2. 外语
  3. According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adv

According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adv

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问题 According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adversarialism is giving way to a new cooperative relationship between the two sides and even to concessions from labor. These analysts say the twin shocks of nonunion competition in this country and low-cost, high-quality imports from abroad are forcing unions to look more favorably at a variety of management demands: the need for wage restraint and reduced benefits as well as the abolition of "rigid" work rules, seniority rights, and job classifications.
Sophisticated proponents of these new developments cast their observations in a prolabor light. In return for their concessions, they point out, some unions have bargained for profit sharing, retraining rights, and job-security guarantees. Unions can also trade concessions for more say on the shop floor, where techniques such as quality circles and quality-of-work-life programs promise workers greater control over their own jobs. Unions may even win a voice in investment and pricing strategy, plant location, and other major corporate policy decisions previously reserved to management.
Opponents of these concessions from labor argue that such concessions do not save jobs, but either prolong the agony of dying plants or finance the plant relocations that employers had intended anyway. Companies make investment decisions to fit their strategic plans and their profit objectives, opponents point out, and labor costs are usually just a small factor in the equation. Moreover, unrestrained by either loyalty to their work force or political or legislative constraints on their mobility, the companies eventually cut and run, concessions or no concessions.
Wage-related concessions have come under particular attack, since opponents believe that high union wages underlay much of the success of United States industry in this century. They point out that a long-standing principle, shared by both management and labor, has been that workers should earn wages that give them the income they need to buy what they make. Moreover, high wages have given workers the buying power to propel the economy forward.
If proposals for pay cuts, two-tier wage systems, and subminimum wages for young workers continue to gain credence, opponents believe the U.S. social structure will move toward that of a less-developed nation: a small group of wealthy investors, a sizable but still minority bloc of elite professionals and highly skilled employees, and a huge mass of marginal workers and unskilled laborers. Further, they argue that if unions willingly engage in concession bargaining on the false grounds that labor costs are the source of a company’s problems, unions will find themselves competing with Third World pay levels—a competition they cannot win.
According to the author, "Sophisticated proponents" of concessions do which of the following?
选项 A、Support the traditional adversarialism characteristic of labor-management relations
B、Emphasize the benefits unions can gain by granting concessions.
C、Focus on thorough analyses of current economic conditions.
D、Present management’s reasons for demanding concessions.
E、Explain domestic economic developments in terms of worldwide trends.
答案B
解析 Supporting Ideas
This question requires you to identify what the passage says "sophisticated proponents" of concessions do. According to the passage, these sophisticated proponents represent their concessions in a "prolabor light."They suggest that concessions by labor can bargain for profit sharing, retraining rights, and job-security guarantees—and can even bargain for "more say on the shop floor" and a voice in company strategy and decision making.
A According to the passage, analysts say that labor-management relations are increasingly cooperative rather than adversarial.
B Correct. As indicated above, the proponents of labor concessions represent concessions in a prolabor light by detailing the types of labor gains that can come from such concessions.
C The proponents probably conduct such analyses, but no information about this is given in the passage.
D Sophisticated proponents may sometimes do this, but the passage emphasizes their focus on the opportunities for labor gains.
E Sophisticated proponents may sometimes do this, but the passage emphasizes their focus on the opportunities for labor gains.
The correct answer is B.
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