Knights Of Employment Essay

Organized labor began to rise as the business tycoons and big business owners, "…took advantage of this lawless environment to build fortunes, destroy reputations, exploit both workers and the environment, and gouge consumers" (Shi &Tindall 620). Such acts by the business tycoons prompted many workers to demand higher wages, better working hours, and safer working conditions. As the turn of the 20th Century approached, factories started emerging, and technological innovations since, "The U.S. patents office, which had recorded only 276 inventions during the 1790's, registered almost 250,000 new patents in the 1890's" (Shi &Tindall 622). The inventions led to the advancement of machines in factories as they reduced labor costs, lowered the production costs of certain goods, and essentially creating a widespread mass production of goods. As most individuals began to notice, unfairness among their workplace, they included themselves in certain labor unions including the Knights of Labor (KOL), Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and the American Federation of Labor (AFL). All three groups had different beliefs: the Knights of Labor included all members whether skilled or unskilled in their group; the AFL rejected Capitalism and focused on working conditions—as they were successful in organized labor; and lastly, the IWW strived for strong industrial unions or Unionism.

The Knights of Labor (KOL) and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), both movements stressed that the existing wage and profit system needed to be reform. They both believed in “One big union.” The methods of achieving their goals were different, the KOL believed that employers and employees shared similar interests and that change should be peaceful and gradual; however, the IWW did not agree with that and believed in the use of any method that would result in a quick ‘destruction of capitalism’. The IWW's aim was to build an organization that would embrace all workers to fight for immediate demands as well as for a new industrial common wealth. The KOL’s main goal was long-range economic and social reforms.

The IWW was neither a traditional labor union or a federation of labor unions, but a labor union comprised with many members of other labor organizations. (Dubofsky & Foster, 2004, p. 195). The IWW was extremely inclusive, accepting most skilled and unskilled labor, most notably migrant farmworkers. (Dubofsky & Foster, 2004, p. 197). The IWW's goals were political, seeking to empower the

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.

The Knights of Labor represented the pinnacle of the up lift labor movement. They, at one time, had membership that numbered in the hundreds of thousands and nearly hit a million members. This organization was unique in its time because it espoused many of the ideals we hold today as statutory for an ethical and equitable society as well as employee and employer relationships. The Knights of Labor did not begrudge industry or capitalism, moreover they were less of a concern than the organization’s larger goal to protect and promote social equity in labor and society, for the common man.

The AFL (American Federation of Labor) and the Knights of Labor were two major labor unions. Both of these unions were established to represent those (workers) who had been treated unfairly for many years. Scrutinizing the American Federation of Labor, we can see that they were a union who solely represented experienced workers. Although the AFL focused on the fundamental issues that impacted these workers, they avoided dealing with major social issues. Not only did the American Federation of Labor want to utilize collective bargaining to settle contracts, but they wanted unions to be accredited by businesses as the sole representatives for workers in their companies. On the other hand, the Knights of Labor, unlike the American Federation

Followed directly on the heels of the National Labor Union was the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881. The Knights was an “all-embracing organization” whose membership included the “skilled or unskilled, black or white, male or female” (Miller). But inclusion of unskilled

The union will need to engage in intra-organizational bargaining in order to reach a greater consensus as to what is essential to our workers. By going through this process away from the bargaining table, we can come to the table with a firm and unified stance. We indent to do this in a number of ways. First, we can educate workers about how in actuality, their interests are aligned because a victory for the union is a victory for all members. For example, an improved pension plan does not only benefit older workers, but also younger workers because of the precedent that this proposed pension plan will set for their future pension plans. The same is true for job security. We will ensure the workers that we as their union are their agents in their desire to improve their wages and working conditions. This emphasis on unity will increase our relative power and aid us when it comes time for zero-sum bargaining.

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,

Being part of a union gives members the benefit of negotiating with their employer collectively, as part of a group; giving them more power than if they were to negotiate as individuals (Silverman, n.d.). Overall, unions demand fairness which can lead to the unions influencing and changing ‘managerial decision-making at the workplace level’ for decisions in which employees are affected (Verma 2005). Unions are also beneficial to have present in the workplace because their bargaining of better condition will often benefit non-members as the conditions negotiated with management are implemented across the organization with no regard to membership status. Management is also able to avoid union disagreement by benchmarking conditions to that of an already unionized workplace.

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

It is certainly true that the current law defining the employment status of ‘workers’ is uncertain, as it is wholly inflexible to deal effectively with cases of non-standard forms of employment, atypical workers, for example: agency workers, part-time workers, fixed-term workers, as required workers and homeworkers. Thus, reform is necessary to redress the concerns of lack of legal certainty in relation to this area of the law.

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.

This belief differs from the union buster, because his goals is to ensure that a union never comes into existences, by any means necessary. A union buster, uses illegal tactics such as counter organizing drives, to prevent nonunion employees from joining a union. One such tactic is divide and conquer, as he targets not only the employees to get the results he wants, but also their immediate supervisors. The union buster is driven by self-interest and cares little if nothing about the greater good, nor for the employees’ of whom will benefit from union representation. One such union suppression tactics used by union busters, is the use of inefficient or welfare-reducing behavior, by compromising ethical and legal standards. The union buster resorts to lies and deceit as a mean of making sure that an organization does not unionize.

Unions, governmental interventions, and human resource management personnel work together, in order to provide a safe and fair work environment for the employee. Unions serve the workers’ right to be treated fairly in all aspects of the job. This includes the pay, benefits, flexibility, bonuses, and the prevention of being treated as ‘second-class’ workers. The first function of the union is “seeking effective administration of the union from within”, including management of dues obtained; secondly, “Unions monitor the interests of the workers, represent workers when disagreements with employers arise, and ensure that workers receive fair pay for