Role Of Unions During The United States

The first and most important affect has been the decline in manufacturing employment due to the liberalization of trade and globalization. This has had a compounding effect on unions; factories or companies close or move elsewhere and lay off workers, thus diminishing union membership and reducing the collective negotiating power of the unions. Then, the factories and companies that remain in America can use the threat of a shutdown or relocation further reducing a union’s ability to negotiate with their employers. This has combined to cause a fragmentation of labor, undermining union’s ability to collectively bargain for wages and benefits. Deindustrialization has caused the United States to shift to a service economy adding the loss of traditional union occupations. At the same time, Republicans and the capitalist class launched political smear war against unions. They were effectively able to label unions with an anti-American and anti-prosperity stigma that greatly reduced their perception and popularity with the public at large (72-76). This has created a cycle, greatly weakening unions over time, which has lead to the deterioration in the quantity and quality of labor which have come together to diminish the quality of living for American middle and working class families which is most easily seen in rising income inequality as seen in the chart below (Nation 24).

A Union is a group of workers who wanted something better from their company or facility, they are called strikers. Unions benefit workers in many ways, they help get workers' rights. Unions  are formed because their working conditions are irritable. They all needed and wanted a change; Labor Unions were created to help the workers with work-related difficulties such as low pay, unsafe or unsanitary working conditions, long hours, and other situations. .

Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.

To understand the worth of today’s unions, we must first understand the history and purpose of these organizations. Simply put, a union is an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer. There are many types of unions. For instance, a craft union is one whose members do one type of work, often using specialized skills and training. An industrial union is one that includes many persons working in the same industry or company, regardless of jobs held. A federation is a group of autonomous national and international unions (Mathis 529). The main purpose of all these organizations is to secure benefits and rights in the workplace. The history of unions in the United States dates

“I regard my workpeople just as I regard my machinery...When my machines get old and useless, I reject them and get new, and these people are part of my machinery” (Sands 12). A foreman at a textile mill in Fall River, Massachusetts spoke these words in possibly the worst time during American labor history, the Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, large numbers of people in the United States flocked to work in factories where they faced long hours, unsanitary and unsafe conditions and poor wages. Labor unions, or groups of organized workers, formed in the United States to ensure workers the right to a safe workplace and a fair wage in the face of capitalistic factory owners seeking wealth. In exchange, union

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)

Unions in America were created to improve the working conditions of its labor force. These labor force consisted of the men, women, and children that were employed by the owners of industry. Many unions were established in the early 1800s, but due to the widespread fear of socialism and the repression from the courts, the majority of them eventually failed. Most capitalist, at the time, felt there was no need to share with its employees the profits of their businesses (Murrin et al. 2002:685-702). Management, for the most part, paid little attention to salary and provided few, if any, safety measures and health protection for the people actually doing the work. Employees worked long hours weekly, often

Labor unions are a gathering of people for a united cause. People within a labor union fight for common goals such as better pay and fair working conditions. In most cases when a union attacks a certain aspect it is so they can all acquire the same out come, such as raising the minimum wage to twelve dollars an hour for all. The primary reason unions were created was because workers weren’t always treated appropriately throughout history. Industrial leaders would make maximum profit by making their employees work twelve to fifteen hour workdays for seven days a week and they would only earn pennies for each hour of work. The conditions in which employees conducted work was unsafe and unhealthy yet no one could complain because they could not afford to lose their job. This is when labor unions were introduced, at first they started off small only pertaining to a specific geological area in regards to a specific craft such as shoe making in Philadelphia. The smaller unions are known as locals, an employee affiliated with the union is then appointed as a liaison between their fellow workers and the corporation making them the shop steward. However, people realized they held power in numbers and ultimately national unions were established such as the, Knights of Labor.

The creation of unions has impacted Americans lives for many years. Unions created in the late 1800‘s focused on protecting kids from child labor. Later they began to help workers by providing them with rights and benefits. As unions began to become popular, diversity helped them grow. Throughout the years, unions have gained a lot of power due to the amount of members enrolling .

If unions are that beneficial to workers, why the increasing decline? Several reasons come into play. One issue being, there has been a rapid growth within particular categories, such as women. There are more women currently in the labor force, who are more prone to working sporadically and half the time compared to others. Secondly, there has been a decline in union’s actively engaging new members, as well as their being a steady increase in the employer’s unwillingness to take part in unionization attempts. Additionally, because society has shifted from unionized corporations with a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy has made it more difficult to unionize. Although, there have been uncontrollable and controllable forces that have led to the decreasing popularity of unions, they have still managed to make up for it in vital areas, such as wages, benefits, working conditions, and others. Whether or not individuals view labor unions as positive or negative organizations, they will always matter.

Labor unions are an organized association of employees who come together who would all like to better the relationship with their employer. They have power to impact things such as wages, job training and other work related issues. So why would employees want to start and organize a union? Well, one reason employees would want to start a union it’s usually because employees are dissatisfied with something in their job and they would like to fix it. The ‘things’ they would like to fix could range from something as basic as wages and to job security (Hunter 1).

Labor unions date to the 19th century.  The three labor unions were created  to improve work life in the factories. Workers had long hours, poor conditions and low wages; while their employers enjoyed vast wealth.  Labor unions are groups of workers and employees who bond together to get safer working conditions, better wages, and reasonable hours.  Most famous union is the American Federation of labor (AFL), founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers.  Labor unions protect the rights of workers in specific industries.  Labor unions tend to be more common in manufacturing, mining, construction, transportation, and the public sector.  Labor unions have been around for a long time.  The earlier unions were called craft unions, consisting of members who worked in the same trade such as carpenters and printers.  Working people need to earn enough to support their families; good wages are a part of that, so are health care, paid sick leave and other rights that make sure that working people can do their jobs and take care of their families.

A union is an organised group of workers whose aim is to protect their members and improve their employment conditions. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that in August 2012, 20% of full time employees and 14% of part time employees were members of unions. Although this data shows a decrease in union membership over the last decade or so, the unions are still a very important part of the workplace.

The union is a band of employees and it represents the interest of employee, working conditions, the amount of hours to be worked during the work day and week, and of course negotiate wages with management. Today most union workers are within a group of public sectors. Public sectors are much more limited as to what they can do for public employees due to the labor rights. Public sector unions mainly focus of working conditions and job security. Regarding unions an organization can decide to go with an acceptance strategy or avoidance strategy.

Although the overcome of the elite seems to be the happy ending of fairy tales, there have nevertheless been cases throughout history that prove otherwise. Bulosan describes one of these outcomes in his autobiography. By organizing unions and workers of different backgrounds, he could create a powerful force that eventually sparked revolution for Filipinos and other races living on the West Coast. Unfortunately, unionization had a rocky start, especially because different races each made separate demands from companies, who would therefore grant neither wish. This barrier is described by Bulosan, who states that, “The companies would not recognize their separate demands...they [Mexicans and Filipinos] had not recognized one important part: that the beet companies conspired against their unity” (Bulosan 196).