New Forms of Work Organization: The Challenge for North American Unions

Gerald J. Stortz is an assistant professor of history at St. Jerome’s
College, University of Waterloo.

This book’s premise is simple: the nature of North American industry
has changed, and therefore so have the rules for labor relations.
Taylorism, which industrial unions adopted to cope with mass-production
industries such as automobile manufacturing, is no longer effective.

Although introduced by employers, Taylorism was embraced by unions. In
this approach, the employee is treated as an extension of the
technology, and has little say in his work life. The typical solution to
a problem is simply to pay disgruntled employees more money, rather than
to determine the cause of their discontent. Rankin cites the ecwu as an
example of a union that has made the necessary transition.

Rankin is a consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Although
the book gives no educational data, one suspects that he has a graduate
degree in sociology, for this book reads like a hybrid of a
royal-commission report and a doctoral thesis. Clearly geared to a
specialized audience, it will undoubtedly grace the reading lists of
business schools and the bookshelves of industrial executives for years
to come. However, it will not likely appeal to the general reader,
despite the important information contained therein.