NCJ Number
101532
Journal
Negotiation Journal Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1986) Pages: 141-154
Date Published
1986
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the declining union share of the private-sector work force over the past 30 years and its policy implications.
Abstract
Employers often attribute this decline to the fact that there simply is no longer a need for union representation: The legitimate grievances of 50 years ago no longer exist, and few are now driven to unions by intolerable working conditions. However, opinion surveys show that there still is significant dissatisfaction with the workplace -- dissatisfaction for which there are no channels for expression. The decline in the labor movement does not mean that employee concerns are fully represented. It rather is a function of the limitations of the current labor relations order. It is limited to blue-collar workers or those with no autonomy at work, it is limited to issues of wages and working conditions, and it assumes that all disputes are adversarial and involve only two parties. Because of these limitations, unions are ill-suited to deal with the highly particular quality-of-work-life issues and employees' rights issues prevalent today. The coordination of rights requires some organization of people into groups. What is needed is a set of representative bodies that can organize and interpret claims to rights, transforming them from individual grievances into public claims and engaging in negotiations with employers for their implementation. Such associational unionism, with its emphasis on multiple groupings and multilateral negotiation, may provide a more flexible system for employee representation. 9 notes and 14 references.