New Features:

•  The foundational section that opens the book has been reduced from three chapters to two, allowing students and instructors to cover labor history, labor law, and key labor relations processes earlier in the book.

•  The text has been streamlined to improve student accessibility. Overall, the text is reduced from 14 chapters to 13, many of the chapters are shorter, and the more advanced topics have been moved to optional “Digging Deeper” features at the end of the relevant chapters. Numerous subheadings have also been added to the text to foster greater student comprehension.

•  Updated discussion of important public policy topics, especially the Employee Free Choice Act, debates over NLRB decisions on company email policies and supervisors, prospects for reversals of Bush-era legal rulings under the Obama administration, the transfer of retiree benefits from the Big Three automakers to the UAW, and the possibility of a reunification between the AFL-CIO and Change to Win.

•  Increased coverage of labor-management partnerships and numerous other contemporary updates have been added throughout the text.

Retained Features:

•  Balanced, comprehensive and contemporary coverage of topics without getting lost in the nitty-gritty details;

•  An engaging, intellectual framework approach that promotes a deep understanding (rather than a simple catalog of details and labor relations processes);

•  Engaging and accessible presentation of material, which lends to the book's readability;

•  Serious, integrated treatment of ethics. Unlike any other labor relations textbook, major ethical theories and principles are discussed (in chapter 3). Many chapters ask students to apply these ethics principles to important labor relations issues;

•  Separate chapters on globalization and comparative labor relations systems – two critical yet often under-discussed topics in other textbooks;

•  In response to reviewer feedback, integration throughout the text of issues specific to public sector labor relation;

•  Numerous boxes and case studies to promote classroom discussion.

•  Active-learning exercises to foster an active-learning approach and increase student participation.

•  Labor law discussion cases in chapters 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 help students apply important legal concepts. Grievance discussion cases in chapter 9 help students wrestle with the central elements of contract administration.