Unions in Postindustrial Society

A review and synthesis of trade union theory as applied to the modern United States—where more than two-thirds of the labor force already hold non-manufacturing employment—this book is also a theoretical forecast of organized labor's ability to meet the challenge of postindustrial society. This forecast is relevant to other advanced democracies as they follow the American economic pattern.

The labor movement, Dr. Schmidman argues, can adapt to an economy in which even fewer workers produce an ever-larger share of manufactured goods—with a consequent shift to service, technical, and professional employment—if unions maintain theoretical flexibility. Historically, trade unions have accommodated themselves economically and politically to rapid industrial change; the same theoretical principles of accommodation apply to postindustrialism.

Dr. Schmidman attempts to fill a gap existing since Selig Perlman's A Theory of the Labor Movement was published in 1928. He starts by comparing the theoretical insights of the classic labor theorists—including Commons, Ware, Perlman, Ely, Hoxie, Tannenbaum, and the Webbs—with empirical data. He then develops a theoretical position for the future, drawing upon such sources as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' The U.S. Economy in 1980, reports of Western European economic planning such as his own British Unions and Economic Planning, and the work of current social theorists such as Bell, Lester, Dunlop, Dahrendorf, Clegg, and Barkin. A critique of the predictions of Marx, Engels, and Lenin is included.

Unlike the prophets of doom who predict the demise of the labor movement, Dr. Schmidman asserts that unions and other collective-bargaining organizations can broaden their power base by meeting the needs of increasingly educated service, technical, and professional employees.