TPT May 2019

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

workers, and newer benefits, such as formal training programmes that will provide career advancement, will be in demand. Increasing technology is also playing a part in new areas of the workplace. Invasive technologies, such as wristbands that allow the tracking of employees in warehouses, will need to be evaluated in terms of employee privacy. Privacy is part of the larger issue of having control and, while this has historically been the venue of blue-collar workers, more white-collar workers are finding their collective voice. “For professionals, having control over the workplace is very important,” explained consultant James Horvitz: “They need to feel that they have a role in making decisions.” “Looking ahead,” Horvitz continued, “Unions might very well become involved in setting the standards for particular sectors. Safety would be one of those. As professionals move from company to company to complete jobs, there needs to be standardisation.” “Ethics will move onto the bargaining table as well,” Horvitz believes, taking as an example the actions of longshoremen refusing to unload shipments based on the country of origin. Taking a stand in terms of social causes will continue to show up in a variety of ways in the workplace of the future [see Questioning workplace ethics, below]. And, perhaps, one of the strongest cases for more empowered voices will be a low employment rate that is expected to continue. Low employment combined with global pressures such as trade, and even automation, will essentially determine the role of unions. “We always hear from employers…that the market drives their business; well now, the workforce is the market factor,” said Shearon. “Competition for these workers is the top driver in today’s market.” Adrienne Selko concludes that with the expectation of a tight labour market for years to come, union representation, or the future form of worker representation, will continue to represent the voice of employees. Automot i ve Into or out of China, cars are slowing down “For Detroit, China once meant opportunity. The country’s growing ranks of drivers bought cars by the millions. Its cheap labour gave American automakers dreams of someday exporting their Chinese-made cars to the United States. The Big Three bet billions of dollars there. Now China’s place in the world is shifting, and that bet is starting to sour.” So writes Keith Bradsher in the New York Times , [“China Shifts, and Detroit’s Big Bet Goes Sour”] looking at how China’s slowing economy is impacting on the US automotive industry.

Chinese consumers are buying fewer cars as the country’s economy slows, and many young people would rather use ride-sharing services than own a vehicle. And if the Trump administration’s trade hawks have their way, China won’t be making many cars for Americans. As Washington and Beijing haggle over a deal to end their trade war, the hawks are defending the tariffs that would make it expensive to sell Chinese-made cars, including those with American brands, within the United States. China’s slowdown presents the most immediate problem. Some of Detroit’s Chinese factories have slowed to a crawl. In the inland metropolis of Chongqing, three big assembly plants have been running at less than one-fifth of capacity. Ford’s joint venture in Chongqing has begun to quietly dismiss thousands of its 20,000 workers. The rest of the world has begun to fundamentally rethink its dependence on China to make much of what the world consumes. Some within the Trump administration see China presenting an existential threat to core American industries, such as automobile manufacture, in the same way that it has come to dominate production of solar panels, steel and aluminium. There have long been doubts, among automakers and consumers, about whether cars made in China could measure up to those produced in America but, with the quality gap narrowing, companies in China and the US are beginning to explore the possibility. General Motors, which began exporting the Buick Envision from China to the United States in 2016, has been pleading since last summer, without success, for the Trump administration to exempt it from a 25 per cent tariff imposed on Chinese-made cars. Ford announced in the summer of 2017 that it would move Focus production to China from Michigan, only to cancel those plans as the United States’ political landscape changed. Exports of Detroit-brand cars from China to the US are “a no-fly zone,” said Michael Dunne, the chief executive of ZoZo Go, an automotive consulting firm in San Diego. “It’s just too politically sensitive.” Detroit’s fortunes in China could still improve. A final trade deal could leave the door open to Chinese exports. The Chinese government could take steps to accelerate domestic growth, or empower its consumers to buy cars. “A stronger economy will lead to stronger auto sales,” said Irene Shen, a General Motors spokeswoman. But for now, Detroit’s Big Three are struggling in China – particularly Ford. Business from Detroit has helped China become both the world’s largest maker and its largest buyer of cars. Much of the global auto parts industry has moved there as well, making it especially convenient to manufacture cars in China. Drawn by China’s rapid development and consumer revolution, GM invested about $10 billion in the country. It now makes and sells more cars through its Chinese joint ventures than it does in the United States. Ford, which came later, invested $5 billion.

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MAY 2019