Trade-unionism and the new productive model

As the model of goods and services production changes, so trade unionism is finding it difficult to regain the position it had in the Fordist production system: pay claims, improvement in working conditions and the formation of professional entities. Far from calling into question the workings of trade union organisations, the author shows how in the new productive model managerial strategies greatly reduce the role of trade unions by making them seem superfluous to most employees, particularly in the new sectors of activity. Trade unionism must therefore find a new lease of life by inventing new functions and above all by "professionalising" its militants in order to respond to the increasing professionalisation of the management technicians, particularly as regards communication and management of wage relations.