Question: BUILDING TEAM SKILLS

For more than a century, American unions have played an important role in the workplace, striving to improve the working conditions and quality of life of employees. Today, federal laws cover many of the workers' rights that unions first championed. For this reason, some people believe that unions are no longer necessary. According to some experts, however, as technology changes the workplace and as cultural diversity and the number of part-time workers increase, unions will increase their memberships and become stronger as we move into the new century. What do you think?

Assignment: 1. Form a "pro" group and a "con" group and join one of them.

2. Debate whether unions will be stronger or weaker in the next century.

3. Record the key points for each side.

4. Summarize what you learned about unions and their usefulness in a report, and state your position on the debated issue.