ABSTRACT
The union is thus the institutional expression of the basic political tension of the enterprise. The assertion that the union derives its function from the inability of management to be a legitimate government, grounds the union in the very structure of the enterprise. The temptation is great in every industrial country to solve the political problem of the enterprise by suppressing the union. The moment a union or union leaders were to take over the management, they would be in management's political shoes and would have to act the "boss". They would lose their hold on their members and be confronted speedily by a union movement opposing them. The union is a political institution. Its purpose is power rather than economic production, income or profit. Because it is an institution, its behavior must be determined by its survival needs. Every one is likely to strengthen the demand that unionism be made "constructive" by being suppressed.
