2. 外语
  3. According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adv

According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adv

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问题 According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adversarialism is giving way to a new cooperative relationship between the two sides and even to concessions from labor. These analysts say the twin shocks of nonunion competition in this country and low-cost, high-quality imports from abroad are forcing unions to look more favorably at a variety of management demands: the need for wage restraint and reduced benefits as well as the abolition of "rigid" work rules, seniority rights, and job classifications.
Sophisticated proponents of these new developments cast their observations in a prolabor light. In return for their concessions, they point out, some unions have bargained for profit sharing, retraining rights, and job-security guarantees. Unions can also trade concessions for more say on the shop floor, where techniques such as quality circles and quality-of-work-life programs promise workers greater control over their own jobs. Unions may even win a voice in investment and pricing strategy, plant location, and other major corporate policy decisions previously reserved to management.
Opponents of these concessions from labor argue that such concessions do not save jobs, but either prolong the agony of dying plants or finance the plant relocations that employers had intended anyway. Companies make investment decisions to fit their strategic plans and their profit objectives, opponents point out, and labor costs are usually just a small factor in the equation. Moreover, unrestrained by either loyalty to their work force or political or legislative constraints on their mobility, the companies eventually cut and run, concessions or no concessions.
Wage-related concessions have come under particular attack, since opponents believe that high union wages underlay much of the success of United States industry in this century. They point out that a long-standing principle, shared by both management and labor, has been that workers should earn wages that give them the income they need to buy what they make. Moreover, high wages have given workers the buying power to propel the economy forward.
If proposals for pay cuts, two-tier wage systems, and subminimum wages for young workers continue to gain credence, opponents believe the U.S. social structure will move toward that of a less-developed nation: a small group of wealthy investors, a sizable but still minority bloc of elite professionals and highly skilled employees, and a huge mass of marginal workers and unskilled laborers. Further, they argue that if unions willingly engage in concession bargaining on the false grounds that labor costs are the source of a company’s problems, unions will find themselves competing with Third World pay levels—a competition they cannot win.
The passage is primarily concerned with the
选项 A、reasons for adversarialism between labor and management
B、importance of cooperative labor-management relations
C、consequences of labor concessions to management
D、effects of foreign competition on the United States economy
E、effects of nonunion competition on union bargaining strategies
答案C
解析 Main idea
This question asks us to identify the overall theme of the passage, i.e., the topic that motivates the discussion of various subtopics.
A The traditionally adversarial relationship between labor and management is mentioned in passing, but the reasons for that relationship are not probed.
B The passage details benefits that some labor unionists perceive in cooperative labor-management relations, but does not assess the importance of such relations.
C Correct. The passage explores this theme by looking at the new approach of some labor unions by discussing the pros and cons of labor concessions as perceived by proponents and opponents of such concessions.
D The passage alludes to these effects, but no sustained exploration of this topic is present in the passage.
E The passage alludes to these effects, but no sustained exploration of this topic is present in the passage.
The correct answer is C.
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