Models of Workplace Representation for an Era of Global Labor and Product Market Competition
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Description
Trade unionism in private companies is a declining phenomenon all over the world. In the United States, for example, unions represent less than 10 per cent of such workers; over half of the AFL-CIO membership comes from workers in government offices even though public-sector employment is only one-eight of the overall workforce. The rate of decline may be slower elsewhere, but the story of private-sector decline (at least if viewed in terms of membership) is universal. What started as a movement of workers against private capital is now increasingly a movement of government workers against public capital. An enormous literature has developed to attempt to explain this phenomenon. Four categories of explanation have emerged: 1. Employer Opposition: Many academics, especially in the United States, point the finger at employer opposition (lawful and unlawful) and the weak remedies of labor law to deter retaliation against union supporters. 2. Demand-Side Changes: Others have focused on changes in the preferences and orientation of workers, observing a shift from class-based solidarity to individualism (sometimes aided by 'minimum standards' laws that essentially provide an individual-rights, cost-free substitute for workplace representation). 3. Structural Change: A third group stresses structural change in developed economies. With the sectoral shift away from manufacturing towards services and the demo- graphic shift from homogenous to multi-cultural workforces, unions are finding it increasingly difficult to retain membership and attract new followers. 4. Global Product and Labor Market Competition: A fourth explanation urges that traditional trade union goals (union wage premium, shorter work week, staffing rules, seniority) are increasingly difficult to maintain in an era of global product and labor market competition.
Source Publication
Labour Law, Human Rights and Social Justice
Source Editors/Authors
Roger Blanpain
Publication Date
2001
Recommended Citation
Estreicher, Samuel, "Models of Workplace Representation for an Era of Global Labor and Product Market Competition" (2001). Faculty Chapters. 459.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/459
