Quality of Work Life in Labor Prespective
Labor Research Review
Volume 1 | Number 7 New Tactics for Labor 1985 Article 2
Quality of Worklife from a Labor Perspective: A Review Essay on Inside the Circle
Ruth Needleman
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@ILR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Labor Research Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@ILR. For more information, please contact jdd10@cornell.edu. © 1985 by Labor Research Review
Quality of Worklife from a Labor Perspective: A Review Essay on Inside the Circle
Abstract
[Excerpt]Early union advocates of quality of worklife (QWL) programs envisioned a movement to reform the workplace and to re-educate management to recognize and reward workers for their intelligence, resourcefulness and skills. Today QWL has become almost synonymous with labor-management cooperation, a national campaign whose stated goal is economic revitalization of U.S. industries. According to business and government, cooperation is a prerequisite for restoring the United States ' economic fortunes. Unions are being pressured to commit personnel and resources to promote QWL. While emphasizing mutuality of interests, business has in practice been more persuasive in its use of economic blackmail. On the one hand, corporations promise increased employee participation and a more satisfying work environment. On the other hand, they warn unions that any reluctance on their part to cooperate could translate into plant closures and "union-avoidance" programs.
Keywords
quality of worklife, QWL
This article is available in Labor Research Review: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/lrr/vol1/iss7/2
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Quality of Worklife:
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Volume 1 | Number 7 New Tactics for Labor 1985 Article 2
Quality of Worklife from a Labor Perspective: A Review Essay on Inside the Circle
Ruth Needleman
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@ILR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Labor Research Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@ILR. For more information, please contact jdd10@cornell.edu. © 1985 by Labor Research Review
Quality of Worklife from a Labor Perspective: A Review Essay on Inside the Circle
Abstract
[Excerpt]Early union advocates of quality of worklife (QWL) programs envisioned a movement to reform the workplace and to re-educate management to recognize and reward workers for their intelligence, resourcefulness and skills. Today QWL has become almost synonymous with labor-management cooperation, a national campaign whose stated goal is economic revitalization of U.S. industries. According to business and government, cooperation is a prerequisite for restoring the United States ' economic fortunes. Unions are being pressured to commit personnel and resources to promote QWL. While emphasizing mutuality of interests, business has in practice been more persuasive in its use of economic blackmail. On the one hand, corporations promise increased employee participation and a more satisfying work environment. On the other hand, they warn unions that any reluctance on their part to cooperate could translate into plant closures and "union-avoidance" programs.
Keywords
quality of worklife, QWL
This article is available in Labor Research Review: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/lrr/vol1/iss7/2
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^sWB^^^i
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Cartoon from Inside the Circle
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Quality of Worklife:
QWL from a Labor