Thread by @william_r_kerr

Our @HarvardHBS MBA course on #ManagingTheFutureOfWork is underway!

I share a few key ideas from each class that sparked conversation.

Class 14 discussed the future of unions and organized labor.

Union membership has steadily declined over the past 50 years, but the majority of class predicted union ranks would hold steady or grow by 2030. Why? 1) Unions could provide training for skills acquisition, which is vital to future of work…

& 2) serve as rallying points for increasingly disenfranchized workers. Younger ppl view unions particularly favorably. Almost 70% of 2018 Pew survey respondents ages 18 -29 said they favorably viewed unions. Only 46% of the same group viewed biz favorably
pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018…

But challenges are significant. Organizing is more difficult because workers move jobs more quickly, gig workers are more dispersed/work in individual silos (ie Uber drivers) & maybe corps are just too powerful - government, not unions, is the only institution that can push back.

Class also debated hard choices unions face for the future of work: Target alliances across disparate groups or focus on density w/in sectors? What line to take on gig work? Emphasize national or local? Class was split on alliances v density, but felt gig and national were key.

We are grateful that @AFLCIO Policy Director @DamonSilvers joined class to discuss the labor movement and some his perspectives: