There have been a number of significant developments in labor law since 1982, when the first edition of this book was published. In industries confronted with deregulation or with foreign competition, the advent of concession bargaining (coupled, in some instances, with new limitations on management’s prerogatives) has changed the labor–management landscape. Numerous decisions – many too inconsequential to be mentioned in a book such as this – have been issued by the National Labor Relations Board (whose composition and outlook changed dramatically before the end of President Reagan’s first term) and the Supreme Court. Indeed, the labor movement’s disillusionment with the NLRB prompted AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland to opine about the desirability of repealing the National Labor Relations Act.

The decline of the labor movement to approximately 19 percent of the work force has led to unprecedented soul-searching on the part of labor.