Unions Struggle With Outsourcing

The document outlines the pros and cons of labor unions in America. The analysis takes into consideration how unions have improved the working environments for workers, and may continue to do so. The paper considers the power of unions for net social benefit, including the role they play in lobbying lawmakers, using collective bargaining to advocate for employees, and the prevention of abuse and discrimination. The cons of labor unions are also addressed. These drawbacks to labor unions include but are not limited to: decline in competitive advantage for American companies, corruption, potential decrease in productivity, possible reduction in employee motivation, and increased inefficiencies.

Lewis announced the conception of the Committee for Industrial Organization, also known as the CIO, in 1935. The CIO was made up of 12 leaders of the AFL Unions. Lewis made harsh allegations toward his colleagues in the AFL. These allegations caused the CIO and the AFL to break up in 1936. The first constitutional convention was held by the CIO in 1938 and officially became known as the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Over the next few years, both the CIO and the AFL Unions saw a sizeable gain in their membership. At a convention held in New York on December 5, 1955 the AFL and the CIO put aside their differences and agreed to work together in the fight for Industrial Unionism. The AFL-CIO unification and its additional agreements brought about the end of the disputes between the Unions that had weighed down the labor movement in the earlier years. The Unions begin to work on organizing workers in the area of industries, and plants where there was not a working system of labor representation. Sometimes this meant they had to come up with knew ideas and new methods to achieve the goal of unionizing the employees of the business that had resisted them in the years before the merger of the AFL-CIO.

To help bring about congressional change, the National Labor Union was created in 1866 “to pressure Congress to make labor law reforms” (Library of Congress). It was composed of “national associations of unions” with “trade-printers, machinists, stone cutters” and others (American Federationist).

Labor unions are lawfully recognized as envoys of employees in many companies in the United States. Activities of labor unions are centered on collective bargaining over workers’ benefits, working conditions, and salaries. They also stand in for their members in disagreements with management over the contract provisions violation. There are also larger unions that engage in activities of lobbying and electioneering at the federal or state level. In America, most unions are associated with one or two wider umbrella organizations. These unions stand to advocate legislation and policies on the workers’ behalf. They are also actively involved in workers politics, as well as issues of global trade but as times generations changed have they out lived their purpose. This paper examines labor unions, labor laws, NLRB and, the different generations represented in the workforce and how they affect the future of the Union.

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.

Unions in America today have grown smaller and smaller in the past 30 years. There are many reasons for this. The major one is that industries in other countries that are non-union have much cheaper labor costs, and therefore can offer products and materials at a much lower price than our US union-run, high wage cost factories. “During the 1970s and 1980s, a fifth of large unionized companies in the United States went bankrupt, unable to compete against companies with lower wage costs.” (Rachman, 308)

The fact that many US employers look down on, discourage, and blatantly combat unionization is not a recent occurrence as successful organization thereof can result in decreased profits and inflated personnel costs. Fossum (2012) argues that ‘employers have long resisted attempts to unionize” (p. 215) and implemented various strategies to remain union free and greedily persist in their efforts toward heightened profitability through utilization of unfair labor practices.

“Unions are no longer beneficial in our society because today we have so many laws protecting the rights of workers. In the 19th and early 20th century the workers of America had virtually no rights and were unable to improve their work conditions, salary, etc. With the arrival of unions, the state of the common laborer greatly improved. But today, with so many laws ensuring the rights of employees, unions are doing more harm than good. For example, many analysts believe that union's demand for so many raises and benefits for the auto industry workers has driven it into the ground, so they are no longer able to compete with other countries.” (Nett, 2014).

I would rather be part of a non-unionized workplace. While there are certainly many benefits of working as a member of a union, I enjoy having the freedom of being independent of the union. I would prefer to negotiate the my own workplace contract because I know my worth as an employee, I know both my assets and my liabilities, and can work to get the contract most suited to my needs. I enjoy a workplace where promotions are based off personal worth and not seniority because it encourages me to work harder at my job and provide better service. While I would enjoy the benefits that come with working in a unionized workplace, such as more job security and training services, I do not enjoy the political aspect of the unions or how much value is

Unfortunately, employers don’t always have to hire their workers back. For instance, if they believe the union did not act in good faith, they may have the right to fire their workers. Few private employers can afford simultaneous 100 percent turnover, even temporarily, so a strike threat encourages negotiations. Today, management holds more leverage knowing that many people cannot afford the risk of losing their jobs in such a competitive economy. So instead of negotiating labor issues, employees are satisfied with what is given to them. The rhetoric of solidarity has long obscured the reality of unionism: Unions drive up wages by pitting workers against workers, insiders against outsiders (Reason).

The American labor union has failed in its duty to protect the employees. Currently, most of the public unions agree to the plan that every worthy benefit or wage ought to be balanced by the union’s special consideration like agreeing to a two-tier salary scale, surrendering some hours, raised copays or even deductibles for medical procedures. However, these associations have done little to fight for the workers when they are faced with salary reductions, poor pays, unwarranted cutbacks and when they are denied compensation for retirements or injuries. According to Aronowitz, the US labor movement has continued to deteriorate and lacks the voice it had some times ago. By 1990s, the labor had already decreased in intensity from the higher 35 percent membership in 1953. This is just an indication that workers have no hopes in the then merged AFL-CIO (American Federation Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations) who sought to democratize the labor movement. Their so-mediated organizing model that aimed at expanding the membership was a change of the core role of the previous service model of unionism that focused on petitioning for the members’ requests. Where the distresses may have begun earlier in the 1970s, it was not until the era of Ronald Reagan that the impact was felt. Since then, members of the labor unions have turned to be mere clients. The restructuring of the economy through technological change, and company merges, so millions of workers lose jobs. However, the

Today most labor unions in the United States are members of one of two larger umbrella organizations: the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) or the Change to Win Federation, which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both organizations advocate policies and legislation favorable to workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in Democratic party politics. The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues.

The rise of capitalism as the dominant economic system in the United States made the rise of unions inevitable; given the natural division between those with capital that control the means of production, and labor, who is treated simply as another factor of production (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008). While labor unions have made significant improvements to the working environment, with the regulation of safety, environment, labor and wage; labor unions have also contributed to the decline of U.S. dominance in industries like steel, automotive, education and airlines. In today’s global economy, can labor unions continue to be a force for good in the United States, or have they become harmful institutions?

Though, unions are declining, the role of union have evolved over time. Now, it is more common to view unions’ primary role as collective bargaining, which is the product of the economic decision and making process with unionism of the private sector. A long time ago, Union was seen as the shield that protects American workers against some of the abusive employers. Many public sector employees have unionized. However, the National Labor Relations Act was designed for the private sector. Despite that, union has become a model for most public sector collective bargaining right. Regardless of the success that Unions have with collective bargaining in the private sector, there are still a few who are opposed collective bargaining in the public sector. Of course, there are some differences between the public and private sectors.

Unions have had their share of developing troubles. The joining of two power house unions in 1955, American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO), reportedly had a collective membership of fifteen million. The AFL-CIO became the world biggest union and represented more than fifty separate labor unions in numerous industries. Leadership within both unions realized this as a way to considerably increase membership and starve off the belief of being an unimportant presence in the workplace. This move showed to be