collective bargaining processes, before covering forms of protected activity. It closes by considering other topics such as labor arbitration, union security clause, labor preemption, and antitrust doctrine.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of employment law and is a useful supplement to any employment law casebook. The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 examines who is an employee and who is an employer. Chapter 2 analyzes the employment-at-will doctrine and job security claims. Chapter 3 focuses on privacy, autonomy, and dignity. Chapter 4 analyzes claims that employers may have against employees. Chapter 5 discusses employment terms and benefits that are directly mandated by law, like minimum wage, or strongly encouraged or regulated by law, such as pensions. Finally, Chapter 6 examines workplace health and safety.