Abstract
In the late 1970s, labor relations in construction equipment manufacturing became increasingly conflict-ridden. Record-length strikes over job security, wage and benefit concessions, and the handling of grievances from 1979 into the early 1980s ended two decades of relative industrial peace in this industry. We focus on this shift in labor relations which occurred as automation, foreign competition, and other factors changed the nature and organization of work in the industry during the years 1960—1984. In doing so, we apply the social contract model as a means of analyzing the changing labor relations in this industry.
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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York
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Gordon, G., Moulton, S., Wachtell, T., Francis, J., Zahedi, A. (1987). Computer-Based Automation and Labor Relations in the Construction Equipment Industry. In: Cornfield, D.B. (eds) Workers, Managers, and Technological Change. Plenum Studies in Work and Industry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1821-7_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1821-7_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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