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The Future of the American Labor Movement by Hoyt N. Wheeler. Cambridge University Press, www.cambridge.org. 2002. 257 pages. Paperback. Check price/buy book.
Democracy's Prospects Linked to Labor
by Arthur B. ShostakTo a large degree the fate of democracy depends on the future of the American labor movement. So contends Hoyt N. Wheeler, the highly regarded author of The Future of the American Labor Movement, a wide-ranging, well-informed, and far-sighted volume. He contends that only a truly powerful labor movement, allied with a truly powerful progressive political movement, can check the inevitable excesses of capitalism and keep greed from bringing down the entire house.
Labor, however, continues on what detractors judge a terminal decline, having slid from its 1953 peak of 33% share of the workforce to the current 13%. For labor to again have a 30% share, its 16 million members (the largest social movement in the United States) would have to be joined by 25 million new dues payers.
This decline notwithstanding, pragmatic and adaptable labor organizations "have been around since the dawn of human history . . . [and] channel the natural energy and power that flow from the needs of workers," notes Wheeler, a professor of management at the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business. Drawing artfully on labor's colorful, complex, and pain-marred history, he explains how creative adaptations have helped shield members from life- and/or mind-threatening workplace hazards, extracted the transfer of funds from employer profits to employee wage packets, and blunted mean-spirited public policies. Above all, unionism has bolstered self-esteem and encouraged solidarity among Americans especially vulnerable in both regards.
Futurists will want to assess proposed innovations overlooked by mass-media coverage (crucifixion?) of labor. These include regional cross-national structures for collective bargaining, vastly improved methods for employee ownership, and a European-style social dialogue that might negotiate for common standards and benefits for all North American workers. Regarding these prospects, Wheeler notes that, "although this is admittedly very long-term thinking, it is necessary for the American labor movement to plan for the future at the same time that it is surviving in the present."
The book's few weaknesses include an undervaluation of the significance of women steadily gaining power, of non-whites steadily gaining power, and of computer users steadily shifting the locus of power away from headquarters and out into the field. These oversights are more than made up for by the book's wide sweep and insider's knowledge.
Futurists intent on improving their grasp of our economic and social realities will find this evenhanded, engaging, and forecast-savvy volume well worth reading, as the stakes could not be higher: If on our watch the world's largest free labor movement withers away, can our democracy be far behind?
About the Reviewer
Arthur B. Shostak is a professor of sociology at Drexel University and THE FUTURIST's contributing editor for utopian thought.
[Reviewed in THE FUTURIST July-August 2003]
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