Labor Unions

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Labor Unions

Labor unions are groups or clubs of workers and employees who bond together to get good working conditions, fair pay, and fair hours for their labor. For example, in a newspaper, all the people who work the presses might all belong to one union. All of the artists, who are responsible for the artistic layout, might belong to another. These unions are usually joined together, and most unions in America are some branch of the largest labor union organization in the United States, the AFL-CIO. The unions of the workers at a certain business or factory might get together with the management for a period of time to talk about a contract. This time is known as negotiation. The union will tell the management what it wants its workers getting paid, and then the management will tell the union what it can pay the workers and still be earning a reasonable profit. They bargain and it usually works out. Most businesses and corporations have eight-hour work days, with optional extra hours. This is not usually a topic in negotiations, but could be. Working conditions could be discussed. If workers in the factory have no heat, no lunch breaks or they are not allowed to speak, (which was the case in many sweatshops for immigrants and children in the 1920's through 1940's), then the labor unions will obviously want something done.
These differences are usually settled fairly quickly, and a new contract featuring these agreements will be realized . Most contracts are in operation for about 3 to 5 years. Then, negotiations begin again. This is how labor- management relations go in a perfect world.
But, obviously, this is not always the case. Sometimes the unions want unrealistic wages. They might stress extreme luxuries that the company cannot provide for working conditions. Or the management may be stubborn and unwilling to give up a large percentage of the profit in a good year. Or maybe both sides are seemingly in the right and an agreement can not be met. Whatever the case maybe, after the set negotiation has been passed, and a contract has not been created, then the union will go to the workers tell them the situation, and they will vote in a strike.
The unions purpose in the strike is to stop the company or factory from caring out their purpose of existence. If they a...

... middle of paper ...

... of strikes from a different view, the infamous 1994 Major League Baseball Strike comes to mind. The salary caps caused the players to simply walk off the job. No violent riots or picketing was necessary: most players went and played golf. This was because of two things: they were already rich by most peoples standards, and they were desperately needed by the owners, because baseball is a hard business to find replacements .
The owners tried, though, but failed. Although public disgust ran high at the
"spoiled" baseball players, the union did not waver, and the owners gave in, and the next season baseball was back.
Labor unions all started out as a small idea when a few workers shared their ideas that they did not like the way management was running things. They formed a union and threatened the management by walking off the job. This was a new idea then, but today it is commonplace. The big worry is among the heads of big business who are resorting to downsizing to raise profit. The future of labor unions is unclear, but it seems to be a colorful one.

Bibliography

1. The Detroit News and Free Press.
Saturday, February 15, 1997; Front page

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