RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Unions, Worker Voice, and Management Practices: Implications for a High-Productivity, High-Wage Economy
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 88
OP 108
DO 10.7758/RSF.2019.5.5.05
VO 5
IS 5
A1 Thomas A. Kochan
A1 William T. Kimball
YR 2019
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/5/5/88.abstract
AB This article uses the metaphor of a social contract to review the evolution of American unions and their effects— especially in the variations in their quality—on firm employment strategies and performance, takes stock of the current state of unions and alternative forms of worker voice that have emerged in recent years, and discusses implications for the future of labor and employment policies. The key policy implication is that fundamental, not incremental, changes in labor policy will be needed if the range of worker voice and representation processes workers want and the economy needs are to grow to a scale large enough to close existing voice gaps and contribute to building a new productivity- and wage-enhancing social contract.