Solidarity forever? Political generations, union loyalty, and the team concept

Since the 1970s, much research in the sociology of work has focused on two central questions concerning the labor process. First, to what extent is alienation a central feature of work under late monopoly capitalism? Second, to what extent do management systems of control determine workers' self-understanding and action? This dissertation addresses these broad questions through the narrow focus of a single case study: the General Motors truck assembly plant in Shreveport, Louisiana. A multi-method case study research strategy is ideal for investigating struggles over the labor process because worker solidarity emerges from specific work contexts, and the organization of work is an outcome of ongoing struggles between labor and management. GM-Shreveport is a critical case for examining workers' loyalties and attitudes towards the team concept because the employment relations there allow me to refine theory regarding generational differences in union sentiments. My focus is on “political generations,” which are categories of workers with unique work experiences that have shaped their orientation towards work and labor relations. The work force at GM-Shreveport is comprised of two distinct political generations: transfers who have years of experience working in traditional adversarial automobile plants, and local hires who have only worked under the cooperative team concept. Transfers and locals represent distinct political generations because their work identities were formed under quite different contexts of labor-management relations. Transfers have come mainly from the Northeast, Midwest, and California—regions of the country with long histories of working class culture and labor activism. Locals, on the other hand, were recruited predominately from rural Louisiana and Texas where labor unions have not had a historically strong footing. The results support my theoretical framework that these two political generations hold divergent union sentiments and overall orientations towards work. The team concept has not decentralized authority in the workplace, rather it represents a form of hegemonic control. Work teams serve the management end of getting production out. Working in cohesive teams, however, strengthens union commitment among those workers least attached to the union-local hires. These results suggest that unions could use the team concept to build the union.