Unionization in the United States - Essay Example

Running Head: Unionization in the United s inserts his/her Unionization: Unionization occurs when the labor force of any company joins hands with each other in order to protect the rights of their colleagues or to for any exacting cause of benefitting their co-workers. Unionization in the United States: In the United States, the labor unions are also considered to be a political factor, both through mobilization of their own memberships and through coalitions with like-minded activist organizations around problems such as rights of people who have migrated, policy of trading, health care benefits, and living wage planned actions. The most vibrant unions in the United States are usually among the public sector workers including doctors, teachers, police etc. They often targets on issues relating to the agreement and right on wages and increment on wages or if management tends to violate the laws and agreement on the rights of employees according to the contract. History of unionization in the United States: As the United States very rapidly developed various inventions and innovations, so it developed quite fast. Soon the State had been converted from a mere agricultural to a big industrial state. This change in the United States awakened the need for more and more laborers to handle the industries. these laborers were those people who were usually looked down upon in the society and the strong and powerful employers would advantage from the condition of the poor laborers and therefore, would mistreat them and take extra work, beyond their physical capabilities. Therefore, this is how the labor unions started to form so as to stand against the management to give the required right of the co-worker. Moreover, there even was a wage-bargain issue and above all, the major issue which was considered by workers at that time was the prolonged work hours which would result in workers making endless and extremely tiring efforts. The labor unions in the United States started as a protest against the long working hours. The working hours would not at all be convenient and hence this fact was realized in the 19th century and a step towards a protest was taken in the 1820s. During this period, the workers combined together to form a team to reduce the work hours from 12 hours to 10 working hours. Legislation to these workers was granted in 1837. Formation of the first labor union in the United States: According to the Illinois labor History society, after imposing this law, even then the employers would take extra work and wrong advantage of their desperate workers. The workers were poor and quite weak in power as compared to their highly strengthened employers. They realized they could not do anything alone. Therefore the minor labor unions of small cities decided to combine with the labor unions of other cities as well and form a large labor union. This is how the first labor union came into being in 1886. The first labor union was named as the “National Labor Union” (NLU). Formation of other labor unions in the United States: The working hours had now been reduced to 10 hours from 12 hours. Even this decrease was not enough for them, so, in 1886, the Nation Labor Union campaigned to reduce the work hours to a more convenient, manageable and less tiring 8 work hours. Then onwards, now labor groups started to form in that era. These new labor unions included: “Knights of Labor”. “American Federation of Labor” (AFL). The founder of American federation labor was Samuel Gompers. Devaluation of the labor unions and their protest against it: As the Industrial Revolution came into soaring mechanism, the requirement for laborers once more amplified. This period was also noticeable by mass colonization numbers, which enlarged the number of laborers in the labor group. This also caused the value of the individual worker to diminish. This was due to some of the laborers, who were unskilled or not deserving were allowed to be replaced by the hard working and the skilled labors. The devaluation of the employee led to lower wages and pitiable working circumstances. The movement another time gained in fame. Various union activities came on and the strike was used as an effort to achieve their difficulty being noticed. Ruining of strikes by government: The Pullman Railroad Strike and the United Mine Workers strike in Pennsylvania were wrecked by administration interference. Further appealing happenings of this time period to research include the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire. Formation of the U.S Department of Labor: The unions, mainly outstandingly the AFL, compelled Congress to pass a legislation to facilitate laborers. Congress did so when it formed the “U.S. Department of Labor”, which was formed to guard the privileges of wage earners. This department was responsible to take care of the rights of the children who were working. Clayton Act: In 1914, the “Clayton Act” was passed. This act was one of the most critical acts passed by the government. This act clearly stated that the human labor force is not just a product or service for the economy of the state and that the labor force should have their complete rights. It even allowed boycotts and strikes which further enhanced the unionization of the labor force. This was a very major step which is included in one of the causes of the formation of labor force. After this, came the “Great Depression”. The Great depression brought a sudden fall in the unemployment rates and extreme drop in the wages of the workers. Many acts were then introduced in order to protect the rights of the labors. There were various rights, out of which, the most important rights were: Public Contacts Act. Fair Labor Standard Acts. The above acts tried to mend the issues of the labors low wages, which had been the major issue of all times. Apart from the low wages of the labors, it even set the problems regarding the overtime jobs and their payments. Many labors were such who were forced to work extra sometimes for the company, therefore they would work but, would not obtain their deserving reward. Hence, this act tried to solve this complication as well. Not only have the rights of the elder workers and their payments, but, these acts also tried to solve the issues of the child labor, the protection of their rights and their payment as well. Prohibition of Child Labor: During this period, the World War II began which put a halt on all the activities on the labor union. The labor union was not on any protest during that particular era. They respected the war and decided to call out a strike. The strike was about remaining calm on every issue on relating the labor union. They decided that they would stop protesting during the World. They would not even boycott anything, hence, while the World War II war going on, the movements of the labor union had stopped. Anyhow, the labor force got reunited after the war and again started to work in order to fight for the lawful rights of the labors. Soon, child labor was prohibited in 1949. Elimination of discrimination: As in the United States, lots of people had been working, which created divide among the people of different backgrounds, therefore there were discriminations among the co-workers. So, to eliminate it, two acts were passed in the 1960s, which were: Equal Pay Act. Civil Rights Act. In 1970s, labor unions in the United States formed a strength component of the New Deal Coalition and Modern Liberalism in the United States. This was the time period when the memberships of the unions and their power reached their heights. However, the private-sector membership eventually deteriorated then onwards, but, the public-sector memberships grew larger and had still be growing rapidly even throughout the 2010s. Impact of Unions on the Employment Law: Employment law determines the level of wages given to the laborers, the number of days that the employers make the workers toil, the hours which the laborers work each day, the equal treatment of all the employees, the equal wage rate of the laborers which are assigned the same work, the level and the kind of the protection provided to the laborers throughout the working hours etc. All these are determined and fixed in the employment law. However, the labor unions, as they work “for” the justice of the laborers play a vital role in the employment law. These unions work for the benefits of both ionized and unionized labor unions. The impact of the labor unions on the employment law included the following effects: Unions raise the wages of both ionized and unionized and unionized laborers. They even set a standard of wage rate for the laborers who are not the members of the labor union. Such workers also benefit from the labor unions. Unions work hard to affect the employment law regarding the inequality of laborers. They work hard more to reduce the inequality and injustice done with the employees who are considered to be low-class or middle-class. Such employees who are financially quite weak as compared to the high-class employees. Therefore, the labor unions set their impact on employment law for giving the deserving rights of the wages to those employees who are mistreated. The impact of labor unions on the wages of employees is almost the same as their impact on the wages of nonunion employees. This clearly shows that they treat the union member workers almost equal to those workers who do not have membership in any labor union. Another impact of labor unions on employment legislation is that they increase the benefits provided by the government. Especially, the health care benefits or the medical reimbursement plan is improved by the labor unions in order to provide maximum health care and facilities to the workers, especially, those workers who are suffering from health problems and are unable to pay for the recovery of their health. The increment of pensions is also one of the impacts of the labor unions on the employment legislation. The labor unions satisfy the workers to provide them maximum benefits through the pensions after retirement. The labors enjoy a paid leave from their company through the struggle of the labor unions. Unionization today: Labor unions nowadays, are working under American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Some of the labor unions are also working under the Change to Win Federation. Recently the labor unions were going through a lot of problems due to the crisis in the economic system in 2008. The private sector union labors were already experiencing a downfall but, the public sector unions still continue to work and are growing rapidly. References Mishel, L. Walters, M. How unions help all workers, August 2003. Wise GEEK, How did labor unions start, 2011. < http://www.wisegeek.com/how-did-labor-unions-start.htm> Anonymous. Labor Unions in the United State, Gerald Friedman, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2010. < http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/friedman.unions.us> shmoop. History of Labor unions, 2011. < http://www.shmoop.com/history-labor-unions/> Coop, T. History of labor unions in the United States, Helium: US History (Other), 2007. < http://www.helium.com/knowledge/63443-history-of-labor-unions-in-the-united-states> Murray, G. A brief History of the labor unions in the United States. < http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w02/cs255students/GMURRAY/p11/history.pdf> Read More