Labor and Employment Dispute Resolution

NCR 525 — Mediation (3 Units)

Theory and skills including requirements for certification under the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act, especially agreement procedures, case development, consensus building, issue framing and prioritizing, orientations toward conflict, and record keeping.

Goal: To provide students with the opportunity to learn the stages, steps and skills involved in the practice of mediation as a conflict resolution process, including certification requirements.

Learning Objectives

Students will learn:

1. basic stages, steps and skills of mediation, with focus on facilitative process;
2. practical techniques for identifying and convening parties, creating and maintaining a productive environment, interest identification, consensus building, issue framing, agenda setting, and option generation and evaluation;
3. when mediation is and is not appropriate, and the ethical issues involved in such assessments.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, the successful student will demonstrate the following and evaluate ability to:

1. identify and convene parties;
2. understand when mediation is and is not appropriate, and the ethical issues involved in such assessments;
3. prepare and deliver a simple opening statement introducing mediation’s ethical parameters to parties;
4. create a productive climate for conflict resolution through:
   • negotiating and asserting process ground rules,
   • establishing and maintaining rapport,
   • active and empathetic listening,
   • reframing,
   • interest and commonality identification,
   • collaborative framing of issues,
   • agenda setting;
   • facilitating option generation;
   • guiding option evaluation;
   • observing and evaluating process dynamics and intervention (reflective practice);
5. meet certification requirements;
6. compare and contrast different styles of mediation, including facilitative problem-solving, transformative and narrative approaches.

NCR 527 — Arbitration (3 Units)

Compulsory and non-compulsory arbitration of grievances in public, private, corporate, labor, and international disputes. Case studies explore the arbitration role in unique settings.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

1. be introduced to arbitration, its theoretical stances, doctrines, practices, and history.
2. be given the opportunity to personally explore the various fields of arbitration, through hands-on practice with case scenarios.
3. learn to apply arbitration techniques to disputes in a host of sectors, including workplace, employment, and labor disputes.
4. leave the class with basic conflict resolution and arbitration skills; final projects will give students the opportunity to apply their new understandings and skills to real life conflicts.
5. apply theories in social psychology and sociology to arbitration.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, the successful student will demonstrate the following and evaluate ability to:

1. Students will leave the course with basic arbitral skills and knowledge sufficient to run their own arbitration.
2. Students will leave the course with a basic grounding in arbitration theory and practice.
3. Students will leave the course with the ability to apply arbitration techniques to disputes in a host of sectors, including family, labor, employment, civil rights, and international disputes.
4. Students will leave the class with basic conflict-resolution skills applicable in arbitration.
5. Students will leave the course being able to recognize rules of evidence relevant to the arbitration process.

NCR 533 — Labor Conflict (3 Units)

Case and historical studies in selected industries. Past, present, and pending court decisions or national and state labor laws. Strategic planning for labor organizations. The process of negotiating a labor contract. Grievance and arbitration procedures.

Learning Objectives

On completion of this course, successful students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the basic law and nature of labor conflicts.
2. Identify the main parties interested in labor/management disputes.
3. Identify the main issues involved in labor disputes and the applicable law.
4. Predict outcomes of disputes based on precedent setting cases.
5. Analyze private and public sector labor/ management case conflicts in order to relate them to actual student experiences.
6. Understand criteria used by third party neutrals in rendering decisions in arbitration and unfair labor practice cases.
7. Demonstrate, through a mock negotiation, a through understanding of how the negotiation process works with special emphasis on impasse procedures.
8. Write an analysis of a labor law or conflict and propose defendable changes to the law or alternative solutions to the conflict.