Collective Bargaining: The American Approach to Industrial Democracy

Collective bargaining is the American route to industrial democracy. Some unionists and others, however, have advocated a widening and deepening of the participa tive role of workers and unions in managerial decision mak ing. Examples of union-management cooperation outside of the conventional collective bargaining boundaries can be found as far back as the 1920s. But only a small number of cases have survived to the present day. Since 1970 the federal government has encouraged joint union-management committees and autonomous work group experiments to im prove productivity and the quality of working life. A National Center for Productivity and Quality of Working Life has been established by Congress. A number of companies have, independently or in cooperation with unions, introduced job enrichment programs, flexible work schedules, and semi- autonomous work groups. Many companies have taken ad vantage of tax law benefits to adopt profit-sharing and em ployee stock ownership plans. Union leaders have generally been suspicious of such management schemes as well as productivity plans unless safeguards are provided for worker job security and employment conditions. They have rejected the German codetermination system of worker-directors. There appears to be little prospect of dramatic change during the foreseeable future although collective bargaining may gradually extend worker participation in managerial de cision making.