Leave it to the Pros

Union or Replacement NFL Refs? Rebecca Kolins Givan had an op-ed, "When It Comes to the Workforce, Leave It to the Professionals," published in the L.A. Times the last weekend in September about lessons from the National Football League's lockout of their unionized referees: "It turns out that the professional referees in the NFL — the ones we used to love to hate but, after watching their replacements, not hate to love — are highly skilled officials with years of training. They couldn't be swapped for refs from high school conferences and the Lingerie League, not without messing up the game. Professionalism matters, and workers have specific skills that make them good at their jobs. ..."<Read more> Givan has joined the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations as an assistant professor. She was formerly at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.