Labor unions in the United States are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries. Unions began forming in the mid-19th century.The 1870s and 1880s saw large-scale consolidation, with the Knights of Labor mushrooming overnight into a major force in the late 1880s; it then collapsed because of poor organization. Knights achieved membership of 750,000National Labor Union formed in 1866Now let’s look at a video about Labor Union beginnings

Labor History of the United States

American Federation of Labor founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886The American Federation of Labor was led until his death in 1924 by Samuel Gompers.It was a coalition of many national unions, and helped resolve jurisdictional disputes, created citywide coalitions that helped coordinate strikes, and after 1907 became a player in national politics, usually on the side of the Democrats. Trade unions of America were formed to protect the skilled laborers.

Labor History of the United States

Labor History of the United States

The Railroad Brotherhoods, while separate from the AFL, formed national networks in the late 19th century. Union movement revived by Wagner Act in 1935.Adamson Act consolidated AFL, Knights of Labor, and American Railroad Union in 1916.

Labor History of the United StatesThe CIO under John L. Lewis split off and competed aggressively for membership. John Lewis announced the creation of the CIO in 1935After the Communists in the CIO were purged in 1946-1948, a merger into the AFL-CIO became possible in 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 was a conservative measure that weakened the unions, and highly publicized reports of corruption in the Teamsters and other unions hurt the image in the 1950s. AFL-CIO merger in 1955Unions formed a backbone element of the New Deal Coalition and of Modern liberalism in the United States.

Labor Unions Today

Today most labor unions in the United States are members of one of two larger umbrella organizations: the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) or the Change to Win Federation, which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005.Recently unions have become a larger issue within the 2008 "Economic Crisis"Private sector union members are tightly regulated by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), passed in 1935.

Labor Unions Today

Public sector worker unions are governed by labor laws and labor boards in each of the 50 states.Regulated by federal and state laws.Public employees in USA do not have right to organize a union.In 1940s and 1950s, links to organized crime were discovered in U.S. unions.

Labor Unions TodayTo join a traditional labor union, workers must either be given voluntary recognition from their employer or have a majority of workers in a bargaining unit vote for union representation.Union is certified in a workplace after it has won the support of a majority of the bargaining unit.A legally binding contract is written by employer/union to establish terms and conditions of employment.Let’s look at another video of Labor Union beginnings

Why are Unions Important?

Benefits of Unions

•Higher wages, enhanced benefits, better working conditions

•Represents employee rights

•Gives “voice” to employees

Benefits of Unions

• Prohibits discriminating on hiring, firing, and promotion

• Preserves what current workers have

• Gives job security

My Personal View

• Unions can be more harmful than helpful

• Not as useful as when first formed, due to increased ethical laws

• Can reduce tensions between labor and management

• Long term negotiation has negative effects on both company and employees

Benefits of Unions

Next we will look at a couple of television advertisements that support unionization

LawInfo.com

TV Ad for EFCA

The Case Against Public Sector Unionism and Collective Bargaining

Public sector collective bargaining is a creature of the late 1950s and 1960s. The academicians and politicians who theorized about it and legislated its beginnings can be forgiven for having erred because they were working in a void with no empirical evidence as to how it would work.

Public sector collective bargaining as we know it in the today is a failure. There is a very strong case against it, but the laws which mandate it have given political power to public sector unions, and they will not lightly relinquish the power they have gained. Therefore, the case against public sector unionism must have both theoretical and political dimensions.

Differences between the Public and Private Sectors

Unionism and collective bargaining are products of the economic decision making process of the private sector of our society. Despite this, the National Labor Relations Act, which was designed for the private sector, has been used, with minor variation, as a model for all public sector bargaining laws. Those who wish to impose collective bargaining on the public sector fail to appreciate the differences between the public and private sectors.

Monopoly v. Competition

The public sector is monopolistic; there is a single source of supply for government services. There is only one fire department, one police department, one system of public education. 

Private Sector

The private sector is competitive; there are alternative sources of supply for the goods and services produced. There are a multitude of choices in everything from automobile dealerships to grocery stores.

Public Sector

The public sector provides essential services. It is the very nature of government to provide on a monopoly basis the public services which everyone needs.

Private Sector Services

The private sector provides nonessential services. There are choices involved as to what sort and how much of private sector goods and services to buy and use, whether it be an automobile or a television, or what brand of gas to buy or channel to watch, or whether to own a car or watch television at all.

CompetitionCompetition and the profit motive are at the heart of the union contention that employers are exploitative. That viewpoint leads the unions to an adversarial relationship.

The absence of competition and profit motive from the public sector should cause us to then ask whether an adversarial relationship is necessary or desirable in public sector employer-employee relations.

Monopoly

Unions insist upon a monopoly in representation. If a majority of employees in a bargaining unit desire representation by a union, the union then imposes its representation on the minority.

Collective BargainingCompulsory collective bargaining is destructive of a Compulsory collective bargaining is destructive of a peaceful, stable employer-employee relationship. This is peaceful, stable employer-employee relationship. This is true statistically (from the facts available from areas true statistically (from the facts available from areas which have experimented with it) and can be deduced which have experimented with it) and can be deduced from the very nature of the collective bargaining process.from the very nature of the collective bargaining process.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor began to keep detailed statistics on public sector strike activity in 1958. This database allows us to examine strike activity before and after enactment of bargaining legislation.

A study of this data covering all strikes against government from 1958 to 1980 shows that in states which have adopted compulsory public-sector bargaining laws, there is a tremendous increase in the number of strikes – whether legal or illegal.

Collective Bargaining

It is time to move beyond the failed nostrums of the past into a better future for public employees and the public they serve.