...professional. With that being said, Labor Unions are an important component in the landscape of the American workplace because they focus on the rights and treatment of the employee and not the employer. Unions have a long history of support within companies, but have also faced much oppositions as well. While unions provide collective barging, support with wages and employment policies, unions can also cause great expense for the company or organization that is trying to organize. When a union is trying to reorganize...
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...and gentleman. Today I am going to talk about some of the challenges facing labor unions today and how we can rise to meet them. Government policies may vary from province to province but we are fortunate enough to have some of the strongest labor legislation out there. The economic recession has been hard on everyone and unions are no exception, with the lay-offs or closures of plants and businesses, the union faces the challenge of ensuring we stay strong and effective. In the workplace there are many challenges relating to diversity, changing human resource management and organizing one of the largest sectors of workers in Canada, the service and retail industry. (Very good introduction!) Economic and political change, globalization and restructuring have made people question the effectiveness or need for unions. With the changes in the workplace and workforce, such as shrinking public sector and primary industries and the growth of the private sector coupled with the changes in work arrangements, unions are faced with challenges relating to their survival and vitality. (McQuarrie, 2003) Traditionally unions were structured to represent employees in industries with a fairly stable workforce and hierarchical relationship with management. Today unions face the necessity of “having to adapt to new realities of work and proving their relevance to a new generation of workers in a variety of workplaces.” (McQuarrie, 2003) Workforce demographics are changing, with more young people...
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...The Future for U.S. labor The United States is facing a challenge in finding work for workers who have been unemployed since the recent recession. After many years of leading the manufacturing industry, the recent economic crisis, as well as the growth of the competitive global market, has caused many U.S. factories to shut down, and in turn caused a rapid decline in employment of U.S. workers (Baily, Manyika, & Gupta, 2013). However, simply employing the U.S. workers will not solve the high unemployment problem the country is facing. In this global marketplace, the United States will not only need to make improvement in the economy to create jobs that are robust and sustainable, but will also need to build a workforce that is strong and trained with the right skills (Baily & Bosworth, 2014). This paper will first look at the significant events of the history of U.S. labor to understand the current situation of the U.S. economy and how it has affected the workers. In this paper, U.S. labor, workforce or labor force refers to a pool of people who are employed in the United States. Since manufacturing is a significant source of employment for U.S. workers, the government has made advanced manufacturing as the center of its economic agenda to help with recovering the U.S. economy. Advanced manufacturing, as described in the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report, is an effort to improve the U.S. industry in systems engineering using...
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...vast new areas to commercial farming and creating truly national market for manufactured goods. The growing population formed an ever-expanding market for the mass production, mass distribution, and mass marketing of goods, essential elements of a modern industrial economy. The railroads created 5 transcontinental lines and 4 times zones throughout the nation. 3. Why did organized efforts of farmers, workers, and local reformers largely fail to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age? In order to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age, farmers, workers, and local reformers sought to bring up protests and strikes; however, the government would respond with force in attempt to prevent further labor difficulties and keep the focus on local corporations. Unions were crushed by big industrialists with force rather than to seek compromise, which effected the efforts of...
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...Business Ethics across cultures The first of the two articles that will be reviewed for this paper is by Tamar Lewin of the New York Times. In August of 2001 thirty Nigerian families sued the large drug company Pfizer in the Federal Court of the United States. The families alleged that Pfizer conducted an unethical trial on their children during the meningitis epidemic of 1996 The Pfizer Company sent a research team to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Kano, Nigerian in 1996 to test an experimental antibiotic, Trovan, on 100 children that had come down with meningitis. Pfizer want to ascertain whether this drug would be effective on the disease; until this point the drug had never been tested on children. For their control group Pfizer administered the very best treatment, ceftriaxone, too 100 other children. The suit states that Pfizer did not even administer the full dose of the ceftriaxone. The results from this trial left 11 children dead and many others brain damaged, paralyzed, or deaf. Pfizer’s only comment on the suit was that the fatality rate was less from the trial, than the overall fatality rate from the epidemic. Their spokeswoman also said that the trial had been a humanitarian mission and not a self-serving action. The suit against the company however, states that the company took opportunity from the chaos caused by the crises. They were able to quickly test a potentially dangerous drug without proper approval. The suit also claims that Pfizer also falsified...
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...Patron Jones September 25, 2014 Human Diversity Immersion Paper I chose to interview a good friend of mines father named Hector. He is forty-two years old and is of Mexican decent. He came to America for better job opportunities. In the interview, we discussed his beliefs, traditions, and mainly his story of how he began a life for his family in America. In Meigs County, Ohio, the produce fields hired Mexican laborers on worker permits. Hector started out working in produce fields then he became the boss about five years ago and received his green card. He moved to America over 10 years ago. Now he is an American and can speak very good English Hector believes in the Christianity faith. He beliefs that all people should be treated the same regardless of race and ethnicity. Hector said he came to realize that America wasn’t a place of equal opportunity. In Mexico, people are more willing to help each other out in difficult situation. Hector went on to explain in Mexico men were paid pretty much the same pay, which was very low. Hector explains that Mexicans will live in packs because it was easier and much affordable, but America was much different people didn’t look out for one another like they do in Mexico. “Americans are very selfish”, said Hector. During the Interview, he explained to me that in Mexico there is no age requirement for males to start working, so there are young boys working at six to ten years old to help support their family He also stated that women...
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...History of the Labor Movement “It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country” (United States Department of Labor). This quotation is referring to one of our national holidays, Labor Day. Ultimately, the labor movement in the United States formed this holiday celebrated every September. Labor day is a day to celebrate how far American workers have come since before the 19th century. During the 1800s American workers could be found at their job for most of the day almost everyday. It was a hard time for families to make ends meet forcing even their children to work. On average, an individual would work twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Easy jobs, such as working in a factory or mill, children as young as five would be working to help their families pay bills and even eat a meal (History, 2010). Soon times got tougher for Americans by having wage cuts and needing them to work more hours. Several different strikes occurred starting in 1768 over these wage reductions. Workers fought for several years to be treated differently by getting paid more and working less hours; to fight for these rights strikes were happening more frequently. Soon reform efforts were popping up to fight against the social inequality occurring; Knights of Labor and National Union Labor were the most popular. However, their efforts were not changing the economic conditions the workers faced; therefore...
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...main founder of steel was Andrew Carnegie. He was the one who invented steel and led the way for all of the other railroad companies to start advancing their rails and stretching them across America. “Steel mills are perhaps the quintessential example of late nineteenth century industrialization because of their importance to the American economy and because of their dependence upon mechanization.” This Statement backs up everything that was previously stated. This one sentence shows how steel was the number one material in that time. It also shows how important steel was to the advancement of everything else. The second chapter speaks about labor unions and their effects on the industry. It speaks about the way that the unions started and what their ultimate goal for workers in America was. It also speaks about the many different unions and how their approaches were similar and...
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...United States[edit] Main articles: Labor unions in the United States and Labor history of the United States Labor unions are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries in the United States. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and supporting endorsed candidates at the state and federal level. Most unions in America are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL-CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues. Child laborers in an Indiana glass works. Trade unions have an objective interest in combating child labor. In 2010, the percentage of workers belonging to a union in the United States (or total labor union "density") was 11.4%, compared to 18.3% in Japan, 27.5% in Canada, and 70% in Finland.[20] Union membership in the private sector has fallen under 7%[21] – levels not seen since 1932. Unions allege that employer-incited opposition has contributed to this decline in membership. The most prominent unions are amongpublic sector employees such as teachers...
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...lSTU L201 | The American Labor Union | A Dying Institution | | Steve Scarlett | 11/28/2013 | | There is no question that the once strong and powerful American labor unions are now in a slow but steady decline and have been so consistently since the 1960’s (See chart below). Today union membership is at an all-time low. According to a National Review article dated January 28, 2013 “the unionization rate is now 11.2 percent of all workers. Private-sector unionization fell from 6.9 percent to 6.6 percent, and the government unionization rate dropped from 37 percent to 35.9 percent.” Sources: W. Craig Riddell, “Unionization in Canada and the United States: A Tale of Two Countries”; ICTWSS Database A major factor in the weakness of the current labor legislation can be seen in Section 8(b) of the National Labor Relations Act Contributing factors: According to a National Review article dated Jan 28, 2013: by John Fund entitled The Decline of Unions “the unionization rate is now 11.2 percent of all workers. Private-sector unionization fell from 6.9 percent to 6.6 percent, and the government unionization rate dropped from 37 percent to 35.9 percent.” “The last time union membership in the private sector was below the 7 percent it is today was before FDR’s New Deal entrenched mandatory collective bargaining into law through the Wagner Act.” “Unions are in an “inexorable decline,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer said on Fox News this...
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...Good evening everyone, I came here tonight prepared to speak with you all about American Labor Union History going back to the Eighteenth Century. Due to time restraints, I am now being asked to give you the top three most important events in American Labor Union History. There have been so many significant events, picking the three most important is a very difficult task. However, I will rise to the occasion and give you lovely folks what I believe to be the three most important events in American Labor Union History. The three I will speak briefly about are; the formation of The Knights of Labor in 1885, The Wagner Act of 1935, and the merger between AFL and the CIO creating the AFL-CIO in 1955. The foundation of The Knights of Labor is especially significant because this was the first time in American Labor Union History that there was an attempt to form one large general union. The early years of The Knights of Labor were very successful. This union offered membership to skilled and non-skilled workers as well as women and African Americans. Between 1885 and 1886 nearly 600,000 members joined under leader Terence Powderly seeking eight hour work days, equal pay, and to do away with child labor. The Knights won a major strike against the Wabash Railroad which led to the quick increase in membership. However, by the late 1880’s the organization was practically extinct due to lack of leadership for such an overwhelming quick increase in membership . The Wagner Act...
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... Unionization 2 The labor movement’s status has always been precarious due to America’s love-hate attitude toward organized labor. With the right-to-work laws coming to many states, it will be even more precarious than before. Right-to-work laws allow people to work at a unionized business without joining the union. Today, like a century ago, some citizen passionately believe that unions are crucial bulwarks of freedom, while others feel just as strongly that they are at best outdated and at worst an obstacle to progress. Labor is not merely a commodity, but a special part of the human experience; workers deserve a say in the working conditions of their labor; the right of workers to organize in their own self-interest is a basic human right. During the 1950’s the American economics professor Clark Kerr(2010) observed that “organized labor and management are primarily engaged in sharing between themselves what is, at any one moment of time, a largely given amount of income and power.” Kerr’s words point to the crux of labor history; this is a power game, who will rule the workplace? Some employers have taken the position that managers, as representatives of business owners, should have all the power. The rule of the workplace it that management dictates and workers obey. In today’s workplace there is no right to employment security and no prohibition against unjust dismissal in the private...
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...Chapter 01 Contemporary Labor Relations: Objectives, Practices, and Challenges Answer Key True / False Questions 1. (p. 4) Fundamentally, a labor union is a group of workers who join together to influence the nature of their employment. TRUE Difficulty: Easy 2. (p. 4) The widening gap between the richest and poorest individuals in the U.S. is in part due to the weakened position of labor unions. TRUE Difficulty: Easy 3. (p. 5) When an employer uses an employee suggestion box to gather ideas and concerns from its employees, it is primarily addressing the labor relations goal of efficiency. FALSE Difficulty: Moderate 4. (p. 5) The goals of efficiency, equity, and voice in the workplace rarely conflict with one another. FALSE Difficulty: Easy 5. (p. 6) A key role of unions is to negotiate work rules and practices that ensure fair treatment of employees by their managers and employers. TRUE Difficulty: Easy 6. (p. 6-7) In the United States, employees have broad protections against arbitrary dismissal such that employers must provide a good, business related reason for firing someone. FALSE Difficulty: Moderate 7. (p. 6) The official policy of the Unites States is to protect workers’ rights to act together for mutual aid and protection in the workplace and to promote collective bargaining as a way to resolve workplace conflict. TRUE Difficulty: Moderate 8. (p. 7) In the U.S., workers can generally...
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...society and labor force face an “industrial” change in which allows for the development of coal mining, working the railroads, in addition with a variety of other jobs. Correspondingly, when these new jobs come to the American hand, union groups begin to come along with them such as the Knights of Labor and later the American Federation of Labor. However, it is also during this time that America undergoes a great migration wave in which brings a significant amount of Italians, Germans, and Irish to the eastern coast which created great competition on the job market. Moreover,...
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...On the topic of unionism and union politics, historians have shown the small success, but ultimate failure of labor unions in the United States of America during the industrial era. Several historians have delved into the topic, but three will be examined. Leon Fink is a historian with a specialty in American labor, immigration history, and the Gilded Age/Progressive Era. He wrote the book Democracy: The Knights of Labor and American Politics. Another historian is David Montgomery is a labor historian. He wrote the book The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism. Finally, the third is Michael Pierce; he is a U.S. labor historian and author of the article “The Populist President of the American Federation...
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