Freeman ch. 6
WWII union strength led to improved conditions
after the war
but corporations responded by building smaller factories in more
places, particularly the south where unions were weak
meanwhile suburbs grew rapidly
rise in labor productivity = output per worker
watch out for different kinds of efficiency and productivity
built up demand for consumer goods
rust belt
de-industrialization
large factories
continued in the Soviet Union and began to grow in China
- big factories were a way of showing off
- when you are starting from less big seems easier
- in their system this allowed
control over workers
- built apartment blocks rather
than individual houses--still saw the city as the future
but this was resisted even in eastern Europe's showcase cities
like Nowa
Huta
- workers organized, in
political resistance as well as strikes
- in Poland this became the
basis of resisting Russian control
post WWII German system--unions had a voice in factory
management
less vertical integration, more use of suppliers
overall patterns:
- cold war competition encouraged
big factories
- bigger and bigger factories
are not efficient, in the US with price competition that
meant they were built less and less
- becomes harder to find large
numbers of factory workers, jobs are less desirable
- US companies moved away from
big companies and industrial cities to reduce the power of
unions
- large factories make it easier
for workers to organize
- more spread out smaller
factories
decline
of manufacturing jobs
- factories get moved overseas
where labor is cheaper
- percentage of jobs that require more than high school
education has increased dramatically
- well-paid jobs for people without more education are
disappearing
- more and more opportunities for people with college
education
- college educated people are more plentiful and jobs are
becoming more complex, need more education
- bringing manufacturing back to the US means products are
made more ethically
- would it be better to have a system where there was less
pressure to go to college, more good jobs for people who don't
- big factory jobs are increasingly automated, craft blue
collar jobs are still important