This article examines the legal and sociological aspects of worker participation programs. Section 8(a) (2) of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from dominating or interfering with employee organizations, but despite the statutory mandate, some federal courts endorse participative workplace systems as cooperative, nonadversarial, lawful forms of industrial organization. The authors contend that the judicial doctrine may promote an ideology which furthers managerial control over workers and enables management to undermine support for union representation through participatory techniques. A case study is offered to substantiate that argument.
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