ABSTRACT
Productive workers have always been accorded a position of special prominence in the industrial relations literature. In part, this derived from an awareness of their role as the largest single group in industrial society, the foundation upon which the wealth of nations ultimately rests. But it has also arisen from the recognition that working people and their families have traditionally borne the brunt of adjustments in the labour market and the impact of advanced technologies. Even more, however, the association of workers through trade unions has been the focal point of analysis. As Korpi (1978) has observed, together with political parties, labour unions are the main power resource of working people, relatively close to their lives in the enterprise. Yet, while collective strength can promote the resolution of a variety of problems faced by the workforce, it ensures conflict with management and the state and, in turn, provides the raison d’etre for the study of industrial relations in the first place.
