(2021SU1-LABR-3060-A01) Labor Law Final Paper Instructions

Over the course of the semester, you will work towards writing a 12-15 page paper that will focus on one area of labor law reform. You will be able to draw on any of the readings, including cases, from the class and supplement it with your own research.

Process

The paper writing process has been broken down to ensure that all students are able to build a solid foundation for their paper. The steps are outlined as follows:

• Paper topic (due end of Week 7)
• Annotated bibliography and outline (due end of Week 11)
• Submit a draft for comment (due end of Week 13)
• Turn in the final paper (due end of Week 15)

Final paper topic

You will choose your own topic to research related to labor law reform. You can consider any aspect of labor law reform. For example, you can focus on a particular provision of the PRO Act and discuss its importance or why you do not think it will work; or you can propose a reform to some area of the National Relations Labor Act, like secondary boycotts, and explain why it matters; or you make an argument about a particular area of law, like the joint employer doctrine, and why current judicial approach to it has worked or not. The topic is entirely up to you as long as it has in some way related to labor law reform.

Questions to consider as you develop a paper topic:

• What has been the impact of this particular area of labor law on worker organizing or unions? Has it helped or hampered organizing?
• Will legal reform be sufficient to correct existing problems in the area that the proposed reform seeks to address?
• How do you predict courts would respond to the changes in law being proposed?
• Have courts failed to enforce a particular, existing provision of law in a way that suggests reform is needed? How have they failed?
• How will this particular reform play out in collective bargaining?

You should come up with a clear thesis statement on your topic and provide arguments and evidence to support it. If you need help developing a thesis statement, consult this resource on “Developing a Thesis.” Your thesis statement should be a one or two sentence summary of what you argue in your paper.

Your paper should demonstrate your understanding of the current state of American labor law, key legal issues facing working people, and how collective bargaining works under the National Labor Relations Act.

Formatting

• Your final paper must be between 12-15 pages, not including any title pages or references.
• Your paper must include a title and, in the header, your name and the course number.
• Your paper must include standard 1″ margins, 11 or 12-point font, and double spacing.
• Your paper must include page numbers in the header.
• You must follow APA citation format for all of your citations and use in-text citations.
• Include a references page with at least 10 references in APA format

Evaluation

Your paper will evaluated according to the Writing Rubric on the course information page.

Research Paper Writing Guides

• Booth, Wayne C. (2016). The Craft of Research. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ESC Library.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (n.d.). Writing a Research Paper. Purdue University.

Resources

Empire State College’s Online Library designed to allow students to search through a well-rounded collection of e-books, videos, online journals, reference resources and databases. Librarians also provide workshops and services via email, phone, chat and the Web.

Empire State College’s Online Writing Center– designed to help students quickly and easily find the services and resources they need to become successful, independent writers.

Please read the SUNY Empire State College statement on Academic Integrity before submitting any work for this course. Be sure to cite any and all sources correctly so that your academic integrity is not called into question.