Two years ago the United Steel Workers organized the 400 workers at Maple Grove Foods, a food processing company in Western Ontario. Previously the company had been in operation for over thirty years as a non-union shop. Management had tried to convince employees not to join the union. The employees were paid quite well, in the view of the company.…
The Canadian Autoworkers Union, in other words the CAW, was created in 1985 after its separation from the United Autoworkers union. Since its separation it grew to become one of Canada’s largest private sector unions with around 200 000 participating members. The CAW has continue to grow and…
The labor unions were founded with the goal of helping the wage earners gain power. The two labor unions, The Knights of Labor formed in 1877 and the AFL formed in 1886, sought worker rights, better wages, hours, and working conditions during this era. Although they never achieved the 8 hour workday they did manage to cut the average workday for industrial workers by 30 minutes from 1875 to 1891 (Doc. A). The labor union’s goal of better pay and working conditions was offset particularly by the immigration factor. Due the new inventions industrial jobs that once took three to four hundred skilled workers now required 100 unskilled laborers (Doc. D). Although this new format produced cheaper products, it also transferred even more power to the employers. If an unskilled worker tried to join a union in attempt to better himself he was instantly fired and replaced by the abundant supply of immigrants. The labor unions were far too weak to be able to accomplish the goals they had set out for themselves.…
Answering the Questions The role of unions in today’s workplace is still has the responsibility to ensure the rights of workers, and provide an opportunity for their voices to be heard. Issues that are addressed by labor unions include work assignment, compensation, benefits and working conditions. Unions benefit their members (monopoly power), at the expense of higher cost, and requiring responses to employees grievances “voice power”. As a result of little job creation, debt crises, growing fiscal deficits and difficulties in states and local governments a “new normal” to the role of the labor unions have been created.…
1. To analyze, critique, and modify the wage scale currently enforced in a matter that is beneficial to both Barnhouse Company as well as its unionized employees.…
The course provides an overview of workers and unions in American society and introduces you to topics covered in the field of Labor Studies. The course looks at economic, political, and workplace issues facing working people, why and how workers join unions, how unions are structured and function, and how unions and management bargain a contract. The class includes an overview of U.S. labor and working class history, an analysis of the state of U.S. employment laws, and a discussion of the contemporary struggles workers and unions face in a rapidly changing global economy. Finally, the class examines a contemporary labor struggle to explore changing labor-management relations, the U.S. government’s role, and internal struggles within the labor movement.…
Therefore, it is important to reconnect young workers with the union since if unions disappear in the workplace, there will be no organization that can help workers deal with their wage, vacation and security issues. According to Godoy, the national representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union(UFAW), he thinks that letting young workers acknowledge the history of what unions won for the workers can help them understand why unions are still useful to them. To my perspective, unions can choose some elder workers who enjoys the benefit offered by unions to do some speech about why unions is still significant to these young…
The IWW was a much different union then seen in previous years. IWW believed that most trade unions during it’s promoted same industry worker competition. To be specific, this ultimately would lead worker competition especially seen in terms of wages. In the 1900’s there where multiple different unions; each of which was usually divided by race, gender, or skill. The IWW (Industrial workers of the world) sought a very different type of union apart from trade or craft. For the first time a union truly wanted to organize all the workers from any given union into one big union, regardless of race, gender, or skill. This was a bold idea considering race and gender discrimination was…
In the 1860's, the National Labor Union was formed to unify workers in fighting for higher wages, an 8 hour work day and various social causes and it set the stage for many failing unions to come. In 1877, railroad workers in this union from across the country took part in an enormous strike that resulted in mass violence and very few reforms. Afterwards, a editorial in The New York Times stated: "the strike is apparently hopeless, and must be regarded as nothing more than a rash and spiteful demonstration of resentment by men too ignorant or too reckless to understand their own interests" (Document B). This editorial, which was clearly in favor of labor reforms, was acknowledging that this method of fighting was not going to work for the laborers at this time. A failure of this magnitude so early on in the movement should have been enough to put it to halt, however, year after year, strikes were breaking and little was being done in the workers favors. In 1892, workers at the Homestead Steel Plant near Pittsburg…
My mother has worked for the (USPS) for over 35 years and after retiring in October of 2009 she left the post office as the president of the American Postal Worker Union (APWU) Local 171 Portsmouth, VA. In the 10 years she was president I have seen her go to court week after week to help every member in her union. She has stood in front of the Post Master General and argued many of cases. Seeing things like that happen made me understand that being unionized is not a way to keep people employed, it is the leading way to maintain peoples rights in the work place and give them a piece of mind.…
Union provided my dad with a job, which is the reason my family has been able to have a better life. It has helped out have money. It has helped us have food in our table. With out my dad’s job we wouldn't be able to live the life we have right now. We wouldn't be able to purchase the things we have right now.…
I think it is important that everyone has equal social rights and opportunities in the workplace; which Unifor achieves. They have achieved this by striving to improve conditions of the employment and protecting economic rights of members. Unifor allows members to fight for what they want in the workplace and community. This includes new investments, wage increases, maintaining social unionism, and improvement in insurance, health benefits, dental coverage, and pensions.…
In the 1800’s, most people worked unfairly. Working conditions, at the time, were terrible: people worked in disturbing environments which caused many health issues and affected people’s lives in numerous ways. People also worked extremely long working hours: normal shifts were normally 12-14 hours a day. Most workers had very low wages: female and children workers were paid a lot less than male workers. These situations often led to many possible deaths, injuries, and health problems which was, many times, unbearable for the workers. The unfairness and mistreatment led to labor unions. Labor unions occur when individuals consolidate to have the ability to raise their voice in order to protect their rights and desires as workers. In this case,…
A union is an organized group of workers who collectively use their strength to have a voice in their workplace. Through a union, workers have a right to impact wages, work hours, benefits, workplace health and safety, job training and other work-related issues. Under U.S. law, workers of all ages have the right to join a union. Having support from the union to ensure fairness and respect in the workplace is one of the key reasons workers organize.…
Workers formed unions so that they could have some say over wages, hours, working conditions, and the many other problems that arise in the relationship between a worker and employer. Unions are important because they help set the standards for education, skill levels, wages, working conditions, and quality of life for workers. Union-negotiated wages and benefits are generally superior to what non-union workers receive (http://www.iuoe.org).…