The Fundamental Role Of Labor Unions

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 difference of income and workers conditions has been a timeless conflict present throughout history of the United States. In the past workers were faced with deadly work conditions and around the clock hours for little pay. These unjust conditions dramatically increased during the Industrial Revolutions that the United States experienced in the nineteenth century. The latter period of industrialization produced the organization of the first labor unions in the Country, namely the Knights of Labor established in 1869 and the American Federation of Labor established in 1886. In present day countless unions exist, and are a lot less needed than they were in the early industrial days of the United States (Brinkley, 2012).

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

Unions do provide a lot of good services to its members, such as higher wages, better hours, more benefits, and safer working conditions. There is a price to pay for these services, though. Every union requires its members to pay dues, whether they are in the form of a percentage of each paycheck, or a flat rate. The money form dues goes towards lobbying politicians to pass union-friendly legislation, or better labor laws. The money also finances officers in the union organization, who are the ones calling the shots, as far as labor negotiations are concerned.

Labor union is an organized association of workers, in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. During the industrial revolution in Europe there was a rise in new workers without representation in the workplace. In the 19th century the industrial revolution spread to the United States from Europe, this resulted in the economy shifting to manufacturing from agriculture as an economic importance. American societies were increasing in population as well as experiencing industrial growth. This industrialization brought conflict between businesses and the labor force since mechanized production was replacing household

The history of trade and industrial union has in the past year been very powerful and proficient when influencing members, employers and politicians. Recently, they have evolved to become less powerful and influential. This is because of the major relapse of the membership of unions and also the government disparaging trade unions in the area of workplace relations. Some governments marginalized those unions in order to significantly reduce the role played by unions by reorienting the relations among and between the employers and the employees.

2.6 Some of the features or characteristics of demographic trends are the largest organized group of workers are in the blue collar sector, semi-skilled workers. Professional employees are the largest group in the white collar sector. The north east and mid-west states have the highest amount of union members. Only 10 unions have a large percentage of union members and the public sector unions are gaining the largest membership. Women make up a smaller percentage of union members than men. The number of union members has increased by 9% and the number of union members of men has decreased by 8% since 1970. Since 1970 women are becoming a significant amount of the union workforce and more minorities are becoming union members.

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 role of management and unions in society today is to protect the employee. The management team needs to make sure she/he is treating the employee fairly, needs to provide a good work environment. If management fails to do a good job and the employee feels discriminated, treated unfairly, feels discontent for different reason, management does not want the union to get involved, they feel respect for unions and will do whatever it takes to make their team happy. This is why so many companies have employee parties, employee recognitions, etc.

Two years after the infamous Triangle fire, 20,000 workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts; angered over wage cuts and deplorable conditions went on strike, prompting the twin reactions of police brutality and press coverage (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008). “As a result of the strike, not only were wages raised and conditions improved in the textile industry as a whole, but important legislation was also enacted that restricted the exploitation of child and female labor” (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008, p. 132). It is doubtful that working conditions would have evolved to the level of equity we find today, without the sacrifice and activism of unions and their members.

Union locals are not incorporated into the management of the workplace. The most important objective of unions is to protect workers' interests against management's interests. This is because, in most cases, the interests of managers and those of workers are very much different. Workers are interested in increasing their salaries, in reducing their volume of work, and in improving workplace conditions. Managers are interested in increasing profits while reducing investments. Therefore, negotiations must be made between the two parties. Workers must unite and select certain people that can represent their interests in these negotiations. This is how unions were developed.

The impact of unions exceeds the direct benefits enjoyed by member workers. Changes brought about in the workplace through the influence of labor unions have been substantial and far-reaching. Labor unions have effected the perceptions of members of societies with regard to fair wages and total compensation, fringe benefits, workplace safety and protections, and acceptable parameters for workers with regard to age, gender, race, and nation of origin (Mishel & Walters, 2003). Regardless of their labor or professional associations, members of society owe a debt to labor unions for their undaunted pursuit of legislation that serves to protect workers and establish basic worker rights. Some of the gains achieved by labor unions in this regard include: Health and safety regulations, overtime rules, and the provision of medical and family leave to workers (Mishel & Walters, 2003). That these regulations exist, and are enforced by state and federal agencies, is a direct result of the relentless lobbying of union members often at peril of their own lives. Unions strive to keep their workers informed about their rights and the regulations that are designed to protect those rights (Mishel & Walters, 2003). Labor union members are more likely to benefit from federal social insurance programs (i.e., workers' compensation and unemployment insurance) because they are informed about these programs and because labor unions purposefully conduct lay-offs and the follow-up to

Although there were many good things pointed out about labor unions there were also negative thoughts regarding labor unions. One of the biggest challenges employers face managing in a unionized environment is flexibility or, rather, lack thereof. Union workers often work set hours, and they must take a certain number of breaks during the day, no matter or how heavy the workload. This means it can be difficult for managers to implement new ways of working, because all changes involving union members need to

Why we need labor unions? Labor unions are a part of American history and the reason why we all aren’t slaving away in seven days a week for 10 cents an hour. Without labor unions, workers work at the poor pay, poor working conditions, no protective equipment or health benefits. Labor unions are important because they are one of the few ways working people can organize, to be heard, and to prevent corporate abuses of power. However, union music provided a powerful tool to recruit new members. The union music that related to labor union movement are "Bread and Roses" "Which side are you on" and " Talking Union."

According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report published in January this year, union membership in the United States hit an all-time low in 2016 with only an estimated 10.7% of wage and salary workers belonging to a union. While at their peak in 1954, roughly 28.3% of all workers were estimated to belong to unions, but membership has continuously declined ever since. There are many theories as to why this is, but due to how interconnected the topic of labor itself is with society, the economy, and political climate, there is no singular obvious cause. The theories overviewed here are Michael Goldfield’s sociological, cyclical, and political theories, Gordon Clark’s community theory, and Henry S. Farber and Alan B. Krueger’s demand theory.