Labor unions were at their strongest during the middle of the 20th century. During this time, they were significant forces in the course of the economic progress of the West. They built strong organizations to represent workers' interests, improving the living standards and working conditions of workers around the world (Jose, 2002, p. 2). However, the unions were functioning in industrial-based societies that were characterized largely by manufacturing and relatively-fixed social actors. Workers could generally count on stable employment and common values shared by all social partners (Jose, 2002, p. 2). National economies, however, have changed since the last quarter of the 20th century. Today, the biggest challenge facing both labor unions and management has been the necessary shift in labor focus from a national, manufacturing-based society to a global, technology-based trading system (McLaughlin, 1).
Globalization and the advance of technology has reshaped production in several ways. It has led to a greater need for small, geographically dispersed units of production at the expense of the traditional large work places (Jose, 2002, p. 1). It has also led to increased polarization of the workforce. At the higher end of the scale are the better educated, career minded, individualistic managers who preside over the lower end, scattered employees (Jose, 2002, p. 3). Higher end workers have less need of unions than do lower end workers who are often marginalized and prone to exploitation. Moreover, the dispersal of the workforce has led to increased practices of subcontracting, outsourcing and the hiring of temporary and part-time workers (Jose, 2002, p. 3).
Thus, this "paradigm shift" in the nature of the economy has been accompanied by a decline in union membership as well as a change in the make-up of the labor unions that do exist. Traditionally, labor unions were industrial/manufacture-based, such as the United ...