UNIONS ADDING VALUE - ADDRESSING MARKET AND SOCIAL FAILURES IN THE ADVANCED INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES

A major challenge to unions is the difficulty of representing both the interests of their traditional membership and those of hitherto under -represented workers, especially women and contingent workers. Another is the need to address workplace concerns such as skill development a nd work reorganization. To reverse the current decline in their member ship, Wever argues, unions need to meet both challenges and restore a balance between their social and economic functions. Examining union r esponses to pressures from outside the traditional framework of indust rial relations, she highlights innovative organizing strategies whose success strongly suggests where the future of unions may lie.