g the future of the unions, it is necessary to examine the make-up of the workers in the current economy. The American economy has moved from a production economy to a service economy. Fewer and fewer people are working blue collar jobs where they are expected to stay in one place and retire after raising two kids and paying off their mortgage. They current breed of worker is a white collar or service type worker. They are quick to move to a new job, and are rarely loyal to a single employer. The rise in the area of consulting has also created a large and growing group of part-time professionals who are loyal only for short periods of time to those who pay their fees. One of the problems that labor is facing in the current market is that the labor laws were designed to protect those workers who full-time and long-term with a single employer. (AFL-CIO 2001)Many of today’s workers have no experience with labor tactics and have not experienced the conditions, which drove many in the past to easy organization. They understand the unions as a servicing institution rather than a vehicle for collective action. (Clawson 1999) To put is simply, they are satisfied with their current careers and future prospects and feel that the unions are not able to help them. The formula Dv+S*C defines the condition for a person to contribute in a collective action problem. Dv is the total value of a persons contribution plus the contributions of others. S is the value of the selective benefits, and C is the cost of contributing. For many of today’s contemporary workers the costs of contributing to a collective action involving union organization far outweighs the benefits. In fact, many workers feel closer to those in management than at any time before. Employee involvement programs such as quality circles and employee advisory committees are allowing workers to feel as if they have more of a say in management’s decisions. The selective ince...
