As the model of goods and services production changes, so trade unionism is
finding it difficult to regain the position it had in the Fordist producti
on system: pay claims, improvement in working conditions and the formation
of professional entities. Far from calling into question the workings of tr
ade union organisations, the author shows how in the new productive model m
anagerial strategies greatly reduce the role of trade unions by making them
seem superfluous to most employees, particularly in the new sectors of act
ivity.
Trade unionism must therefore find a new lease of life by inventing new fun
ctions and above all by "professionalising" its militants in order to respo
nd to the increasing professionalisation of the management technicians, par
ticularly as regards communication and management of wage relations.