Labor relations consultants, the bankruptcy loophole, concession bargaining, and two-tier wages: recent labor relations trends or aberrations?

The future of industrial relations in the US is directly related to the degree of the country's economic prosperity because trade unions tend to be strengthened by a healthy economy, and weakened by a downturn. Organized labor in the US has recently been confronted with increased corporate use of industrial relations consultants, suppression of unions following bankruptcy proceeding, the need to participate in concession bargaining, and the inability to reject two-tier wage systems. Future economic conditions will reveal whether the above-mentioned conditions are unusual occurrences or emerging trends.