Roads Not Taken

ENDORSEMENTS

“Tom Kochan argues that the decline of the bargaining power of American workers was a choice, not a law of nature. In Roads Not Taken he carefully documents it, sparing no one: not unions, not management, not politicians. But this is no lament. Kochan offers a path forward, and with AI at the door, the choices ahead will be the most important of our lifetime.”
—Ron Bloom, Former Chair, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service

“Tom Kochan makes a case that is at once clear-eyed and hopeful for restoring the social contract between employer and employee. On display are the traits that make him an extraordinary scholar and trusted adviser to both labor and management: deep familiarity with the research, a keen grasp of history, and an insatiable thirst for innovative ideas.”
—Rick Wartzman, author of The End of Loyalty and Still Broke

“With America’s workers and labor unions on the defensive, Roads Not Taken is much needed. Widely considered the nation’s foremost expert on labor relations, Kochan calls for urgent action to lift America’s workers and strengthen its unions by creating a new social contract that fits with today’s—and tomorrow’s—workforce, economy, and technologies. Smart and compelling.”
—Steven Greenhouse, longtime labor reporter; author of Beaten Down, Worked Up

“Roads Not Taken maintains that stronger unions can reverse the insecurity and voicelessness that workers face today, and offers fresh solutions. Kochan knows the relevant players from firsthand experience, all the way to our current AI crisis. A must-read.”
—Sanford M. Jacoby, Distinguished Research Professor, UCLA; author of Labor in the Age of Finance

“Aided by good story-telling, rich detail, and an even richer history, Kochan shows us what needs to be done to build a new and better set of labor relations institutions in the US.”
—Eileen Appelbaum, Senior Economist and Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research

“Summarizing key inflection points in our social contract, Kochan’s latest contribution emphasizes the economic path to democracy as equally consequential to political reforms in righting our broken systems of governance. A must-read for champions of democracy!”
—Erica Smiley, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice; coauthor of The Future We Need

Thomas A. Kochan is the George M. Bunker Emeritus Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research. He is coauthor (with Paul Osterman, Richard M. Locke, and Michael J. Piore) of Working in America (MIT Press).

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