Union In The Workplace

One of the positive aspects of unions in America is their ability to improve the working conditions of most American workers. During the Industrial Revolution, working conditions for employees became

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.

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

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. .

     Unions have become commonplace in the labor arena. They provide employees with a valuable tool that allows them to stand together against their employer to make sure that their rights are upheld in the workplace. This paper will focus on labor unions with regards to how they work in two very different companies, Ford Motor Company and United Airlines. Also, a brief history will be outlined as well as legislation regarding unions.

Unions could no longer coerce employees or management into forcing employees to join the union. They also had to bargain in good faith and could not charge excessive dues or initiation fees.

It is thanks to labor unions in America that we have most of the labor laws today. As Robert A. Soutier puts it, “without unions we would never have child labor laws, workers’ compensation laws, equal rights for women, wage and hour laws, insurance benefits, holiday and vacation pay, pension plans or voice at work” (1). The same efforts that went into accomplishing all those changes also go into keeping them going. Most people take these protections for granted. It is difficult for most to fathom a time where working was a privilege and employers could do with you what they please.

Labor union organizations have helped enforce several workers rights from sexual discrimination to age discrimination. The AFL-CIO is very adamant about the following: people who want to work should have a job with a living wage, workers are proud of their work and should have the chance to do it right, workers should enjoy the freedom to form a union and bargain collectively, and want to contribute to, and share in, building a world-class economy (AFL-CIO, n.d.). Unions are still very much a part of the current work force and people are serious about their jobs and well being.

Unions were created with the everyday worker in mind, an opposite to the previous mindset where the employer ruled his employee and the employee had no recourse. Unions helped pave the way for many of the current rights we have in place for American workers today; such as the length of the workday and weekly hours, child labor laws, minimum salary requirements, workers compensation and safe working conditions. With so much advancement in the American workforce because of Unions, it is interesting that there is a steady decline in Union membership in America. There are many factors that contribute to the decline, such as change in workforce, outsourcing jobs, right to work states, economic interests and political

In an ironic twist of fate, the successes that unions had for workers rights, have contributed to their own demise. However, there are proponent’s who believe that unions are still needed in today. Pamela Prah quoted Robert Korstad, a history professor at Duke University who specializes in labor said, “Workers need unions today as much as they ever have, most workers want full-time jobs with health care, retirement and other benefits, but in today’s economy workers can often only find part-time work without benefits… Just for financial reasons alone, there are lots of arguments in support of unions” (713). Therefore, workers need to have a catalyst [unions] that will fight for its member’s rights.

A major topic that comes up with unions is getting better wages for the employees. This is one of the main reasons that unions came to be. Workers of all fields were tired of being paid unfairly by big companies. They realized that they needed a way to organize themselves to fight for better pay. Unions helped aid in this fight. According to History.com, “ The formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) in Philadelphia in 1794 marks the beginning of sustained trade union organization among American workers.” This was the first time workers tried to organize themselves to get more money for what they did. A key way that unions used workers to make businesses meet their demands was organized strikes. With these organized strikes, the big companies had to comply with some of the demands to raise the employee 's wage, or it would cost them more money in the long run. Strikes are a very powerful tool that unions have used often in the past. Unions orchestrated the strikes in the past pretty well, and the majority of strikes accomplished the goal they were trying to complete. Unions have always fought with companies to give the workers the pay they deserve.

When I saw this topic on the schedule, I honestly was not sure what it was about and that intrigued me. The title “organizing and winning” had me very interested, so I decided to attend this event, not knowing what exactly I would be learning. Because there were so few who attended this specific event, this presentation was more of a discussion. There were 3 students and a few other staff members. The man who was in charge of this event was a younger male with a “Unite Here!” sweatshirt on and when I walked in I was interested as to what that meant; I soon realized what it stood for. This presentation was about the unionization of workers in the workplace. Being more of a discussion, he opened with introductions and then asked us who we were

Beginning, in the early 18th Century, labor unions formed in order to benefit the working class during the industrial revolution in Europe. It is a natural human instinct to seek the company of others with similar aspirations. For years, men have formed organizations around common interests, including religious and political interests. The rise of capitalism in the U.S. made labor organization inevitable (Flagler, 17). In the early 19th Century in the United States, labor unions formed upon the founding of the National Labor Union in 1866, (Union Plus). Although this organization terminated early on, it was the catalyst to the rest of the labor unions extant today in our country. Despite their controversy, unions help the economy because the working class receives fair benefits, wages, and working conditions, all of which allow them to purchase goods and services. These purchases, in turn, help to employ more people.

Unions allow workers to fight for what they believe in, gives them a chance to have a vote and a voice and to protests against the things that are not fair. The flip side of this is that workers can be out of work; if they picket or protest for days, weeks or months until some agreement is reached if any.