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Lessening of Labor Union Power

Labor unions have been losing power in American society for some time, and a smaller and smaller percentage of workers are members of labor unions today than has been true in many decades. Some analysts see these changes as temporary, part of the ongoing back-and-forth shifts in power in the workplace, while others see them as permanent and as indicating a major change in the workplace of the future. If unions are going to be less and less important, what might replace them?

There are many reasons for the lessening of union power, but economic changes are considered the most important reason. The economic structures of the past created a certain antagonism between management and labor even as each needed the other. In the current climate, increased cooperation is the rule, with workers and managers alike finding ways of empowering the workforce and giving added responsibility to each worker in order to spur productivity and motivate the labor force. One reason for the changes taking place has been deregulation in an era of increasing globalization, leaving employers facing a world in which higher labor costs can reduce competitiveness. This has come at the same time as more and more workers do not want unions and vote against them (Big labor's last stand 1993, 42).

Such shifts have caused businesses to reorganize themselves and to change the way they address labor issues. Government has less of a role today, and the economic changes affect businesses both domestically and internationally. Many businesses are seeking to make themselves smaller in order to remain competitive. Much of this restructuring "has greatly reduced the job security industry once provided for so many employees, particularly those employees in white-collar and middle-management positions" (Higginson and Waxler, 1990, 12). While one might think this would increase the drive toward union membership, it has not, in part because companies have been of...

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Lessening of Labor Union Power. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:49, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1695626.html