Labor relations and work organization in industrialized countries

Since the 1980s work organization reforms have been driven by employers' pursuit of higher productivity and competitiveness. The resulting teamwork, multiskilling, enhanced flexibility and direct participation can satisfy workers' aspirations to more fulfilling jobs, but pose a challenge to trade unions: such reforms create - and are often introduced through - channels of labour-management interaction that bypass collective bargaining and formal consultative machinery. Examining and comparing experiences in different countries and enterprises, the author argues that unless unions can gain a greater role in decision-making on the content of work, they risk losing members to management-controlled participation schemes. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)