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AWWA ACE58253
- The Business Impact of Union Participation in Management
- Conference Proceeding by American Water Works Association, 06/15/2003
- Publisher: AWWA
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The last two decades have brought about major changes in the American economy, and inlabor-management relations in the United States. Many factors including the emergenceof a global economy have facilitated downsizing of American companies and Americanunions. In the face of this new environment, many have argued for a redefined role forunions, in the form of labor-management partnerships.The newlyemerging paradigm is that of cooperation, instead of confrontation, the scheme of labor-managementpartnerships. It shouldn't surprise anyone that there are those who stronglyadvocate such involvement and those who think such ideas make for bad businessdecisions. What type of labor-management philosophy should an organizationincorporate? When attempting to answer this question, two central ideas must beconsidered.First, what type of future are you attempting to build? One that involves all employees orone that involves only a select few. One that actually involves those who do the work orthose who "think" they know how to do the work. This is a very important questionbecause herein lies the very essence of a business' organizational philosophy.Secondly, are organizations that have implemented pre-decisional involvement withunions successful? Does this new partnership approach work? The answer is both yes andno.This paper answers key questions concerning suchpartnerships and addresses the impact of union participation. Includes 17 references.