With the 40th anniversary of the merger of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), unions continue to merge to face the challenges and economic uncertainties of the future. Mergers enable unions to enhance bargaining and organizing power, eliminate duplication, and increase financial resources.…

Women represent almost half of the 1956-1976 increase in union membership, but their representation in official positions did not advance proportionately. The article presents and discusses data on labor force participation, union and association membership, and offices held by women. (MF)

Noting that more labor organizations merged between 1979 and 1984 than at any time since the formation of the AFL-CIO, the author describes specific mergers and provides a chronology of those occurring in the last five years. (SK)

The South African trade union movement is in a state of transition. As unions move closer into the political arena, speculation and uncertainty abound. (Author)

The author discusses labor contracts subject to renegotiation during 1989. These contracts cover 36 percent of the workers under all major agreements in the United States. Issues that will affect collective bargaining, including the economy and negotiation trends, are discussed. The author provides information on bargaining in key industries. (CH)

Drawing on his immigrant heritage, David Dubinsky envisioned a worldwide socioeconomic role for unions. His ideals were a major force in molding the U.S. labor movement. (Author)

Reasons for the slow development of collective bargaining on campuses include: (1) negative attitude held by most professors regarding unionism, (2) oversupply of professors in the labor market, and (3) union difficulties in organizing professors. (Excerpted from a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Industrial Relations Research…

This symposium includes the title article by David Brody and "How Union Members and Nonmembers View the Role of Unions" (Carol Keegan); "American Labor History: A Conspiracy of Silence?" (Roy Rosenzweig); and "Are the Media Shortchanging Organized Labor?" (John A. Grimes). (SK)

Over three quarters of the participants in both construction and nonconstruction industries were covered by self-insured funds, although the multiemployer pension plans in the construction industry differ in almost all important respects from such plans initiated by unions in other industries. (Author)

This symposium includes the title article by Alice Kessler-Harris and the following responses: "The Extension of Solidarity Conficts with the Spirit of Individualism" (Melvyn Dubofsky); "The Black Labor Movement and the Fight for Social Advance" (William H. Harris); "Forging a Partnership between Blacks and Unions"…

A substantial portion of workers had their wages frozen or reduced; and specified increases were the smallest since the bargaining series began in 1968, reflecting both management's desire to hold down labor costs and workers' concern over job security. Charts and tables illustrating the wage adjustments are included. (Author/CT)

Labor-management cooperation to improve the quality of products and work life are traced to the early nineteenth century. Government activities in labor relations and experiments in industrial democracy in the United States and abroad are described. (SK)

As a manager, and later as a government executive, Cyrus S. Ching pointed the way to a cooperative system of labor relations by showing that differences are more easily resolved when reason prevails. (Author)

American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) and the union representing its workers--Communications Workers of America--have cooperated in a quality of work life program unique in scope and intensity: a labor-management agreement in which 40,000 Bell System employees have participated. Commitment to the program has survived a 1983 strike and the…

Although wages and salaries have risen faster for nonunion workers than for union workers in recent years, three Bureau of Labor Statistics series suggest that the union edge persists. Estimates of its magnitude depend on the data analyzed. (Author)