This article offers a new explanation for union decline by focusing on a currently neglected site that exemplifies the fragility of unions—the shop floor in the computer revolution era. Using data from several sources including the National Labor Relations Board, it analyzes the effect of using a computer at work on the odds of being a union member and the broader effect of computerization on union strength within detailed industries between 1973 and 2002. Workers who used a computer at work were found less likely to be union members, and computerization of workplaces accounted for about a quarter of the decline in union density within industries; partly by changing the skill composition of industries’ workforces and partly by enhancing employers’ resistance to unions as measured by their use of unfair labor practices and decertification elections as documented by the National Labor Relations Board. The findings are explained in a new theoretical framework that specifies what computerization does to unions by (a) reshaping the way products are made and services are provided and (b) boosting a profound power shift throughout workplaces.

中文翻译：

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计算机化和美国工会的衰落：计算机化是否有阶级偏见？

这篇文章通过关注一个目前被忽视的网站——计算机革命时代的车间——体现了工会的脆弱性，为工会衰落提供了一个新的解释。它使用来自包括国家劳工关系委员会在内的多个来源的数据，分析了 1973 年至 2002 年间在工作中使用计算机对成为工会成员的几率的影响以及计算机化对详细行业工会实力的更广泛影响。发现工作中的计算机不太可能成为工会成员，工作场所的计算机化约占行业内工会密度下降的四分之一；部分是通过改变行业劳动力的技能构成，部分是通过增强雇主对工会的抵制，通过使用不公平的劳工做法和国家劳工关系委员会记录的取消资格选举来衡量。研究结果在一个新的理论框架中得到解释，该框架通过 (a) 重塑产品制造和服务提供的方式以及 (b) 促进整个工作场所的深刻权力转移来详细说明计算机化对工会的作用。