Historical perspectives on ideological and legal challenges to labor-management participation efforts

Abstract

Labor-management participation efforts have grown dramatically under such forms as quality circles, total quality management, participation teams, and employee councils. Employers promote participation efforts as a means to increase employee commitment, product quality, customer satisfaction and company profitability. Nonetheless participation efforts are under assault both legally and ideologically. Segments of the labor movement challenge participation efforts as subterfuges for union busting and violations of existing labor laws. This article constructs an historical framework against which to cast the current debate over participation efforts. It traces the roots of differing ideological perspectives on participation efforts by examining the rise of the industrial democracy movement in the 1920s and the use of representation plans and company unions. The historical roots of differing legal perspectives on participation efforts are also examined. The article discusses the historical reasons why contemporary labor statutes were written with such strong circumscription of employee-employer participation efforts.

Citation

P. Kelly, E. (1998), "Historical perspectives on ideological and legal challenges to labor-management participation efforts", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 459-479. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-01-04-1998-B004