Three conference papers explore issues related to work and the American family. The first, by Stanley C. Gault, Chairman of th Board of the National Association of Manufacturers, discusses recent changes in business practices that accommodate changes in the structure of the modern American family. The second, by Secretary of Labor, William E. Brock, reviews historical change over the past 25 years in the major issues affecting labor and industrial relations, the current state of the American work force, and trends that may be predominant in the work force of the future. The third, by the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Thomas R. Donahue, outlines the American trade union movement's view of the relationships between work, the family, and the community, and suggests some economic and institutional changes needed to meet the standards set by Pope John Paul II when he spoke out for equitably incorporating women into the workplace and for a just wage as the measure of the justice of the whole economic system. (RH)