1. Issues:
Is Barney and his co-workers protected under the NLRA? Is this an economic strike or unfair labor practice strike? Is Mr. Flint allowed to permanently replace the striking workers?
Analysis:
Barney and his co-workers acted together to strike against the sanitation conditions at the Bedrock Quarry & Gravel Company after complaining to Mr. Flint failed to produce results. Their actions constitutes a concerted activity, which is protected under the NLRA. Additionally, David Walsh writes, “Any efforts by employees to join together for mutual aid or protection can qualify as protected concerted activity—even if those employees are not represented by a union or attempting to form one.” (Walsh, 2013-2016, pg. 498)
The strike is an economic strike
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Issues:
Did Mr. Flint violate the NLRA by having a closed meeting with the employees two days before a representation election? Did Mr. Flint comments make a threat violating the NLRA?
Analysis:
Mr. Flint had the meeting two days before election and did not breach the 24 hour protected period before the election. Besides, David Walsh writes, “Employers are generally free to make their about the merits of unionization known to employees. Except for the twenty-four-hour period immediately preceding an NLRB representation election, employers are free to require employees to attend meetings where the employer’s views about unionization are presented.” (Walsh, 2013-2016, pg. 510)
Mr. Flint’s comments were discussing what could happen during collective bargaining with employees’ pay and benefits, which is his opinion. Moreover, David Walsh writes, “Employers can make predictions about the likely consequences that unionization will have for the business—consequences that are objectively because of economic reality that is beyond the employer’s control.” (Walsh, 2013-2016, pg. 511) However, Mr. Flint’s comments were discussing a decrease in pay and less benefits, which could be construed as a threat.
(Cheeseman2013) In the National Labor Relation Board v Shop Rite Foods case some employees of Shop Rite Foods of Texas elected a worker union as a Bargaining agent for a collective bargaining agreement for over 3 months the agreement was still not settled. Then ShopRite began to notice a lot of it merchandise being damaged in the warehouse. They determined that the damage was being intentionally being caused by dissident employees as a pressure tactic to secure concessions from the company in the collective bargaining negotiations.
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
In 1898, congress passed the Erdman Act, which prohibited employers from firing employees based on if they join a union. An employer for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, William Adair, violated the statute by firing O.B. Coppage for his participation in a labor organization. The court, in a 6 to 2 vote, held that the statute not only violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, it also held that congress’s power over interstate commerce does not extend to memberships in unions. The court uses substantive due process to read into the Fifth Amendment the laborers and employers right to ‘liberty of contract,” which Justice Harlan points out by citing the similar ruling in Lochner. The court reads it as the right of individuals to enter into contracts to either purchase or sell labor, which the law violated by limiting the rights of both the employer and employee. The court also rejected the argument that the law was within congressional power under interstate commerce by stating no logical correlation between union memberships and how it would affect intersta...
The case study of GMFC provides an example of a company attempting to avoid unionization of its workers. GMFC is expanding by building a new U.S. plant which will manufacture motorized recreational equipment. The company plans to hire about 500 production workers to assemble mechanical components, fabricate fiberglass body parts, and assemble the final products. In order to avoid the expected union campaign by the United Automobile Workers (UAW) to organize its workers, GMFC must implement specific strategies to keep the new plant union-free. GMFC’s planning committee offers suggestions with regards to the plant’s size, location, staffing, wages and benefits, and other employee relations issues in order to defend the company against the negative effects of unionization and increase...
The organization of IWW was the first of many strikes brought up by Zinn. The IWW’s strike may have been one of the biggest and most fearful strikes of the time period. The strike started in February 1919 in Seattle, WA. The walkout of nearly 100,000 workers brought the city to a substantial halt for five days. The strike was quiet and orderly, citizens handled it quite well. The strikers organized milk
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
For instance, in 1892, Carnegie was trying to tear down unions and in Homestead, Pennsylvania decided to fire everyone. However, if they signed a contract stating that they would not join a union, they could get their job back. In response to this, the workers struck back and started shooting the Pinkerton's and it got to the point where the company called in the state militia who defeated the strikers. This was known as the Homestead Strike and the surviving strikers were arrested and convicted of murder. 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 of 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. Debbs was arrested for breaking the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, but formed the Industrial Workers of the World union (IWW) in jail. Some members of the ARWU were killed or wounded
In 1916, Everett, Washington was facing severe economic difficulty. There was ongoing confrontation between business and commercial interests and labor and labor organizers. The laborer had numbers of organized rallies and speeches on the street. These were opposed by local law enforcement, which was firmly on the side of the business. On May 1, 1916 the Everett Shingle Weavers Union went on strike. The strike was settled quickly in favor of the mills owner, but one. This is when the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) or “Wobbies” became involved and the trouble began. Many members of the IWW saw this to be an opportunity to organize and provide support for the strikers. When IWW organizer and speaker James Rowan arrived on Everett June 31, 1916, Everett became home to IWW newest “Free-Speech Fight”. Everett employers clashed with IWW stubbornness. On the corner of Hewitt and Wetmore, IWW’s speakers chose to speak. At first the speakers would get arrested and get released. Members were paid one dollar by the union for every day they were in jail. Everett jails were kept busy and Snohomish County Sheriff Donald McRae quickly became frustrated. McRae’s next solution was to arrest the speakers and send them to Seattle, instructing them not to return to Everett.
The bottom line was that workers had to be laid off. The business could not be concerned with the human side of this decision. Mr. Moore felt that GM should have cared more. He believed GM should have taken more action to keep Flint a thriving town. Since the town was a factory town, there was few other employers and most of them were dependent on the factory to survive. The cycle began; workers could not find work locally. Most families could not move. If they had some money saved they would have to leave a house behind. The house would not sell and if you owed money on it then you likely would not just walk away. The workers that rented could no longer afford the rent payments. Tenants would stay in the homes until they were evicted for non-payment. The town began to look like slums and areas were simply rubble heaps. Businesses closed up, houses and buildings were vacated and left for
In conclusion there were violations of the Unfair Labor Practice laws committed by both parties during the organization process, which were identified in the film. I have identified two committed by labor representatives, not particularly grievous, but significant enough that ULP¡¦ violations could be filed. Based on the violations committed by labor, I do not think there would be any ruling by the NLRB that would affect the election results. If the election had gone the other way I could not say the same for the violations that were committed by management. The film depicted many aspects of the union organization process including the interactions of all parties involved. The organization process is more detailed than what was shown, but the general ideas of most of the major steps were accurate. Those steps that were not shown were invisible to the film but not the formal organizational process.
The disadvantages of union membership are viewed from the employee and employer perspective. Through the employee lens, the disadvantages manifest in the form of fees, loss of autonomy, and less collaborative work environment. As part of the union, you surrender many of your individual rights in exchange for the organized results that can potentially manifest through the collective bargaining process. Therefore, there isn’t any assurance that your individual concern will even be addressed.
... a reality. Big and small companies alike are starting look more at the labor union as a whole and not the individuals that make up the union. As stated earlier labor unions were formed to protect the rights of individuals and to keep businesses from taking advantage of their employees. Blacks now have many of the same rights because they stuck through the hard times to gain their reward. There are many people to thank for the state and make up of labor unions in America today. The next big hurdle, now that we are starting to front are problems with labor unions here in the U.S., is international labor unions. Maybe 80 to 90 years from now the same will be said about international labor unions as was said about interracial labor unions. America and the world are an ever-changing place. The make up of labor unions has taken many steps from all white or black to interracial to possibly international in the future. Thanks to the studies and the history of labor union diversity we can better handle the possibilities of an international labor union. Some may say change is bad, but I believe that the changes of the work force and labor unions are better for our economy and our society.
...t be done in work. This man is also upset because the point of unions is to increase the workers strength in bargaining with employers. The union clearly did not help in the case of the GM workers in Flint.
...the coal miners didn’t get a change in the way coal was weighed or official recognition of the UMW, the Progressives won this fight because their voices had been heard. Roosevelt’s arbitration in this matter linked public interest and state power, and in the process offered a progressive example for labor relations (McGerr 124).