Final answer:
Professional employees can indeed create challenges for unions trying to increase membership due to professional views towards unionism. Unions and professional workers interact in complex ways, with unions historically securing benefits but also facing criticism, and their stance on new technology being influenced by how it affects their members.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is true that professional employees can pose a challenge to a union's desire to increase membership due to the issue of compatibility of unionism with professionalism. Professional workers often have advanced levels of education and training, leading them to possess a different worldview than that of traditional unionized workers. This can create challenges for unions that try to align the interests of professionals with their collective bargaining strategies.
Historically, unions have played a significant role in securing workers' rights and benefits, but they have also been criticized for certain actions, such as strikes or advocating for closed shops. Employment trends have evolved, and today, the interaction between unions and professional employees is influenced by the changing nature of work and technological advancements. While unions have sometimes opposed new technology fearing job loss, they have also facilitated the introduction of new technology when it aligns with their members' interests. Unionized workers, who generally have higher job market experience and training, might suffer less from the introduction of new technology because they believe the union will negotiate to protect their jobs and wages.
Conversely, nonunion workers may feel more threatened by technological changes, as they lack collective bargaining power. Unions and professional organizations continue to represent and advocate for their members' interests, making the dynamic between unions and professional employees complex and highly dependent on specific industry and workplace contexts.