Labor Unions Essay

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.

During the Progressive Era of the Gilded Age, many laborers were being mistreated by the companies that they worked for. Because of this, workers started forming labor unions or organized association of workers, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Many of these labor unions failed, while few of them achieved their goals and still exist today. Many factors contributed to the failure of these labor unions. The labor unions were given a bad image, the reason for this was the media, and they did this by publishing articles depicting the unions as violent, communist groups. The government supported big business during this time, since the government had a lot of power; this was a huge setback in the labor unions’ battles.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how the administration and membership of the Teamsters Union are organized. The Teamsters was started in 1903 as a merger of the two driving associations. Teamsters are organized with Local Unions, Joint Councils, Trade Divisions and Conferences and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBOT).

Labor unions have existed in one way or another since the birth of our country in 1776. They were created in an effort to protect the working population from abuses such as sweatshops and unsafe working conditions. From the start of our Nation there were a few unions organized unions in a scattered fashion, but many were disbanded after they had achieved their goals, such as when the printers and shoemakers briefly unionized in Philadelphia and New York City in 1778 to conduct the first recorded strike for higher wages. Three years later in 1971 the first successful strike happened, when Philadelphia carpenters campaigned for a ten-hour workday. This caused the need for skilled and unskilled laborers to skyrocket during the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War and also got the ball rolling with Labor unions. At this point in our Country, there had been nothing done yet for workers’ rights, conditions, pay, and so on. People at this time saw that they could come together and do something to make their lives better for themselves and their families. Many of these dates were important in shaping our country’s labor policies into what they are today. In 1847 New Hampshire enacts as the first state to enforce a 10-hour workday law. In 1909 the International Ladies’ Garment workers’ Union calls a strike in New York, demanding a 20-percent raise and a 52-hour workweek. Within two days, more than 20,000 workers from 500 factories walk off the job. This largely successful uprising

Despite being able to cause a small improvement in workers’ pay and hours, labor unions ultimately died out by the 1900s due to their methods. Unable to truly focus on the plight of skilled workers, most labor unions instead focused on that of unskilled workers, pushing aside the skilled workers. (Doc D). The actions of labor unions ended up being counterproductive, forcing companies to wage war against the labor unions. These stricter contracts such as that of Western Union Telegraph Company, forced workers to affiliate themselves against labor unions. (Doc E) One important thing to note is that the workers’ rights advocates were never able to coincide on one factor. As evidenced in an illustration in 1887, labor unions had to compete with other movements such as socialism, anarchism, and other labor unions. (Doc F). Because of this, the media, although recognizing the labor union movement, began viewing the labor unions as dangerous entities. Although the initial strikes such as the Wabash strike were successful, the ones that followed proved detrimental to the movement, and caused the steady decline of the labor unions. Because some of the strikes were dangerous, many strikes resulted in the deaths of those involved, such as the Homestead Crisis, and Pinkerton (Doc G). Combined with events such as the Wildcat strike, Haymarket strike, the Pullman Strike, the public began to associate a negative

They were not willing to make any concessions. They wanted them to continue with the long hours as mandated by them. If the workers didn’t agree to these terms they would be fired. Employers knew that people needed jobs and were not concerned about filling vacant positions. In today’s age, if you’re working that many hours we believe that we should get paid for what we worked. They felt they same way, but because of the union they didn’t receive those rights.

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).

Sometimes unions encourage people to boycott products from an industry or company. Managers can bring in strikebreakers, who work, but are not a part of the union. They can also use a lockout, which means that the management just locks the employees out, until they agree to the terms of the contract that the management draws up.

Workers would not be able to successfully accomplish the established goals without the help of the union.

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.

As America became more industrial more people left their farms and small towns to work in the city so they could pay their expenses, whatever they may be. This led to the minimal pay of workers while the owners became wealthy leading to a functional economy. Most would receive little money while the rest lived a life of luxury. Since more factories were opening children, women, and immigrants could now find jobs, which led to more production which gave more money to the owners of the factories. Americans feared that industrialists were changing freemen into “wage slaves.” “By 1920, nearly 20 percent of all manufacturing workers were women, and 13 percent of all textile workers were younger than 16 years old. In 1900, it was estimated that

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?

The worker needs to gain support from others, and a presumable argument to persuade their boss to do what the ¬¬-worker wants. If the worker does not work hard enough, the strike will deteriorate. They need cooperation from other people, like how in “New York City School Bus Strike”, the “parents supported the strikers.” The passage “Why Is It Rare for Public Sector Workers to Go on Strike?” supported this, saying “they have to be seen as righteous and worthy by the public.” A strike is very hard to win, too, because the worker might not even get assistance from his fellow workers. Most of the time, it appears that strikes are 45 workers vs. 1000

At the initial stage of any strike the bargaining power of the union usually is very high and this result in most employers’ easier agreement with unions demands. The financial implication of every additional day of a strike is enormous and there is immense pressure on the employer to ensure that they cooperate to demands raised by employees or union. However, once the strike ends it will generally impart some additional financial burden to the employer as mentioned above. Therefore, strike is a loss-loss situation for any employer.