Doctoral Dissertation Research: Old Rights, New Movements: Collective Rights and the Contemporary US Labor Movement

本研究探讨了现有权利如何通过“重新定位”成为新的权利要求而重新焕发活力。这项研究的重点是工会和其他工人组织根据《国家劳动关系法》第7条提出索赔的差异和成功率，该法案也适用于当前集体谈判协议未涵盖的工人。现有的许多文献都侧重于追求或引入新政策和新法律，将其作为扩大权利主张的催化剂，而当前的项目则确定了组织改变现有政策以获得更大成功和改进动员的机制。此外，与许多现有文献相比，该研究调查了制度特征，包括特定运动相关机构的存在与否，是否解释了索赔和成功率的差异。因此，目前的项目在社会法律研究的几个现有领域具有新的见解和理论进步的潜力。该研究计划依赖于对2000年以来根据《国家劳动关系法》提出的索赔案件结果的统计分析，对国家劳动关系委员会相关文件的文本分析，以及对工人组织工作人员和国家劳动关系委员会官员的采访。

This research investigates how existing rights are reinvigorated through "re-purposing" into new claims. The research focuses on variation in claiming and success rates by unions and other worker organizations who pursue claims under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, which also applies to workers not covered under current collective bargaining agreements. Much of the existing literature has focused on the pursuit or introduction of new policies and new laws as a catalyst to greater rights claiming, whereas the current project identifies the mechanisms by which organizations transform existing policies to permit enhanced success and improved mobilization. Moreover, in contrast to much of the existing literature, the research investigates whether institutional characteristics, including the presence or absence of specific movement-related institutions, explains the variation in claiming and success rates. As such, the current project has the potential of new insights and theoretical advance across several existing fields in socio-legal studies. The research plan relies on statistical analysis of case outcomes of claims brought under the National Labor Relations Act since 2000, textual analysis of associated National Labor Relations Board documents, and interviews with both worker organization staff and National Labor Relations Board officials.