Negotiating The Future: A Labor Perspective On American Business

by Barry Bluestone, Irving Bluestone

Overview

It is no secret that corporate America is in trouble—as are labor unions—and a principal reason is our archaic system of labor-management relations, which excludes labor from participating in, and sharing responsibility for, the growth and profitability of the enterprises for which it works. In a book sure to arouse controversy in both management and labor circles, Barry and Irving Bluestone propose a new Enterprise Compact under which labor becomes co-responsible with management for all strategic business decisions—pricing, investment, plant location, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465049189
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	03/21/1994
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1560L (what's this?)

About the Author

Barry Bluestone is Frank L. Boyden Professor of Political Economy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs. He is the co-author (with Bennett Harrison) of The Deindustrialization of America and The Great U-Turn.

Irving Bluestone is University Professor of Labor Studies at Wayne State University. He retired in 1980 as vice president of the United Auto Workers' Union (UAW) and as director of its General Motors Department.

Editorial Reviews

The father (Irving) and son (Barry) authors here provide a powerful prescription for healing the U.S. economy: abandon the traditionally antagonistic labor-management contract, adopt a cooperative compact providing for mutual goals and allow employee participation to reach the top levels of decision-making. The Bluestones--the elder is a labor studies professor at Wayne State University and a former vice-president of the United Auto Workers Union; his son is a political economy professor at the University of Massachusetts--present a comprehensive examination of the post-War economy and a history of labor relations. They argue persuasively that allowing productivity, quality and innovation to remain the domain of management is the root of current problems and that labor-management relations--not tax cuts or deregulation-- is the key to an American economic renaissance. The Bluestones acknowledge that few of their proposals are new, yet that these ideas constitute heresy to many U.S. businesses and unions. The authors give ample evidence that such arrangements when augmented can work in both the manufacturing and service sectors, and that these sectors are likely to fare better with a strong union in place. (Nov. )

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly