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The text highlights some key reasons drivers for the reduction in the number of workers who are unionized as of 2008 as follows: 1. In prior years, the US economy was largely supported by blue collar workers. The text states that about 35% of the nations blue-collar workers, those whose job duties are primarily manual in naturemost manual workers in such smokestack industries as automobiles and steel, for example carry union cards (Sloane & Witney, 2010, p. 7). 2. The Union has notably not been as successful in establishing a strong following in the white-collar occupational classification over the years. This group comprised of workers in the fast-growing sectors such as trade, services, and finance. (Sloane & Witney, 2010, p. 7). The text outlines that the number of white-collar workers exceeded that of blue-collar workers for the first time in the nations history back in 1956. (Sloane & Witney, 2010, p. 8). This is a key point because as the nature of economies have advanced and transformed, it means that there are new forms of employment/jobs that are now emerging which are no longer depending on manual based labor as in former days. 3. The service sector has taken off significantly, for example companies such as McDonalds and Walmart make up a large percentage of workers who seem not interested in joining a union. 4. Advancement of technology has transformed the world of work. Technology has reduced the number of workers in major sectors of industry. For example, the oil and gas industry is highly capital intensive with a heavy reliance on technology. With less employees needed, there is a reducing reliance on manual labor. The attraction of professional staff to join unions have thus been reduced.

5. The media seems to have also played a role by the image/picture painted of unions. There seems to be a negative portrayal of unions over the years specifically of union leaders who may have run afoul of the law. This would have no doubt influenced the publics perception of unions.

Union representation of the future: The representation of unions will certainly be around for a long time. The fact that legislation have given employees the right to join unions will contribute to the staying power of unions. However, I do believe that with the improved approaches to management and leadership in companies today, employees may feel less inclined to join unions. The text cites research findings from industrial sociology and applied psychology to an employee-centered management approach (Sloane & Witney, 2010, p. 4) that was not the practice in times past. There is certainly a lot of work being done in the area of advanced education and training that are equipping and preparing leaders of the future to manage and lead organizations in new and forward-thinking ways. There are new management and leadership strategies that seek to empower and prepare the workforce to support the vision and goals of the organization. There is a greater focus on employee satisfaction levels and motivation coupled with managements effort to be ranked among the best companies to work for within specific industries. I have worked for my present employer for the past nineteen years and I have not joined a union. In fact, the company is not unionized notwithstanding for several years, there have been attempts to unionize the company. However, the efforts all failed. I think the reasons would be as a result of managements decision to listen to the needs of workers and collaborative work towards meeting these needs. However, even with these successes, there is still no guarantee that this will not change as workers continue to demand more job satisfaction and increased benefits from the organisation.

Bibliography

Sloane, A. A., & Witney, F. (2010). Labor Relations (13th ed.). New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall.