My Father Has The Most Interesting Story

Labor Unions: Aging Dinosaur or Sleeping Giant? The Labor Movement and Unionism Background and Brief History Higher wages! Shorter workdays! Better working conditions! These famous words echoed throughout the United States beginning in “1790 with the skilled craftsmen” (Dessler, 1997, p. 544). For the last two-hundred years, workers of all trades have been fighting for their rights and “seeking methods of improving their living standards, working conditions, and job security” (Boone, 1996,p.287). As time went by, these individuals came to the conclusion that if they work together collectively, they would grow stronger to get responses to their demands. This inspired into what we know today as labor unions. “A labor union

Congress did not deem it necessary to arrange for a pension for former Presidents. Kennedy also had money. Johnson, too, had money, so they never thought it was necessary. Even though he was the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman left office in 1953 and did not have a pension. I’m not even sure that he was entitled to social security as a federal employee. There was a pension bill, but, for some reason it stagnated. Truman moved to Missouri into the home of his in-laws.

Dr. Latonia S. Johnson has a bachelor’s degree from Elizabeth City State University, she has attained her Master of Social Work degree at Norfolk State University, and a Ph.D. in Human Services in Capella University. Her experience includes working as a counselor for a nonprofit organization that provide services for people that need assistance with domestic violence and sexual assault. She’s currently based in Northeastern Carolina.

Unions have been around for a long time. The first recorded union was in 1792, when shoemakers in Philadelphia met to consider matters of common interest. This earliest form of

Labor union were crucial in the late 1800’s when the workers were working long hours, doing hard work, without any extra pay. Job security (could be fired at any given time) and safety precautions did not exist in this era, jobs in this day was typically a threat to the workers due to the bad working conditions. When the union was formed in 1866 it was not easy, but if the workers understood how it would benefit them it would have been a greater successes. Due to lack of education, the communication between the union and the works was broken. Some of the religious beliefs created a hardship on getting the union passed. One of the unions called the AFL (American Federation of Labor) was created in 1881 that would try to fight for workers’ rights.

Being raised in a predominantly union family has greatly influenced my life. It has taught me to fight for what I believe in, change what I don’t like, and always work hard for my money. It is these lessons that I will carry with me not only through my youth, but also into the rest of my

The American Federation of Labor was an association of trade unions starting 1886, rising out of an earlier Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions founded in 1881. The AFL's president, Samuel Gompers, was convinced that unions open to workers of all types of skills within a given industry,called industrial unions,were too undisciplined to withstand the tactics that both government and management had used to break American unions in the past. The answer, was craft unions, each limited to the skilled workers in a single trade. According to Gompers's "pure and simple unionism," labor should not waste its energies fighting capitalism; I ts sole task was to hammer

First some disclosure about myself: my mother was a strong union member for General Motors for over 32 years where she held several different offices in the union. My stepfather was a member of the local iron workers union and then a member of the union at Tinker Field Airbase. When I got out of high school I worked at General Motors wishing I could join the union. Within a year of being out of school I hired on the fire department and joined their local union where I was a member for over 22 years. Needless to say I have a long history with labor unions and the benefits they provide. I know unions have done great things for our nation and have been a counterbalance to greedy companies that take advantage of

The history of unions in the US is based on a time line that represents workers struggling to organize unions. In the United States, the history of unions played an important part in the independence process

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

The changes brought up labor unions in the United States over recent history has brought about a movement. This specific movement has shaped the way that employees and workers are treated in the workforce,and how they maintain their quality of life through this employment. Many people think that the labor unions’ influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In many cases this can be considered true, as there have been countless feuds between management teams and labor unions, especially in recent history. In today’s times, on the one hand, some people believe the existence of unions are a necessity in order to ensure and promote employee freedom; while on the other hand some people view labor unions as just another problem in the line of employee success.

The American Federation of Labor, AFL, was founded in 1886 (Brands, 422). This particular group was defined as a loose alliance of national craft unions, which only organized skilled workers, avoiding politics, and worked for specific objectives (Brands, 422). Unlike the Knights of Labor, the AFL initially only allowed skilled workers to join the organization, because it was believed that a more concentrated group of people meant more success for the union (American Federation of Labor). This meant unskilled labors, women, African Americans, and other racial minorities were either excluded from the representation of this organization or were unequal in representation itself (American Federation of Labor). Samuel Gompers, the AFL’s founder and longtime president stated “ I have my own philosophy and my own dreams … but first and foremost I want to increase the workingman’s welfare year by year” (Brands, 422). Gompers attempted to take the more pragmatic approach to address the labor’s needs as he accepted capitalism and did not attempt to radically change the workplace, and is well well known for avoiding politics (Brands, 422). It is evident that Gompers simply wanted “a recognized place within the system and more of the rewards” (Brands, 422). Under Samuel Gompers' leadership, the AFL became the largest labor union organization

Through these decades, the labor movement has constantly reached out to groups in the American society striving for their share of opportunity and rewards..... to the blacks, the Hispanics and other minorities..... to women striving for jobs and equal or comparable pay . . . to those who work for better schools, for the freedom of speech, press and assembly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights ... to those seeking to make our cities more livable or our rural recreation areas more available . . . to those seeking better health for infants and more secure status for the elderly.

Labor Unions began in the United States in the mid-late 1800’s. The first founding labor union was the National Labor Union, started in 1866. This labor union was not set on a particular type of worker and even though it did not succeed in making a difference in workers’ rights, it set an important precedent in our country. Being a part of a labor union has lots of pros and cons, as well as, because of them, the right to work movement was created.

For everything stolen, place the blame onto another. The tragedy that continues will surely cease, the moment light is found. Social justice is admittedly one of my greatest passions. As one of my primary interests, I have a strong passion for denouncing evil and allowing justice to conquer. I hope that through the actions I make now, and will continue to make, what I do will be able to change the world we have. Regardless, of whether it is a minor or major change, I truly hope my decisions will be able to provide a sense of relief, for even one person. I want to be known as a person who served others; as someone who loved the idea of peace so much, they lent their hand out to anyone who required assistance. The people I am given the opportunity