What unions have had to do to survive
...ed to twenty-one percent. During the 1980s, the position of organized labor deteriorated from both an absolute and a relative perspective.” (Craver, 1998) The federal government, during this same time, appeared to indicate to private-sector business leaders that it would overlook the replacement of striking employees and the termination of existing bargaining relationships. By 1996, private-sector union membership had declined to 9,400,000. The inconceivable sweatshop environments that were prominent in the early twentieth century have been primarily eliminated, and the labor movement has directly or indirectly caused significantly improved employment conditions for most workers. Changing demographic, industrial, and technological conditions have also undermined the cohesiveness and effectiveness of unions. During the past few decades, the face of labor has changed extensively. The participation rate for women, traditionally employed in unorganized, lower-wage occupations, has significantly expanded. The labor force participation rate for minority persons has also increased. Historically, labor organizations have not been responsive to the needs of female and minority employees, and will have to change their image if they hope to appeal successfully to these new labor force members. “Due to the aging of the post-war, baby boom generation, the number of older labor force participants will grow over the next two decades. As a result of this observable fact, unions will have to address issues of interest to more senior employees.” (Hyman, 1999) The introduction of new technologies in the workplace has to a large extent modified the structure of the American economy. The exchange of capital for labor in the manufacturing sector has caused the displacement of many organized blue-collar personnel and has created an associated increase in nonunion white-collar positions. The service sector has experienced similar growth, and labor unions have discovered that organizing campaigns that used to appeal to traditional blue-collar workers are not well received by white-collar and service personnel. Now that we are in the twenty-first century, several hundred multinational corporations dominate the world trade industry. The developed nations provide the capital-intensive technologies, the consumer markets, and the distribution system, while the developing countries provide low-cost labor. The increase of low-cost export platforms has caused the exporting of many blue-collar jobs. If labor organizations hope to significantly influence the employment policies of international business ent...