Are unions an anachronism?

The labor movement in the United States has its roots deep in the soil of worker discontent over grueling working conditions, low pay, and indifference of bosses, who profited from others' sweaty labor. As more and more grubby jobs are replaced by technological innovations, as work becomes more abstract and everyone wears a white shirt, and as managers schooled in motivation theory and humane ideals of participation replace the owner-bosses of yesterday, what role will the unions have left to play? The author of this article, who has been in both the labor force and management, explores what the changes in the labor market will be in the future and what these changes will mean for labor-management relations. He does not conclude that there is no role for unions-only that it will be very different and that to survive unions will have to tackle new issues in the workplace. That adaptation will affect management's stance as well.