Collective Action in Today's World Virtual Working Group

Collective Action in Today's World Virtual Working Group
April 27, 2022 | 1:30-3:00pm (ET)

Download Working Group Notes

Work life as we know it has changed dramatically over the past two years. A host of factors, including COVID-19, enhanced attention to diversity, equity and inclusion, increased use of hybrid work models has challenged many longstanding assumptions about the employment relationship. This has led to changes in employee activism as well as their expectations of the employee experience. Given these trends, it is not surprising that a recent CAHRS survey found that collective action and changing labor relations are high on the list of priorities for HR leaders in 2022. CAHRS is offering opportunities to dive deeper into this topic and help our partner companies address these challenges and explore how peer companies are thinking about their practices in this area.

In this working group Ariel Avgar, Cornell ILR Associate Dean for Outreach and Professor of Labor Relations, Law, and History, will lead a discussion about how broader societal issues are making their way into organizations today and how companies are dealing with the new challenges these bring.

Some of the questions that will guide the discussion include:
Are companies seeing a rise in value-based conflict in the workplace?
How are external societal tensions and debates playing out within organizations?
What are the employment relations consequences of the blurring of boundaries between internal and external conflicts?
What mechanisms and practices do organization have in place to deal with these new forms of conflict and tensions?
Are traditional conflict management and labor relations models adequate? What works most effectively? Where are there gaps?

Prior to the session, attendees should give some thought to the questions included in the description, so they are prepared to share with the group. We also strongly prefer that participants be on camera during the session to allow for more engaging interaction. If for some reason after you sign up for the working group, something comes up (especially while many of us are working from home), it would be great to receive even a last-minute e-mail advising us that you cannot attend as we sometimes have a waiting list.