At the inception of unions, its members consisted of "blue-collar" workers concentrated in the manufacturing sector. Today, only about 35% of union members remain in this sector, which requires unions to expand beyond manufacturing to broaden their membership ranks.
In a two-to-three page paper to submit to your instructor, detail the following in relation to the changing landscape of unions:
- Discuss how union membership has evolved over the past century.
- Evaluate how unions have modified their philosophy to accommodate this shifting landscape.
- Propose two reforms unions should consider to broaden their appeal to a workplace environment that is becoming less dependent on the manufacturing sector and in which companies can more easily shift operations overseas to take advantage of lower wage rates.