The last two decades have brought about major changes in the American economy, and in
labor-management relations in the United States. Many factors including the emergence
of a global economy have facilitated downsizing of American companies and American
unions. In the face of this new environment, many have argued for a redefined role for
unions, in the form of labor-management partnerships.
The newly
emerging paradigm is that of cooperation, instead of confrontation, the scheme of labor-management
partnerships. It shouldn't surprise anyone that there are those who strongly
advocate such involvement and those who think such ideas make for bad business
decisions. What type of labor-management philosophy should an organization
incorporate? When attempting to answer this question, two central ideas must be
considered.
First, what type of future are you attempting to build? One that involves all employees or
one that involves only a select few. One that actually involves those who do the work or
those who "think" they know how to do the work. This is a very important question
because herein lies the very essence of a business' organizational philosophy.
Secondly, are organizations that have implemented pre-decisional involvement with
unions successful? Does this new partnership approach work? The answer is both yes and
no.
This paper answers key questions concerning such
partnerships and addresses the impact of union participation. Includes 17 references.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 350 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 21 |
| Published : | 06/15/2003 |
