This is simply not true. There is an extraordinary amount of evidence that effective, truly joint collaborative efforts serve to strengthen the collective bargaining process. Finally, union officials must accept the responsibility that comes with being a stakeholder of the enterprise. The demands of the world marketplace absolutely require major changes in the way in which work is done. Union officials cannot pick the elements that are easy and positive for them and stonewall those elements that are difficult or risky.
Continuous improvement requires a long-term commitment.
The strategy of a cooperative partnership is the most appropriate strategy for accomplishing continuous improvement. It is a challenging and difficult task for any organization. Management and union leaders never start with all or even most of the above requirement in place. Bringing those requirements about demands commitment and patience on the part of the top leadership in both organization's expenditure of time, and financial resources, almost always requires outside consulting assistance. In 1981, National Steel Corp. was losing market share to imported steel, company profits were declining, and the rate of grievances brought by the United Steelworkers of America was high.