Social Justice : A Catalyst For Change

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.

Organized labor affects the lives of many citizens everyday, often in a roundabout way. Labor Unions affect many different people from blue-collar workers to white-collar workers, stay-at-home moms, students, and retirees. Fewer; however realize the legal role Labor Unions have played and continue to play in the financial system, political affairs, and society in general. In today's society, more of our skilled hourly and unskilled workers belong to some sort of Labor Union and that is a good sign that Unions will not face extinction. As long as there is a need for higher wages, there will be a need for Unions.

The unions of yesterday have left the public feeling fearful of what might happen in the future. Will history repeat itself? Will employees be deceived through the mighty power of Labor Unions? Promoting benefits of unionized labor is one approach to regaining the trust of the public. Benefits include medical aid, heath insurance, worker compensation and overall respect of employees in the workplace. I feel with these measures taken Labor unions will once again reach the productivity that it once had pre-WWII.

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).

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

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.

In the past 50 years the membership in labor unions have decreased, and at a rapid pace. There are many reasons why the membership has decreased, but the focus will be on four main reasons. The first reason being that in today’s

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 past 30 years have been gloomy ones for the labor movement. In the American private sector trade-union membership has fallen from a third in 1979 to just 7% today. There is an exception to this story of decline: public unions in America has strengthened over the same period from 11% to 36%. There are now more American workers in unions in the public sector (7.6m) than in the private sector (7.1m), although the private sector employs five times as many people. This private-public move has changed the trade union movement. In the 1950s unions were steady working class, men who had left school at 16 and inclined to go left on economics but right on social issues. Today they are much more middle-class: more than a quarter of American unionists

In your post you focus on the idea that unions are not readily available now based on our current economy, however there still is a need or want for such organizations. There definitely has been a decline in unions that can be related to a number of factors, but the need for them probably still does exist. Many large corporations fought viciously to portray unions in a negative light and to highlight their shortcomings. In 2003, I witnessed a four month long strike by union grocery workers in Southern California (Jordan, 2004). With over 70,000 union members representing 900 grocery stores, the impact was significant. Eventually both sides would come to an agreement after consumers lost interest in supporting the strike. In the end, employees won better health care benefits, but lost some wage protections.

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,

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?

Organized labor has seen a long and ever changing history in the United States. What began as minimal organized labor movement catapulted into astronomical union membership rates as the nation grew and developed. The intense power unions possessed only lasted so long and in the years since 1970, union membership in the United States has collapsed. This paper will examine the most significant reasons for the decline in membership. In brief, organizational redesigns, the development of technology and substantial public policy changes have all contributed to the drop in affiliation rates. In addition, policy suggestions will be provided in an attempt to support the continuation of the trend. Much of the research regarding this topic refers to

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.