The Core Principle and Fundamental Theorem of Industrial Relations - International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations View The Core Principle and Fundamental Theorem of Industrial Relations by Bruce E. Kaufman - International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations The Core Principle and Fundamental Theorem of Industrial Relations Bruce E. Kaufman 23 1

This paper describes the original paradigm of industrial relations, as developed in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century. The original paradigm had three faces: science-building, problem-solving, and ethical/ideological. It is argued that the core principle that spans and unites these three faces is rejection of the orthodox economic model of a competitive labour market. This proposition may also be stated as a rejection of the proposition that labour is a commodity. Building on this core principle is the fundamental theorem of industrial relations. It states that a free-market capitalist economic system cannot survive and efficiently perform without the practices and institutions of industrial relations that humanize, stabilize, professionalize, democratize and balance the employment relationship.

International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations