Labor-Management Relations

The nature of labor-management relations is always fragile at best. Most times, these two sides view each other as adversaries, working towards different things that the other side views a disastrous. In recent years, the two have blamed each other for many of the problems that plague companies across the country. One excellent example of this is the blame placed on the UAW in the downfall of GM, which led to the government takeover of the nation's largest car company.

With the election of a number of far-right conservatives in the November 2010 elections, the tone in many state capitals has become either covertly or overtly anti-labor, and states across the country, most notably Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana, having massive protests and budget fights as state Democrats fight for the unions and Republicans fight for budget cuts that they find to be necessary to keep those budgets balanced or at least closer to financial stability.

Currently, companies are using the poor economy as a reason to fight the unions, and in some cases, are winning their arguments. Last week, the National Mediation Board ruled in favor of American Airlines, and banned their flight attendants' union from going on strike because "the carrier’s fragile finances and the weakened national economy would weigh heavily on its decision". It seems that we are in a period where Labor will be taking a hit, and I, for one, am interested to see if that will change if/when the economy rebounds and if/when jobs start coming back to union companies. 


Oh yeah, here's the link to the story on American Airlines: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-flight-attendants-forbidden-to-strike-2011-03-25?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Tom