Recently, union membership has declined. This is a separate matter in which productivity may only have an indirect relationship. Directly related is the continuing advancement of technology and it's implementation in the workplace. Industries and unions effected by this to a large extent are the automobile manufacturing and mining industries. Reynolds reports that in these industries, technology has forced a trade-off between management and unions.
Company management gains flexibility in implementing new labor saving technology.
The unions gain provisions that help them soften the impact on it's members. In such cases, unions are attempting to maintain a secure hold on their high wages, even though the new technology represents a decline in the number of workers. Analysis of labor, including union pressure, and it's effects on productivity, wages, prices and other factors is a formidable task. The contribution of labor in determining productivity depends on the skill and effort of the work force. It should be reiterated though that union members and organizers routinely resist attempts to relate wages to productivity.