American Labor Unions Must Fight Globalization Essay examples

The main reason of the rise of labor unions was the quick industrialization of the US economy. During the post-Civil War period, the US economy became extremely industrialized. This meant that more and more people were working in factories owned by large companies rather than working in small shops for themselves or for small businesses. In addition, large numbers of immigrants were coming to the US. They created a huge pool of labor that made labor prices go down and the quality of working conditions.

Globalization has, for better or worse, altered the economic arena for every country in the world. For many less developed countries, globalization has leveled the playing field so that their economies can compete with the larger, more developed ones such as the United States and other large western economies. For instance, technical engineers in India and China are now just as qualified as engineers in America, but at half the cost. The once large and prosperous service sector in the United States as well as telemarketing services have largely been sourced to India as a large exodus of American multinational corporations find cheaper workers who deliver comparable quality. This then seems to be the essence of globalization - businesses

It has become increasing undeniable that the process of globalization is present, and a strong force in the international market. “Globalization”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as, “ the development of an increasingly global economy especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets”. Before the start of the 1990’s, the United States had little competition in the international marketplace, and was as strong as ever. Globalization has opened the international market to cheap land and labor outside the United States. Corporations and businesses have outsourced many jobs from the United States labor markets, at the expense of United States labor. One of the biggest questions facing America today is if it is ready for Globalization. I believe that we are not ready for a variety of reasons, but there are a few that stand out in my mind. The top factors concerning the U.S. are ineffective nature of Congress, U.S. national debt, and overseas outsourcing.

Labor Unions have had an effect of American history as well as world-wide history from the time they became popular. Following WWII Americans were predominantly pro-labor, however, as time went on union’s credibility fell short of perfect. Union strikes proved to be bothersome to both the general public and company. Unions were also suppressing to employees through fraud and lack of worker rights (in earlier years, before Acts were passed). Although Union labor had its shortcomings, this type of labor is noted to be the most productive and economically beneficial. With both sides shown, I feel Unions will again thrive in the future with a few key adjustments made.

Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).

According to Derber, “Globalism promises to further weaken the social ties and values that civilize both individuals and business. Unencumbered by national loyalties, corporations now ram the world searching for the cheapest labor in desperately poor countries” (Derber, p. 54). Globalization is a form of corporate wilding because the corporation will do anything to increase their profits and pay for cheap wages.

Our Nation thrives on workers or laborers to generate and stimulate our economic systems. Whether these organizations be legal or illegal, groups will form and air their grievances in regards to unfair treatment. Workers would result to strike or protest until their voices are heard and changes are implemented. These methods have proved to be effective and usually result to some sort of resolve. Bozeman (2007), states “Public values are the values of a society that pro-vide “normative consensus about (a) the rights, benefits, and prerogatives to which citizens should (and should not) be entitled; (b) the obligations of citizens to society, the state, and one another; and (c) the principles on which governments and policies should be based” (Bozeman, 2007, pg. 13). This narrative explains in my opinion why labor organizations would have developed because the values to which this Nation stand

The world we live in today is going through enormous changes in economics, technology, culture, politics, etc. The effects of the changes are not so clear, since it is hard to predict how each sector would affect the other and how society will be affected. However, analyzing past and present occurrences provides some information for experts to interpret society’s reaction in the future to different transformations. Globalization can be seen as a process in which societies around the world come together and expand through the combination of different forces. This paper will explore the effects of globalization on US companies, US society and economy, and the implications for other countries in the post-industrial world.

The effects of globalization can easily be defined and shown by the death of small town culture in and around the southern states. The term, globalization, is essentially a term used to make an ugly truth seem appealing and thought-provoking. When in actuality, it can be more easily defined and understood as cheap labor not burdened by employee safety and fare wages. The movement of labor off-shore from the United States was done for one reason , labor cost. This move was especially favorable for large corporations because mostly in Asia there is no OSHA, no EPA, and certainly no Union influence.

Labor Unions have become an important factor in our industries. For many years, labor unions have served as the main voice of the workers to their employers. The continuous effort of labor unions in helping the laborers ensure their rights in their jobs, acquire all the benefits they need and to eliminate the injustice experienced by workers in their workplace is still an ongoing process. In order to understand labor unions in general, knowing the roots of it is the best way to start. In this paper, the progress of the labor unions throughout history, the issues faced the developments it achieved, laws passed and the problem faced by today’s unions will be tackled.

Globalization is the process of integrating culture and economy among people, businesses, and governments of different nations. It is facilitated by media, international financing institutions, trade agreements, and national immigration policy. In terms of flows of products, companies can expand globally through the international free market in order to exploit cheap labor in the production of goods. The national market may be dominated by companies that expands their business overseas, such as Walmart who imports products from more than 200,000 suppliers internationally. This can produce inequalities on different levels. For one, there is a wealth disparity for corporations in the Western world who are benefitting more than the people producing the goods, and typically the cheap labor is found in countries that have unstable economies and therefore can be exploited. In addition, local businesses face inequalities as they are outcompeted by companies in the global

One effect of globalization has been the freedoms regarding trading and companies’ abilities to acquire labor. In North America we signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), allowing trade and mobility between the countries of Mexico, Canada, and the United States of America. While designed to be a trade bloc between the countries, NAFTA has had many undesired effects especially on Mexico and industrial America. Mexican farmers have been badly hurt by the incorporation of NAFTA. While Americans have farm subsidies, specifically in the crops of corn, America is able to keep competitive prices if nor cheaper prices with that of Mexico. Moreover, this dumping by America has caused many Mexican farmers to stop farming corn and look elsewhere for employment. Thus, with America’s predatory pricing in agriculture, many Mexicans are forced out of business and forced to look elsewhere for work. Of course the most prosperous place to work is America, thus, we have a circle in which NAFTA has added to the amount of undocumented workers coming to America.

Supporters of globalization argue that it has the potential to make this world a better place to live in and solve some of the deep-seated problems like unemployment and poverty. But the opponents general complaint about globalization is that it has made the rich richer while making the non-rich poorer. “It is wonderful for managers, owners and investors, but hell on workers and nature.”

If businesses don’t export jobs overseas, they need to find new ways to remain competitive in the global markets. This can come in the form of pay cuts for employees, which also harms the economy since there is less disposable income (businessweek.com). Again Mourdoukoutas (2011) offers his support by stating globalization can lead communities to escape the unemployment trap by devaluating currency and raising trade barriers. China currently employs the currency devaluating tactic to maintain their edge in American markets. This makes American products more expensive to obtain in China, as opposed to their inferior, cheaper products. This causes American based businesses to seek new creative ways to lower production costs to remain competitive in Chinese markets.

Across the world, globalization is one of the most significant aspects that has occurred over the last fifty years. It allows a country to integrate economically with other countries through a global network comprised of people, trade, and transportation. With the global landscape only becoming more intertwined, globalization and its inherent pros and cons seem to be here to stay. In many areas, global powers tend to lack in rectifying the negative aspects and only focus on the positive side. America, for example, is a leader in the globalization efforts, even though it has greatly effected job opportunities at home, widening income gaps, and an increased standard of living due to fluctuating world markets.