This is the Comparative Industrial Relations Home Page for Le Moyne College. It serves as the home page for IRL 420 and IRL 421, Comparative Industrial Relations Systems I and II. Here you will find general information and links relating to industrial relations and human resource management in a variety of countries around the world as well as international institutions relating to employment. However you will also find information relating directly to the IRL 420 and 421 courses including course syllabi, essay materials, lists of terms relating to the various countries and issues covered in the courses, exam information, etc..
Professor Clifford B. Donn ("Cliff" to you) RH 228, 445-4339
Donn@lemoyne.edu Fax 315-445-4540
Schedule and Office Hours - You can find Cliff Donn’s teaching schedule and office hours for the current semester here.
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Course Syllabus and Reading List – IRL 420 – If you are taking IRL 420, Comparative Industrial Relations Systems I, you’ll find your course syllabus including the schedule of assignments, expectations for both students and the instructor, and the reading list. The format is slightly different from the one handed out in class but the information is the same.
Course Syllabus and Reading List – IRL 421 - If you are taking IRL 421, Comparative Industrial Relations Systems II, you’ll find your course syllabus including the schedule of assignments, expectations for both students and the instructor, and the reading list. The format is slightly different from the one handed out in class but the information is the same.
Power Point slides for the class can be found here.
Course Essay Handout – Here you will find (in a slightly different format) the essay handout given out in class. This describes the two essay assignments, when the topics and outlines are due, when the essays are due, the content and style requirements, and how the essays are evaluated. You should consult this handout before you choose your essay topic, when you begin to research your essay, when you write the essay and when you proofread your essay. 

It is very important that essays use sources appropriately and that those sources be cited properly. You can find information on the format and style of papers which is acceptable in the IRHRM Department.
Course library reserve list – This is the list of items sent to the library to be placed on reserve. It should correspond to the reading list.
Exam Schedule and Information (including a copy of the final exam questions from the last time the course was taught).
Announcements of changes of any kind in the class and Internet Assignments will be found here.  You may also occasionally find announcements of summer jobs, internships, or even permanent positions here.

 
Arbitration and mediation cases: You are welcome to attend arbitration or mediation cases with Cliff (although you should not use this as an excuse to cut other classes) as an observer to see what they are like.  There is a sign-up sheet on his office door but you can look at the cases which are currently scheduled here.

 
Pictures of restaurant outings by the IRL 421 class during the Fall 2004 semester can be seen here.
Lists of Terms: These are the same lists of terms handed out in class for each topic covered in the course.

 
This is the list of terms for Canada IRL 420
This is the list of terms for Britain IRL 420
This is the list of terms for Sweden IRL 420
This is the list of terms for France IRL 420
This is the list of terms for Italy IRL 420
This is the list of terms for Germany IRL 420
This is the list of terms for Transnational Industrial Relations Issues IRL 420

 
This is the list of terms for Japan IRL 421
This is the list of terms for Australia IRL 421
This is the list of terms for India IRL 421
This is the list of terms for Nigeria IRL 421
This is the list of terms for Argentina IRL 421
This is the list of terms for Israel IRL 421
This is the list of terms for Mexico IRL 421
This is the list of terms for China IRL 421
This is the list of terms for South Africa IRL 421
This is the list of terms for International Labor Bodies IRL 421

 
Links to IRHRM web sites around the world:
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the only central trade union body in Australia.
The web site Atlapedia contains basic information about the population and economy for most of the nations in the world.
The Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) brings together practitioners from labor and management with researchers, much as the U.S.-based IRRA does.
For information about the South African trade union movement, us the link to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).
The U.S. State Department prepares Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for its reports to Congress.

EurLife is an interactive database on living conditions and quality of life in Europe, offering data drawn from the Foundation's own surveys and from other published sources. The data provided deals with the objective living conditions and subjective well-being of European citizens. It covers the 25 current EU Member States and three candidate countries: Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

The European Industrial Relations Observatory collects and publishes data and information for the countries of the European Union as well as several other European nations. The "Annual Reviews" for each of these countries are particularly useful and you should look at them as we begin each country.
The US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, maintains a Foreign Labor Statistics data base. It covers all of the countries in IRL 420 but just a couple of countries in IRL 421. The data are limited but usually include unemployment rates, employment data, and the consumer price index. You should consult this before the first class on each country and come to class the most recent annual data you can find for that country on the unemployment rate and the consumer price index.
The US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, produces periodic reports on labor issues in a variety of countries under the title Foreign Labor Trends. Not all the countries are included (in fact at the moment, none of the IRL 420 countries are but several of the IRL 421 countries are and these reports are very useful and very interesting covering trade union, law and employment related issues as well as providing data on "key labor indicators."
The Industrial Relations Association of South Africa is an association of professionals interested in South African industrial-relations issues.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is the international trade union body bringing together trade union federations which are independent of government control from about 140 countries around the world.
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) is a large and very active International Trade Secretariat.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a branch of the United Nations but one which actually dates from the League of Nations. It is a tri-partite body representing labor and management as well as governments. It attempts to enhance and enforce labor standards around the world.
The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) is an International Trade Secretariat focusing on transportation related workers. As part of its campaign against flag-of-convenience shipping it conducts one of the few systems of genuine international collective bargaining in the world.
For a variety of different types of information on Japanese unions and industrial relations check out this link.
The Japan Institute of Labour is a branch of the Ministry of Labour which concentrates on research and the dissemination of information.
Japanese Business and Culture is a site that, while it doesn’t contain anything specific to industrial relations and human resource management in Japan does contain lots of interesting background material.
The Japanese Federation of Industry Keidanren is an extremely important representative of Japanese industry although this web site doesn’t really have much relating to industrial relations or human resource management. It’s subsidiary group, Nikkeiren is the Federation of Employers. It has its own web site, but I have not provided a link since that site is exclusively in Japanese.
One of the most interesting web sites for comparative industrial relations and human resource management is one called Labourstart.  It has labor news from around the world on a daily basis.  You should check this site at least twice every week.
The LO is the commonly used abbreviation for the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.  This is its web page and the English language section contains a basic description of the LO itself and the Swedish system of collective bargaining.
Many of the European nations have statutory minimum wage policies. Minimum Wages in Europe is a web site with descriptions of many of those systems, arranged by country.
This National Labour Law Profiles page produced by the ILO. These exist for only a few of the countries in IRL 420 and 421 (including some covered in class and some which are not) but they are very useful where they exist.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development maintains statistical and other information on its thirty member nations, including essentially all of the economically advance countries. You can use this link to connect to statistical information on individual countries and get a statistical profile about them.
The Swedish Information Service doesn’t have much about industrial relations or human resource management but does have lots of interesting background material on Sweden.
The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) was long the largest trade union in Britain but it is not any longer.
The British Trades Union Congress (TUC) is the only central trade union body in the Britain. 
The union which is now the largest in Britain is called Unison.  It is a union primarily of public sector workers.