Discussion 1

"Public Employee Unions in a New Era" Please respond to the following:

Refer to Chapter 8, which points out that the New Era of public employee unions has nothing to do with who controls federal policy making in Washington, D.C. The chapter focuses on the issues that public employees face daily as a result of agency mandates, policies, and procedures that can, at any time, have an adverse impact on job performance as well as fiscal constraints and budgetary resources. Assume your agency wants to discourage union involvement. Recommend at least two strategies your agency could implement to encourage and discourage its employees from seeking union representation.

From the first eActivity, select one of the news events regarding NTEU and provide a brief critique of the issues.

eActivities

Go to The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) site. Go to the Press Room and review any news regarding NTEU this year and be prepared to discuss. (Note: The NTEU represents over 150,000 public employees in 31 federal departments and agencies.) Be prepared to discuss.

Go to Corrections Corporation of America and review the Website. (Note: This is one of the older and largest private prison companies.) Be prepared to discuss.

Discussion 2

"Privatized Prisons and Unions" Please respond to the following:

Debate It. Take a position for or against privatization of prisons.

From the second e-Activity, as Human Resource Director for the Department of Corrections in your state, you have been selected to participate on the Advisory Council. There has been increased attention to several employees regarding prison rape and increased drug use. Recommend two strategies your agency and the Advisory Board should implement to address these issues from an HR perspective.