Book Review: Labor in the Age of Finance: Pensions, Politics, and Corporations from Deindustrialization to Dodd-Frank.

This shareholder activism was a significant departure from the traditional tools that unions used to represent workers, particularly collective bargaining, and legislative and political action. The number of workers covered by union-negotiated pensions is a fraction of what it once was; indeed, many plans are barely staying afloat as their populations age and they are not replenished by contributions from younger workers. For instance, a union seeking wage increases for workers at a large hospital might court public support by arguing that such improvements will benefit all workers in that community. [Extracted from the article]