Negotiating the Future: A Labor Perspective on American Business by Barry Bluestone, Irving Bluestone

From the Publisher

It is no secret that corporate America is in trouble—as are labor unions—and a principal reason is our archaic system of labor-management relations, which excludes labor from participating in, and sharing responsibility for, the growth and profitability of the enterprises for which it works. In a book sure to arouse controversy in both management and labor circles, Barry and Irving Bluestone propose a new Enterprise Compact under which labor becomes co-responsible with management for all strategic business decisions—pricing, investment, plant location, and more.

Publishers Weekly

The father (Irving) and son (Barry) authors here provide a powerful prescription for healing the U.S. economy: abandon the traditionally antagonistic labor-management contract, adopt a cooperative compact providing for mutual goals and allow employee participation to reach the top levels of decision-making. The Bluestones--the elder is a labor studies professor at Wayne State University and a former vice-president of the United Auto Workers Union; his son is a political economy professor at the University of Massachusetts--present a comprehensive examination of the post-War economy and a history of labor relations. They argue persuasively that allowing productivity, quality and innovation to remain the domain of management is the root of current problems and that labor-management relations--not tax cuts or deregulation-- is the key to an American economic renaissance. The Bluestones acknowledge that few of their proposals are new, yet that these ideas constitute heresy to many U.S. businesses and unions. The authors give ample evidence that such arrangements when augmented can work in both the manufacturing and service sectors, and that these sectors are likely to fare better with a strong union in place. (Nov. )

BookList

The decline in competitiveness and productivity of U.S. business has been well reported and documented. Observations have also been made about the decline in power and membership of America's labor unions. Less has been said suggesting a relationship between the two, but that is exactly what the authors do. The elder Bluestone is a labor studies professor and former high-ranking United Auto Workers official. His son is a professor of political economy and coauthor of "The Deindustrialization of America" (Basic, 1982). They blame the adversarial approach to labor-management relations taken by both sides for today's problems and offer the "enterprise compact" as a solution. Under the compact, labor and management become partners, sharing responsibility for business strategy and decision making. Going far beyond participative management, it would give an equal say in determining price structure, capital equipment replacement, plant location, etc. Although the returns are not completely in yet on its success, the UAW-GM Saturn automobile project in Tennessee is used as a model for the authors' idea. Recommended for both academic and public library business and labor collections.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents