Ford Motor Company's labor relations and union opposition strategy

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Labor Relations and Productivity: An Analysis Name Academic Institution

Labor Relations and Productivity: An Analysis The Ford Motor Company was one of the first organizations to deploy the use of assembly-line production to make a profit. It was able to deliver a highly standardized, complex product to the masses in the form of the first automobiles, which used to be available only to the very wealthy. Yet even Bugas (1947), in his speech to the American Management Association, “Labor Relations and Productivity,” which was written when he was Vice-President and Director of Industrial Relations and Ford, grants that while machines are an important part of Ford’s success, they are far more effective when the people operating them have high morale and are working enthusiastically. Ignoring the human elements of production is done at management’s peril. However, despite this sentiment, which is likely to be widely accepted by many managers today, Bugas’ ultimate purpose in delivering his speech is to oppose the unionization of American workers. He argues that unions do not have members’ best interests at heart, that the unions are torn within between different factions, and they are influenced by communists (Bugas, 1947, p.54). In light of the great benefits automotive unions were able to garner for their workers for many years, these claims seem extremely self-serving and specious. US autoworkers had some of the highest wages, pensions, and other benefits of all manufacturing employees in the US. As skilled workers, they were considered the backbone of American manufacturing. Although Bugas may be technically correct that unions do contain opposing factions and no individual interest can be perfectly represented by a collective unit, this is true of all representative institutions, even governments. The fact is, by coming together and pursing common goals, union for many years empowered American workers to garner higher wages than they would otherwise, and avoid exploitation by management. Unions are also largely more responsive than pressuring government leaders to pass laws protecting workers. Furthermore, representatives may be influenced by corporate interests, which can make them reluctant to endorse such measures. However, union membership has sharply declined in the United States. Unions were partly blamed for the financial difficulties of American automotive companies, given the high wages and benefits they were forced to pay to current and former workers. Outsourcing and the rise of foreign automotive companies has changed the face of American manufacturing. “The Detroit automakers and their suppliers have slashed workforces at UAW-represented factories over the past 30 years as they have automated and lost sales to European and Asian rivals” (Carey, 2017, par.9). The rise of unionization many years ago during Ford’s time was in part a reaction to worker anger of the loss of being able to operate as independent manufactures as they were in the era before the Industrial Revolution and being beholden to employers. Unions at least enabled them to take back some of their power. But today, that power has been diluted through yet another technological revolution and the loss of the need to have highly motivated, technically skilled, and satisfied workers to operate within the American automotive industry. More and more of manufacturing is automated. Given that many workers themselves within the industry are opting out of union membership at foreign-owned plants, there is an indication that even workers themselves feel that unions do not represent their interests or fear losing their jobs if they are members. Employees are no longer fearful of communists lurking behind the leadership of unions. Unions have become heavily corporatized themselves and strive to represent a wide range of worker interests in a relatively moderate fashion. But employees are less apt to make the option of union membership at an automotive plant a priority.