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Background of unions in America
The development of industrial relations
The development of industrial relations
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National labor unions was form in the United States in the mid-19th century just after the industrial revolution (Wiki, 2015). Organized mass productions of products and goods in factories changed the way people worked, as smaller businesses formed larger companies and independent owners became part of the working class. Organizational structuring, the development of hierarchy of employees can create inequalities within a workplace due to politics and greed. Owners, managers and those who make decisions to steer a company can often times fall into the trap of voracity and forget about front line worker’s well-being, working conditions, and of course income inequality. Unions were most important during the industrial revolution because there …show more content…
The 3 main and active ones are CFA, CSUEU and APC. The first one are the California Faculty Association (CFA) which make up the faculty of the Universities. There’s currently about 23,000 members ranging from Faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches. (CFA, 2015). The group went on strike in 2011 regarding issues with increasing class sizes, salary increases and monies for operational needs. This group is probably the most important, because faculties are the primary reason why students are there. (Delgadillo, 2011). The second group is California State University Employee Union (CSUEU). This unit has about 15,000 members and they range from healthcare, operations, administrative and technical support staff. This group is important because they make up the support staff that help make an institution operate. Without them, professors wouldn’t have good computers to work with, students wouldn’t have anyone to go to on campus when feeling sick and paperwork does not get processed in a timely manner. The last and group we will be talking about are Academic Professionals of California. This group makes up about 13,000 members. These employees work directly with students and on their …show more content…
Hopefully this will encourage employees to go further with their education so that the CSU can have a stronger, more educated workforce. APC was able to work a deal to get employees who are happy with their classification, but would like to earn more within their salary range. Employees are now able to request in-range progression if they’re interested. This means that if they gain more experience and pick up more responsibilities, they will be able to get the raise they deserve. This was great news for employees that have been working with the CSU’s for some
Almost two years ago the company where I am employed, RGIS LLC, mandated a pay policy change for the hourly employees. Hourly employees make up over 95% of RGIS’s labor staff. This new, four-tier payment scale, aptly named “Pay 4 Performance” (p4), ultimately affected thousands of employees who had been with the company for years and had high pay rates simply as a result of longevity. The four new levels would have a matching pay scale based upon each individual employee’s production. These levels are what RGIS calls an ASET level: Auditor, Specialist, Expert, and TopGun, with each level advancing to a higher production and pay rank, respectively (Company).
“Industrial unions dominated the landscape of the late nineteen century U.S. labor movement.” They gathered all level workers together without discrimination of gender, race, or nationality. They declared the eight-hour workday for the first time when normal work time should be 12. Low wage of workers caused the “Great Strike of 1877”, which began with railroad workers in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. After the “Great Strike”, industrial union started to
U.S. Labor History Unionism can be described as "a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment" (Smelser). This means that a group of workers can unite to gain more power and leverage in bargaining. The bargaining process may include many aspects but usually consists of wages, benefits, terms and conditions of employment. The notion of union came about in the 1700's. In the beginning, as it is today, workers united to "defend the autonomy and dignity of the craftsman against the growing power of the company" (Montgomery).
Union affiliation was first seen in the 1600’s when the roots of the United States were just being planted with skilled trade groups such as artisans, laborers, goldsmiths and printers. Over the next two hundred years, unions developed their desires for higher wages through the use of strikes and protests. The nation’s progress spurred the need for more labor and so began the Industrial Revolution. During the Revolution, many union members began to witness the power that employers had and as a result decided to make use of the concept of power in numbers. The National Labor Union formed in 1866 and worked to persuade congress to set a Federal eight-hour workday, which applied to government employees (Miller). Many large unions formed following in the NLU’s footsteps and uni...
I am looking forward to becoming a part of the Students’ Union at the University of Alberta, seeing as they have many interesting and purposeful events, clubs, and services, all of which, I would proudly want to be a part
The rise of industrialization and laissez faire were key constituents in the rise of labor unions; businesses were given more breathing room and had more influence in the economics than the government. Citizens were feuding the need to obtain better working hours, reasonable wages, and safer working conditions; this was mainly prompted by industrialization. The three most prominent labor unions in this time period were the American Railway labor(1890s), Knights of Labor (mid-1880s) and the National Labor Union (1866); they pushed forward forward
Unions have an extensive history of standing up for workers. They have advocated rights of steelworkers, coal miners, clothing factory employees, teachers, health care workers, and many others. The labor movement is based on the idea that organized workers as a group have more power than individuals would have on their own. The key purpose of any union is to negotiate contracts, making sure workers are respected and fairly compensated for their work. “In theory” unions are democratic organizations, resulting in varying inner authority. Workers look for security within a job a...
During the Gilded Age activists tried improving the conditions of workers and the poor in many ways. In a few ways they were moderately successful but mostly philanthropists didn’t succeed. Between 1875 and 1900 the organized labor, overall, didn’t improve the position of the workers, making them unsuccessful.
Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) think that teacher’s salaries were lower than other workers in other private company, the service, or some of the organization. Government reduced the budget of the education through cutting down the salaries and dismissing a number of employees. Teachers began to negotiating their safeguards even to rise the strike.
Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).
Union representation and collective bargaining has a long history of benefiting not only union members directly but the general workforce regardless of union affiliation. Employers adopt union pay rates and similar benefits to discourage their workers from seeking official representation as seen by paid brakes being the standard throughout “The positive, equalizing impacts of unions on wages spill over to lower-paid, non-union workers in communities with high levels of unionization” (Broadbent). The C.D. Howe Institute describes “Strikes, lockouts, and other outcomes of employer-employee negotiations, however, affect not just unionized employees – about one in three working Canadians- but reverberate well beyond the negotiating parties”(Dachis and Hebdon, 2010, p.
Some people talk about being military brats, well I am a Union brat. My mom has been an unionized teacher, while my dad is currently the president of his local union. I've been able to experience first hand the benefits of an unionized workplace. Even though Tennessee is a ‘right to work’ state, my parent have chosen to be active supporting members of their work unions.
Over the years, labor unions have changed in the fact that its members have decreased in major percentages and women have become more involved in unions for the reason that, in a regular job, they don’t earn the same salary as a man earns. Labor unions have been losing a little bit of power over the years because they don’t have much members as in the nineteenth century. Working conditions on every job in the U.S. are also more stable, and safer, than they used to be so unions have not striven during the past years.
Since administrators have received higher income wages, students have noticed a dramatic increase in college tuition. Administrative employees can be very useful and a great contribution to the university, but administratives can be very costly, causing tuition fees to keep rising. The duties of an administrator may consist of an office assistant, student housing, career counseling, school related activities, financial aid, loans, grants, budget balance, etc. Depending on the educational level of skills that an administrator obtains, they can be very costly. Not only has an increase in administrative pay been in effect, but also an increase in a number of administrative workers. “Between 1975 and 2008, the total number of administratives at California State University rose 221% (from an average of 3,800 to 12,00) compared to an increase in full-time faculty of less than 4% (from 11,614 to 12,019).” (Wittner, 2015). Also, an increase from part-time workers to full-time workers have risen. With administrative pay rates and a rising amount of administrative workers, this will potentially lead to higher demands for college tuition.