The reason why so many lawmakers oppose public employee strikes is because they fear the public’s safety would be jeopardized. Although this may be true for a few public-sector jobs like police and firefighters, it is not true for all the other public-sector jobs like teachers, transit workers, DMV workers, park rangers, or almost any other category of public work. Strikes by employees in these jobs would not pose a threat to the public’s safety. Instead their strikes would pose an economic threat, which is very different than a safety threat. In fact, economic threats are the whole reason why people on strike. After all, if labor strikes did not impose hardship on the other side or on third parties like customers, who themselves can exert pressure for a settlement, there’d be …show more content…
However, before a settlement was reached between the workers and management, a candidate for the state assembly spoke up and voiced his displeasure. Candidate Steve Glazer complained that the workers’ strike forced commuters to find other means of getting to work or kept them home, hobbling the local economy. Although this is true, the same thing would have happened if the transit system were privately run. With that being said, strikes in a number of other private sector industries also disrupt the local economy and impose hardships on people. For example, a five-day strike in 2010 by Spirit Airline workers grounded the company’s entire fleet which left passengers stranded across the country. Another example is the Greyhound bus drivers’ strike in 1990. Drivers were protesting stagnant wages, which left thousands of the bus line’s passengers across the country stranded. So, as you can see, private sector strikes impose just as much hardship on people and the community as public-sector strikes would, yet public employees have no right to
The ethical issue in this situation is the willingness of the company’s director to prevent the employees from organizing in union. Among others, the company’s director try to use unfair tactic like diversion, intimidation, manipulation, termination of job contract and threat to shut down the company leading to massive loss of job. In an ethical standpoint, these tactics are wrong.
Tensions between union supporters and management began mounting in the years preceding the strike. In April of 1994, the International Union led a three-week strike against major tracking companies in the freight hauling industry in attempts to stop management from creating $9 per hour part-time positions. This would only foreshadow battles to come between management and union. Later, in 1995, teamsters mounted an unprecedented national union campaign in attempts to defeat the labor-management “cooperation” scheme that UPS management tried to establish in order to weaken the union before contract talks (Witt, Wilson). This strike was distinguished from other strikes of recent years in that it was an offensive strike, not a defensive one. It was a struggle in which the union was prepared, fought over issues which it defined, and one which relied overwhelmingly on the efforts of the members themselves (http://www.igc.org/dbacon/Strikes/07ups.htm).
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
This strike involved the workers of General Motors and they were unhappy with how much they were getting payed in relation to how much profit General Motors was bringing in. They also were concerned with the notion of being fired with no warning and no help after they were layoff with no unemployment insurance. The workers that were still at the plants had no control over about of hours to be worked, or when the lines would speed up. With the workers at high tension they formed the Sit down strike (The 1937 Flint Sit- down Strike). The strike need to be this was for a few reasons, one, all the workers would not leave the building because if they held a normal strike then they would just all be fired and replaced with other people. Another reason was because although there was an early union that started in 1935, the United Automotive Workers (UAW), they are still a new union that did not have respect with he companies to negotiate with them. Also, by locking themselves inside with the machinery, the GM had to react in a peaceful way so that their machines would not be damaged(Rubenslein Ziewacz, 241). Another big step for Unions was on August 28, 1963. This was event was called the March on Washington and took place at our nations capital. Although many people now know the March on Washington to be about civil rights and freedom it was originally about Jobs and the rights of workers. My people gathered to hear Dr. King speak about freedom, but the Union officials were their as well supporting what they were fighting for as well (The 1937 Flint Sit- down
... (Piven & Cloward, 18) Workers protest by striking against their employer, it is easier for employees to protest because they are all located and working together under one roof and are fighting for one thing, and that one thing is related to the workplace. While it is easier for employees to protest, it is not that easy for lower class employees to protest because they have little ability to protect themselves against their institutional managers. When the lower class workers have an informal organizational protest the government is eventually stepping in to disarm the protestors and make efforts to conciliate, “…mobs of unemployed were granted relief in the 1930s…” (Piven & Cloward, 29) The protests cause disruption and sometimes that disruption can make a change but when people are protesting blindly they are more prone to social injustice then making a change.
Furthermore, in 1894, the Pullman Strike occurred where a nationwide railroad strike occurred. George Pullman basically owned the town and controlled the cost of rent and food, so when he lowered wages and raised prices, the workers called for a strike. Eugene Debbs was asked to lead the strike leading to the formation of the American Railroad Workers Union (ARWU). Debbs told the workers to not work any Pullman cars on the railroad. Since the railroads had a huge impact on the national economy, President Cleveland intervened and got the National Guard to run the trains and ordered them to crush the strike.
This type of strike would be similar to something unions would embrace today. Things changes when it seemed the Carnegie Steel was going to try and bring in replacement workers for those on strike. The company was within limits of the law if they brought non-union members in to work. The first official battle occurred on July 6 because it was discovered that 300 Pinkerton detectives were coming ashore from up the river to the Carnegie Mills. The union workers were then going to seize the mills and keep out all people working for Carnegie. They were going to take control of the facility in order to try and persuade management to agree to their terms. The union members were aware of replacements coming in and planned to stop them at all costs. At this point gunfire began from parties on either side; both the strikers and the detectives. It was never clearly recorded who took the first shot, but more union members were in trouble than anyone else. About 11 men died, two from the Pinkertons and 9 from the union. An incredibly large number of men on both sides were also injured from the battle. In the days following the battle, it was discussed between the AA and the company to end the rioting that had begun yet there were no signs of the strike stopping. Militia was called in and remained for a while, and troops were given warrants to arrest members of the strike for murder and other crimes. However, the
In their first attempt to get noticed, workers formed the National Labor Union in 1866. This union joined together various workers in order to create a group that would fight for what they wanted: higher wages and shorter workdays. As the years went by, the National Labor Union did their best in trying to achieve their goals, all while other groups took the matters into their own hands. In 1877, in what became known as the Great Railroad Strike, railroad workers from across America took part in a spontaneous strike on America’s railroads, an attempt that led to violence and, to their dismay, no changes to working conditions. In response to the strike, The New York Times published an article that stated “But if the strike on the Baltimore and Ohio Road is a foolish one, its history up to the present time shows that those who are engaged in it are not only bold and determined, but that they have the sympathy of a large part of the community in which they live…” (Document B). The editorial states that even if it wasn’t worth it, the Great Railroad Strike showed that there is something amiss in their daily lives, and whatever it is, they are trying to fix it for t...
against their employers, employees were able to go on strike and prove a point. Some
" While 8 hour day strike movement was generally peaceful, there was some acts of violence that set the labor movement back. The McCormick Harvester Company in Chicago learned ahead of time of a planned strike and so locked out all its employees who held union cards. Because of this fights broke out and police opened fire on the union members killing four of them. A public rally to protest these killings at Haymarket Square drew a large crowd. When a bomb went off, killing seven police officers and wounding fifty more, the police began to fire into the crowd and several more people were killed and about two-hundred wounded.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, even though it had been unsuccessful, was significant. It highlighted a growing division between capital and labor in American society. It emphasized the issue of labor rights both socially and politically and functioned as a catalyst for the organization of American labor unions nationally. The Great Strike had several important long term repercussions. The number of national labor unions soared after 1877 and that growth led to an escalation in labor conflicts around the United States. The violence of the Great Strike led to a revised role of state and federal governments in labor conflicts and the establishment of labor rights as an ongoing political issue in America.
Key events in the history of labor unions such as the Homestead Strike, Haymarket Square Riot, and Pullman Strike have largely impacted union memberships. The passing of federal laws have also impacted union memberships. Additionally, federal laws have been enacted throughout the years that protect both employers and employees. These laws along with the labor relations, technological advances and globalization have greatly helped shape Human Resources into what it is today.
Teachers’ strikes seem to occur whenever satisfactions are not met in the contract. Whether it happened in recent times or many years ago, salary improvement has always been the number one issue. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) think that teacher’s salaries are lower than other workers in other private companies, the service, or some of the organizations. Government reduced the budget of the education through cutting down the salaries and dismissing a number of employees.
They are appropriate in many situations to ensure the demands of the employees are properly addressed and potentially adhered to. Management and unions seek to avoid a strike. With an honest assessment of the internal resources and external forces that affect union strategy, the union should be able to identify concrete accomplishments that are within reach and those matters that would be nice but are probably unachievable (Missouri, 2015). An example is the NFL referees union that organized a strike in 2012. The strike materialized for two primary reasons. First, the referees were seeking benefits that they put at $16.5 million over the five years of a new contract (Mills, 2012). Secondly, the NFL felt as if they could use replacement referees until the referees union
My first reason supporting the motion that workers should be allowed to strike is in order to bring to the fore poor safety conditions. For instance, in the nuclear power industry, any breaches of safety can have tragic consequences. If the employees are exposed to nuclear material, this could lead to serious illnesses such as cancer, leukaemia and radiation sickness. Radioactive material could also affect residents of the surrounding area, as in the case of the Chernobyl disaster. In the light of poor safety conditions, workers striking can be justified by the fact that the government and public would be informed.