Unions and Technology Adoption: A Qualitative Analysis of the Use of Real-Time Control Systems in U.S. Coal Firms.

Part of a special section on technological change and employment conditions in traditionally heavily unionized industries. The writers present a qualitative analysis of the impact of unionization on the adoption of a new technology in coal mining, specifically, the application of real-time control...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of Labor Research Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 615 - 631
Main Authors:	Link, Albert N., Siegel, Donald S.
Format:	Article
Published:	Springer Science & Business Media B.V. Fall 2002
Subjects:	United Mine Workers of America Technology & labor Mineral industries Technological innovations Labor union members United States
Online Access:	View this record in EBSCOhost

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Summary:	Part of a special section on technological change and employment conditions in traditionally heavily unionized industries. The writers present a qualitative analysis of the impact of unionization on the adoption of a new technology in coal mining, specifically, the application of real-time control systems technology to automated mining engineering equipment. Their findings reveal that unions may represent a barrier to the adoption and use of new technologies, implying that further scrutiny of the relationship between union activity and technological change is required.