The American Labor Union Essay

The main reason of the rise of labor unions was the quick industrialization of the US economy. During the post-Civil War period, the US economy became extremely industrialized. This meant that more and more people were working in factories owned by large companies rather than working in small shops for themselves or for small businesses. In addition, large numbers of immigrants were coming to the US. They created a huge pool of labor that made labor prices go down and the quality of working conditions.

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 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.

This article talked about the general things of the National Labor Union back in the 1800’s. It mostly talked about the negative effects of the NLU such as exclusion of women, racial prejudice, and failing to enforce the eight-hour labor law. The article did mention about groups of skilled, unskilled, and farmers were unable to share and participate in united political views unless they were intensely focused on labor union. After William Sylvis death in 1869, the NLU suffered politically and dealt with the Depression of 1873, where the NLU finally collapsed.

     The past of Unions is indisputable; however, the outlook can be altered to form a promising future. The reversal of history can be done through reconstruction and restatement of workers rights. A reestablishment of worker liberties should be considered in order to clarify any confusion in which present and prospective employees are faced with. Unions are notorious for being tyrannical and inconsiderate towards employees and thus union heads should confront this issue head on and give workers a voice (i.e. vote). In order to regain union strength in today’s society I believe Unions must give workers honorable rights and a democratic right to be heard.

Unionism is the concept that traditionally business, especially big businesses are inherently going to exploit their employees. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, the workers form organizations called unions, in which all laborers who work at a certain craft, or in a certain industry band together. By this process of “joining forces”, the unions gain power in numbers. Unions traditionally try to protect employee interests by negotiating with employers for wages and benefits, working hours, and better working conditions.

1) At what organization/company did you work with union members, what position you held, and what was the name of the union? - I worked at ISG Steel Mill. I was HR Representative there. My company had over 1,000 steel workers that were represented by United Steelworkers Union. 2) Does your organization/company required employees to join the union?

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,

In the past, labour unions in Canada were significant as they provided better working conditions such as health insurance, reasonable working hours, job safety, and pension cover for employees and their families. However, current labour union membership has continuously lost popularity, and this situation is expected to worsen in the future (Hunter). The reduced popularity is associated with the negative views held by the Canadian millennia. Most people lack the motivation to join labour unions in modern times due to a variety of reasons, which include current policies and laws, gender differences, and fear of identification by industries and companies.

As America became more industrial more people left their farms and small towns to work in the city so they could pay their expenses, whatever they may be. This led to the minimal pay of workers while the owners became wealthy leading to a functional economy. Most would receive little money while the rest lived a life of luxury. Since more factories were opening children, women, and immigrants could now find jobs, which led to more production which gave more money to the owners of the factories. Americans feared that industrialists were changing freemen into “wage slaves.” “By 1920, nearly 20 percent of all manufacturing workers were women, and 13 percent of all textile workers were younger than 16 years old. In 1900, it was estimated that

While organized labor’s storied history demonstrates remarkable achievements, there has been a downside for the American economy. By way of example, the formerly dominant U.S. steel industry serves to remind of an time when poor management, global competition, and union excess were necessary causes of a dramatic and rapid industry decline.

Today the debate over union versus non-union work has reached new levels. The implementation in many states of the right to work laws has sparked the curiosity in people across the US which is better union work or non-union work. This answer varies widely depending on who you ask. Many companies choose the cheaper option, non-union, simply because it gives them the opportunity to save a few dollars on the front end. Unions were created to protect and ensure rights that were being taken from or denied to employees. Union and non-union work are different, in many ways, but some of the key differences are the pay and benefits, cost of the labor force, and the training of the workers.

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.

Trade unions are one of the major components of the system of modern industrial relations in any nation, each having their own set of objectives or goals to achieve as per their constitution and each having its own strategy to reach those goals. A trade union is an organisation formed by workers to protect their interests and improve their working conditions, among other goals. It is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining and improving working conditions. In developing countries, the right to form a union and the right to collectively bargain protects the workers from various exploitative and abusive conditions at work and puts pressure on employers to share productivity gains with their employees. Historically, union representation and collective bargaining have been the keys to the growth of a stable working population in developed economies, and have made it possible for workers to gain a more equitable share of the wealth that they create; they are also able to improve working conditions and helped workers in gaining job security. Changes in the political, social and educational environments regarding awareness of rights such as the right to organise, the right to bargain, and the right to settle terms and conditions of employment have caused worker unions to spring up to protect and further workers ' interests. Thus, with the establishment of minimum wages, norms for mandatory work hours, provisions for health and safety,

David Brody argues that the rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships during the post WWII era formalized the relationship between employers and unions. The use of collective bargaining agreements to resolve workplace disputes weakened unions and the power of workers. Other actions, such as using collection bargaining as a form of substitution for direct action and using it instead of the strike for grievance and arbitration procedure served , also has weakened the unions and the power of workers. The rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships changed the dynamic of the workplace, shifting the power from the union side to towards the employers. The perspective could best be argued suing Weber’s theory and