Labor & Unions

The mission of the Institute for Labor Studies and Research (ILSR) is to support and strengthen the trade union movement, to improve labor-management relations, to promote social justice within unions, and to enhance labors role in the community. This mission is accomplished by providing university-quality programs of teaching, research, and service for labor organizations at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

Every year the WVU Institute for Labor Studies and Research conducts a wide variety of programs for thousands of trade unionists throughout the state, region, and nation. The non-credit programs are jointly planned with the sponsoring group and range in length from one hour to one week. Classes are conducted wherever and whenever it is convenient for the organization, including nights and weekends. The quality of the instruction is high and the cost of the program is low.

Building Trades Apprentice Training in West Virginia: A Comparison of Union and Non-Union Building Trades Programs in the 1990s – Having an Adequate supply of competent craft workers has preoccupied the construction industry for more than a decade. All three major industry associations report that members consisstenly find shortages of skilled workers to be one of their biggest headaches. (Read more…)

History of Arbitration and Grievance Arbitration in the United States – There are many misconceptions about labor arbitration in the United States. One of those misconceptions regards the evolution of arbitration, especially in the United States. (Read more…)


How Class Participants View the Impact of ILSR Arbitration Conferences and How They Assess the Value or Outcome of Certain Arbitration Conferences – In 2001 and 2002, the West Virginia University Extension Service’s Institute for Labor Studies and Research hosted national Arbitration Conferences. (Read more…)

Polygraph Testing in Arbitration: What are the Rights and Responsibilities of the Advocates – The rights of Employers and Employees to use polygraph testing in arbitration is a topic that, even though there have been many grievance arbitrations concerning it, has many questions still unanswered in some advocates minds. (Read more…)


Learn more about Labor and Unions.