LERA and Industrial Relations in the United States

Abstract

When the Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA)—later to become the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA)—was created sixty years ago, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 had already been established for more than a dozen years. Nevertheless, the founding and early development of the IRRA coincided with some of the most significant developments in American labor–management relations. The organization also played a role in facilitating many important labor-relations developments, which is a function LERA must perform in the current era as well.