As we approach Major League Baseball's playoffs and the World Series, teachers may want to use their students' interest in baseball to teach them about collective bargaining by examining the history of labor relations in America's Pastime.

It is also timely since the owners and players contract expires on Dec. 11, 2011, and bargaining will be under way soon.

The Education Department at the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in Cooperstown offers students and teachers three ways to experience 16 standards-based curricular-oriented modules, including "Hardball and Handshakes: Labor Relations in Baseball History," developed by the Hall of Fame and the American Labor Studies Center.

They offer in-depth object-based educational programs for on-site visits during the school year, but if Cooperstown is just too far you can also connect via the Hall of Fame's award-winning video-conferencing program.

If you are unable to video-conference with them, you can download "Hardball and Handshakes" for free and teach the unit in your classroom.

Even in an era of free agency and multimillion-dollar agreements, baseball is more than money.

Beyond the big salaries is a complex process of finding common ground individually and institutionally. As players and management organized themselves, the transition of our National Pastime from a social sport to a professional industry provides a unique lesson in free enterprise through the evolution of contracts and commerce.

Critical thinking and decision-making skills can be engaged in this fascinating look at the relationship between employer and employee.

How does baseball compare to other entities that utilize collective bargaining and contract negotiation?

Learn the answers in this study of competition and cooperation. Throughout American history, the teamwork to earn a voice and a seat at the table has forged an important, time-tested principle: Labor is not a commodity.

In completing "Hardball and Handshakes," students will:

• Examine historical data from various perspectives, including museum and library collections, player contracts, labor agreements, organizational structures, artifacts and primary sources.
• Compare and contrast models of resolving differences throughout the various player organizations in baseball's labor history, such as individual contracts, management philosophies, meet and confer, collective bargaining, mediation and arbitration.
• Understand, through research, discussion and role play: human and civil rights with responsibilities; the purpose and concept of organizing a labor union; the decision-making process that defines the employer-employee relationship, including negotiation, conflict resolution and contract enforcement.

For the online version, go to: www.labor-studies.org/hardballandhandshakes.php.

You can also visit the Web site of the Major League Baseball Players Association for more information at mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/info/faq.jsp#expire.

Paul F. Cole is executive director of the American Labor Studies Center in Troy.