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  3. According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are

According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are

游客2024-01-12  25
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. [br] The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?
选项 A、What has caused unions to consider wage restraints and reduced benefits?
B、Why do analysts study United States labor-management relations?
C、How do job-security guarantees operate?
D、Are investment and pricing strategies effective in combating imports?
E、Do quality circles improve product performance and value?
答案 A
解析 Evaluation
This question requires you to identify a question that the passage provides an answer to. In paragraph 1, the passage indicates some factors ("twin shocks") that have contributed to a change in the approach of labor unions to negotiations with management. A Correct. The passage claims that competition from non-union companies and imports of low-priced high-quality products from abroad have induced labor unions to be more flexible in meeting the demands of management.
B The passage does not address this question either directly or indirectly.
C According to the passage, proponents of labor concessions claim that job-security guarantees can be negotiated if concessions are made, but the passage provides no further detail that would shed light on how such guarantees operate.
D The passage is silent on the effectiveness of investment and pricing strategies in combating imports.
E The passage mentions quality circles, but provides no information on their impact. Presumably, quality circles aim to improve quality, and such improvements would be pointless absent any payoff in "performance and value."
The correct answer is A.
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