THE EMERGING KEY ROLE OF WHITE‐COLLAR COMPUTER WORKERS VIS‐A‐VIS ORGANIZED LABOR

Abstract

Computer‐based automation may be decisive in making an enterprise strike resistant. As a consequence it is in a union's interest to include as many as possible data processing and computing skills in bargaining units. It also is in management's interest to have these same skills excluded. Of special importance are a number of developments: (1) the increasing pressure for clerical and technical workers to join labor unions, (2) the FAA's success in keeping airports operational with the help of computer‐controlled air flow procedures and (3) management's successful bids in a number of crucial labor relations cases to exclude from bargaining units licensed and certifiable professionals who were doing data processing work. The primary need now is for proper negotiations and possible new rulings and legislation to deal with the status of professional and technical computer work.

Citation

Sterling, T.D. (1984), "THE EMERGING KEY ROLE OF WHITE‐COLLAR COMPUTER WORKERS VIS‐A‐VIS ORGANIZED LABOR", Office Technology and People, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 155-165. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb022631