Scope and Contents: The Industrial Relations Department was devoted exclusively to worker issues, conditions surrounding the workplace, and related human resource functions. Over the years, committees, subcommittees, and task forces were formed, evolved, and dissolved according to the needs of NAM. This series is comprised of six subseries: Committees, subcommittees, and task forces; Institute of Industrial Relations; Human Resources Council; Conferences and meetings; Internal files; and Subject files. This series should be used in conjunction with the Open Shop Department (Series XXV) and the Human Resources Policy Department (Series XV).The department had several committees, subcommittees, and task forces that were created, evolved, and dissolved as needed. The Committees, subcommittees, and task forces subseries documents the records from these groups. Some of them include: Chemical Safety, Collective Bargaining, Education and Workforce Readiness, Employee Relations, Employee Training, Health Care, Labor/Management Relations, Multinational Labor Relations, Occupational Safety, and Workers Compensation.The Education and Workforce Readiness Committee was created in 1993. Within its first year, the committee was deeply involved with both legislative and programmatic activities regarding emerging employer concerns and workforce-related legislation. Under jurisdiction of the Employee Benefits Committee were legal matters relating to employee benefits plans including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974, the Social Security Act, the Public Health Service Act, and select sections of the Internal Revenue Code. The subcommittees include Health Care, Pensions, Social Security, Worker’s Compensation, and Unemployment Compensation.In 1989, the Employee Relations Committee was created by combining the Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Committee and Labor/Management Relations Committee. The primary purpose of the committee was to recommend to the Board of Directors new or revised policy or the elimination of existing policy on employee benefits issues, and review an act on suggestions concerning industry strategies on employee benefit issues of long- or short-term interest to the corporate community. The subcommittees include Labor Law; Employment, Training and Dislocation; Equal Employment Opportunity; Multinational Labor Relations; Unemployment Compensation; and Labor and Employment Law (combined Employment, Training...

Scope and Contents: The Law Department is one of the oldest, continuous departments in the organization. The materials in this series include Law Department publications, briefs, opinions, related correspondence, reports, and court documents. The series is divided into four subseries: Court cases, Subject files, Internal files, and Publications.The Court cases subseries includes amicus briefs that NAM filed and paperwork related to them, cases before the National Labor Relations Board, and cases NAM had an interest in or was involved with. The court cases deal with numerous topics and issues. Some of these topics include: Americans with Disabilities Act, anti-trust, Civil Rights Act, discrimination, ergonomics, intellectual property, lobbying, lockout-tagout, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), occupational exposure, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, product liability, punitive damages, strikes, and women in the workforce (including maternity and family leave).The Subject files subseries contain files maintained by the Law Department on a wide variety of topics and likely used as reference. Several of the subject files have information that would be relevant to various court cases, but the files do not pertain to a specific case, rather the issue at large. Several subjects are included, with major issues being Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, anti-trust, Civil Rights Act of 1990, ergonomics, exportation, labor law, lobbying, lockout-tagout, Taft-Hartley Act, trade commissions, and various federal agencies and programs. Correspondence with the International Labor Organization describes NAM’s relationship with this international body as well as efforts to align it with conservative non-Communist labor unions.The Internal files subseries includes material created and used internally along with lobbying reports filed as mandated. The files were for internal use and document the daily work of the general counsel’s office. The subseries includes business activity reports (which were used for Board of Directors’ meetings and annual reports), contracts that NAM entered, programs and policies that NAM considered and enacted, and trademarks NAM held, among many other topics.A significant portion of the Internal files are chronological files by name, correspondence sent to the general counsel’s office, and reader or reading files created by lawyers in the Law Department. These are arranged...