The impact of globalization, technology, and the current economic crisis on labor-management relations and collective bargaining has been great. Although globalization has brought increased competition in markets, according to Forbes, "more U.S. workers benefit from increased trade than suffer from it" ("U.S. Workers Benefit from Globalization," 2008). Globalization will result in freer trade, which "will play a crucial role in boosting long-term U.S. growth prospects, encouraging efficient technology transfer, increasing returns-to-scale for companies and offering cheaper consumer goods" ("U.S. Workers Benefit from Globalization," 2008). Nevertheless, the impact on labor-management relations and collective bargaining is less promising. As the cases of Toyota and Nike show, globalization, technology, and the current economic crisis exert a negative impact on labor-management relations and collective bargaining.
Richard D. Vogel (2008) points out that the three megatrends of increasing globalization, rising global inequality and growing poverty, and "massive, irreversible, and probably catastrophic environmental damage caused by unregulated economic activity" are not only interrelated but are all made worse by "unrestrained free trade capitalism which relentlessly exploits resources and people for profit." He defines globalization as "the domination of the world economy by multinational corporations through the imposition of free trade policies and practices" and acknowledges that it "has produced winners and losers," the winners being big capitalists and the losers being small capitalists and labor (Vogel, 2008).
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, or TMMTX, from Vogel's (2008) perspective, provides an excellent example of how globalization affects workers and their communities and illustrates how capital dominates labor. The success of globalization at TMMTX is evidenced by worldwide 2007 profits of more t...