The Future of Unions

Paper Summary:

This paper examines many of the challenges facing managers in today's business environment. Specifically, this paper focuses on whether the negotiating power of unions is affected by outsourcing, off-shoring, and the weak employment market, and if, considering this type of business environment, it would still benefit management to make partnership agreements with unions.

From the Paper:

"There are a number of challenges facing managers today, not least of which is the changing face of business. Vestiges of "old business" are still in use, while the march toward a new business paradigm, including globalization and, worse for many, "offshoring," marches on. Several questions arise from this, including whether today's managers, and perhaps more importantly, tomorrow's are equal to the tasks set before them by the changing face of business. The recent supermarket strike in California did not demonstrate whether the managers themselves were capable of coping with it; the negotiations were between the owners and the union leaders. Still, it is likely that in the aftermath of that strike, managers will be tested by both the expectations of the owners and the lingering effects of the strike on the rank-and-file. Whether unions can become partners with management is problematical, a case of asking the lion to lie down with the lamb. Nonetheless, there are scenarios under which it could work. Offshoring is unlikely to affect the grocery business as much as others; after all, the service personnel in a grocery store have to be in the same location as the customers, and, in fact, the jobs most likely to be affected by offshoring are those that do not require the physical presence of the service workers."

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