Assignment

When women started working in factories, they faced hardships in working conditions. There were dangerous fumes and explosive dangers. There was always the risk of accidental explosions. It was even harder for mothers because there were not any child care policies offered by many companies. Women soon began making unions, such as the National Women’s Trade Union League, where women met and found ways to help raise women wage and have better work

Seventy-five percent of the workforce was made up of women,9 and most of these women were Mexican. These Mexican women faced extremely harsh treatment while working. The three biggest problems these women had that they wanted to get rid of by unionizing were the “pet” system, when male employees and supervisors would favor women they liked or went out with,10 the piece-rate system, when workers get paid by their work accomplished, not by the hour, and the supervisors, who would constantly watch the women and make sure they were working hard.11 Women particularly hated these three systems, especially since they are discriminatory. Also, the piece-rate system would make it hard to get consistent pay. All of the strenuous work would of course make the workers sore, and soon their workload would slowly start to decrease. Furthermore, it is hard to design the piece-rate system in such a way that women would get about the same amount of money men who are paid by the hour. In addition to discrimination, the jobs were often dangerous, as Julia Luna Mount stated, “After work, my hands were red, swollen, and I was on fire!”12 These working conditions inevitably made the labor force create the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA). Most of the members in this

The labor relations movement has been one of the most successful driving forces behind such efforts as: providing aid to workers who were injured or retired, better health benefits and to stop the practice of child labor in the workforce. Ostensibly, unions in the United States arose out of the need to better protect the “common interests” of laborers. Today, many of the social movements and alliances forged are created under the guise to better protect the employer from a plethora of interests made against the organization, rather than, increasing wages, improving reasonable employment hours and/or enhancing work conditions.

In the 7th chapter of the book Drawn to change, it draws attention to the Service, Office, and Retail Workers’ Union of Canada, in which it was a militant attempt to revitalizing a feminist movement and changing the gender makeup of the labour force post WWII. It was able to gather locals of female workers to dedicate their workplace to the success of this organization, however it faced many obstacles as they promoted unions, and employers drastically opposed union-organizing around this time. Unfortunately, this organization no longer exists but it is a vital part of the past that consists of feminism and power to women in the workplace. It was only a stepping stone to where we are on women’s issues today. Similarly, to the #MeToo/Time’s Up movements, they advocate for the equality of women in the workplace, as it is prevalent that females still do not make up of much of the workplace back in the 1970’s and now. In contrast, this organization is deceased under the wrath of the government. However, the #MeToo/Time’s up movement is only growing, and this time with the tactics this organization has succeeded in, the government will not have the same power they did over SORWUC. In the 8th chapter, the working class in Ontario within the 1990’s experienced a situation where employers and politicians intensified their attacks on working people and on the poor. Workers and the unions that represented them were forced to bear the brunt of a global economic recession. Social

See, e.g., Marion Crain & Ken Matheny, Beyond Unions, Notwithstanding Labor Law, 4 U.C. IRVINE L. REV. 561, 562–53 (2014). “Unions served as a vehicle for worker voice and political influence . . . .”

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).

The role of unions and their importance has changed over the years. A mixture of poor wages, high unemployment, non-existent benefits and insignificant professional stability amongst the more youthful era makes a ready demographic for restoration. The younger era is the slightest unionized section of our general public today by a long shot. Unions are important in today’s society because checks and balances are necessary entities in business and government, so if CEOs are just focusing on themselves and profits, unions are a necessary check to all that corporate power. Today and in the future, labor unions will continue to play an important role in our country 's work force and the quality of life for working families.

At a time when labour unions were gaining in memberships, organization, and bargaining power, women in the workforce made marginal gains during this period considering the booming economy. Sociologically, a healthy economy should in theory provide the framework for change. When citizens have low unemployment and more money in their pockets, time and attention is less directed at bread and butter issues like sustenance and poverty, and aimed at equality and social progress. For women unfortunately, this was not necessarily the case. Their battle with employers was still a struggle between classes than gender parity. Male union leadership would naturally further male worker interests first,8 and this shows a culture of sexism in the workplace that was clearly difficult for working women to overcome. Even union-dues paying women rarely openly questioned their subordination as a sex.9 They were most likely outnumbered and the consequences of being a whistle blower did not want to be entertained. In the mindset of women who worked however, was a developing identity as female wage earners and unionists.10

Union organizing required more than simply providing a setting. The women workers needed to define themselves in relation to the conflicting family and social

This labor study will define the important strategies of the validation of racism/sexual-orientation bias, militancy, and self-organizing as a way to form stronger union solidarity and organizational structures for minorities. In the early 21st century, the abstraction of racism in American/Canadian culture has led to a denial of racism as a major problem in union representation. However, minority union activists need to continually be debating and challenging racial and sexist stereotypes that patriarchal and racist unions continue to propagandize. More so, minorities can rely on militant organizational techniques,

The labor union movement over the years has shaped the way individuals work and live for both the nicest and unpleasant. Some would think the unions influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In today’s time, some citizens insist the existence of unions are a must to aid in employee freedom, while others view the labor unions as just another problem in the line of progress. The purpose of labor unions was for employed workers to come together and collectively agree on fundamental workplace objectives. The rise of the union came about after the Civil War- responding to the industrial economy. Surprisingly at the least unions became popular within the 1930-50’s and began to slowly decrease,

Individuals have been at work for thousands and thousands of years. Over the last century there have been many changes in the United States that protects workers in their positions and the duties they perform. There has been many changes for employers as well that protects companies and organization and offers beneficial information to keep them in compliance with changes and away from any from and form of discrimination. Over the last century there has been the organization of Unions (Bargaining Unit) in which are to protect workers in their positions, give them fair marketable pay and be the liaison between the employer and employee. Union organizations represent employees and negotiate contracts that

State Department of Labor as a direct result of pressure from organized labor (MacLaury). Shortly after the creation of the Department of Labor, the Great Recession hit the nation. With the depression came an increased unemployment and lesser wages however significant legislation was also created during that time that impacted union membership. The most significant law was the Fair Labor Standards Act. Following shortly after this FLSA, the United States amended the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Occupations Health and Safety Act of 1970. Although these acts were supported by the power of unions, these acts in particular impact union membership which will be discussed later in the paper. It was at this time in the nation’s history that unions began to see a decline in membership. Unions today cast a wide umbrella of membership and consist of trade unions such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Laborers International Union of North America to service unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers. Although their membership has declined, unions that were once affiliated with a defined group skilled labor employees now can be found in almost any industry representing any group of employees.

A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their jobs and the quality of work within the organization. In many occasions, unions help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003). In this paper, I will be discussing the impact of unions and labor relations within an organization.

BK, on the other hand, uses the continuous chain broiler, with a capacity of 8 burgers per chain, where no human intervention is necessary because the patties enter the broiler on one end and come out on other end after 80 seconds. Furthermore, sandwich dressing is standardized at McD’s with lever based dispensers and portion controlled condiments. At BK, sandwich dressing is handled by employees using plastic squeeze bottles without pre-measured quantities. The lack of portion-controlled condiments at BK can result in different taste and quality of products in addition to wastage. Exhibit 5 and 6 reveal the operating results for McD’s and BK, respectively. McD’s is ahead of the game in the sandwich dressing department, Exhibit 6 shows that BK spends 1.1% of their sales in condiments wastage. BK also uses microwave ovens to maintain the “Made to Order” warm and fresh burgers. The use of microwave ovens result in a 2.1% increase in utility cost compared to McD’s. On the other hand, the cost of food at McD’s is 1.9% higher compared to BK because McD’s keeps finished goods inventory in a bin for 10 minutes before they are discarded. In addition, the paper used to wrap the burger contributes to higher food cost of 0.9% at McD’s.