Workers,Unions,and Industrial Robotics

Abstract

The concerns of organized labor pertaining to technological changes have been vastly misunderstood. Labor organizations are well aware of the need for new technology and the reactions of their members. This article is offered in the hope that users and manufacturers of automated equipment may gain first-hand insight into the attitudes and concerns of organized labor and the worker affected by advanced technology. Specific worker attitudes are presented, along with various concerns of workers and labor organizations. Suggestions are offered, along with information outlining current programs designed to cope with the problem of an ever-increasing demand for goods, an ever-increasing population and work force supplied by a decreasing number of job openings.

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References

1. A turnover is automation that takes a panel from a particular press or welding operation and turns the panel over for work to be done on the other side as it goes down an assembly line.

2. A merry-go-round is an automated section at the end of a line where large pieces, such as roof bodies or frames, are stacked on a circular, traveling conveyor and then are unloaded, as they turn around, onto racks or other types of storage devices.