Book review: Labor in the Age of Finance. Pensions, politics and corporations from deindustrialization to Dodd-Frank.

Whereas union power flourished as never before in the 1930s (during the New Deal when financial and banking system had been strongly regulated), unions changed their strategy in the 1980s in times of financial deregulation when new financial institutions (i.e., institutional investors) emerged. Union membership erosion in the U.S. is well documented - reflected by a continuous decline in trade union density rate that started in the early-1960 - resulting in a decline in unions' power in both their organizing and bargaining capacity. As a result, through shareholder activism, unions have contributed to a change in the balance of power between investors and executives, not without direct consequences on jobs and wages though. [Extracted from the article]