Saturday, September 22, 2012

Blog #37 - Unions

This week, we have spent some time looking at the reasons that unions exist, including the following reasons:

  • unions raise wages of unionized workers (by roughly 20%) and compensation including benefits by 28%; 
  • Unions help reduce wage inequality b/c "they raise wages more for low- and middle class workers than higher wage workers, more for blue collar workers than white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree." 
  • Unions set a pay standard for other non-unionized employers to follow; 
  • Probably the most important area that unions help is in fringe benefits, things like paid leave, health benefits, and employer paid pension plans. 1 
In the video that we saw on Friday, the Amalgamated Steel workers tried initially to work together with Carnegie Steel until Andrew Carnegie and his business partner, Henry Clay Frick, decided to break the union and lock them out in the summer of 1892.  As the video said, the whole world was watching to see what would happen between the most powerful steel company in the country and its most powerful union.  After the strike was broken, wages decreased by almost half (which also could have been caused by the Depression of 1893 - something the video failed to mention).  But, what the professors in the film did emphasize was that workers felt that once they worked a job for a while, they felt like that there job is theirs.  The battle at Homestead was between who was to control the resources of the country - labor or management, and the owners won this war even though the workers defeated the Pinkertons.  2

Labor unions did not gain official or legal security until the Wilson administration in 1914 and then even more security during the Great Depression under President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 with the Wagner Act and in 1938 with the Fair Labor Standards Act (which established the minimum wage, overtime pay, and ended child labor for good).  Since that time, workers wages had increased and union membership had increased until the 1950s (1/3 of the workforce) and falling to a low of 12.1% of the workforce in 2008 when union membership came back up, according to the Washington Post.  Most of these gains in union membership, according to the article, were NOT in the private sector but in government jobs.  As the economy crashed in 2008, private sector workers lost their jobs but unionized workers, for the most part, did not because of their contracts signed before the crash began.  3

4


Since the 1980s, states and Congress and the presidents have worked to weaken union regulations and security by allowing "open shop" laws - which require workers to not have to join a union if they work in an unionized industry.  These laws, called "right to work" laws, are spread throughout the U.S., but Michigan is not one of these states.  These laws build off of an anti-union law called the Taft-Hartley Act passed in 1947 after World War 2, and currently 23 states have their own "right to work" laws.  5

The question now is, have unions outlived their usefulness?  Back when wages were terribly low and union membership was at only 7% of the workforce, workers forming together and collectively bargaining made sense to get better working conditions, wages, and benefits. 3  But critics have always charged that these union benefits come at the expense of higher prices passed on to the consumers by the unionized companies. Critics also charge that having union contracts prohibit businesses and government agencies from making changes (meaning firing workers, lowering wages and eliminating benefits) when times are tough like they are now, and this lack of flexibility can force some companies out of business or have to eliminate jobs by outsourcing them overseas -thereby defeating the purpose of union protection in the first place.  6


However, manufacturing jobs have disappeared over the past 30 years, and unskilled laborers have had to get more education and skills just to get a job.  Plus, we're seeing the size of the middle-class shrink as the size of union membership shrink since the mid-1960s.  It took almost ten years to raise the minimum wage in 2007, and most families cannot survive on that alone.  Currently, Republican governors like our own Rick Snyder and Wisconsin's Scott Walker have worked at restricting the legal rights of unions - whether for skilled or unskilled workers - rights that have been guaranteed for almost 80 years. 4 Michigan workers are organizing a ballot initiative called "Protect Our Jobs" that would make collective bargaining a constitutional right in Michigan.  You've probably even seen some of their commercials on TV in the past few weeks as well as commercials against this proposal.  Could more people benefit from being unionized if companies would let them?  Could unions make a resurgence if times were better?  Or does that only happen when times are bad? 


So my question for you is this: have unions outlived their usefulness?  Why or why not?  Use the ideas above to answer the question, and look at the sources linked below.  There's lots of good information out there on unions.  If you find another source, please site it in your comment.  

Your comment is due Monday, Sept. 24 at the beginning of class, 200 words minimum! 

Sources: 
1. http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_bp143/  "How Unions Help All Workers," Lawrence Mishel and Matthew Walters, Economic Policy Institute, August 2003.  
2. "The Homestead Strike," 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America, DVD. 2006. 
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012801621.html "American Union Ranks Grow After Bottoming Out," Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post, 1/29/2009.  
4. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/who-killed-american-unions/258239/  "Who Killed American Unions?" Derek Thompson, The Atlantic Monthly, June 2012.  
5. National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund. http://www.nrtw.org/en/about 
6. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/05/what-unions-do-how-labor-unions-affect-jobs-and-the-economy "What Unions Do: How Labor Unions Affect Jobs and the Economy," James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation, May 2009. 

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that some unions have outlived their usefulness because they no longer stand for something that needs something to stand for. The unions were helpful when there were no laws set up to protect workers from the owners of the companies that didn’t care about their workers’ health. Like homestead were the workers had to work a lot of hours with little pay in a hot and dangerous place. In that time unions that had power and had some influence over there hours and pay. But after the minimum wage law, dangers pay, over time, child labor, safety laws, and immigration laws. With all this laws set in place by the federal government there is almost no need for unions to be around at all, but there are still some needed in other parts of the world. India, Africa, China and countries like that need unions and unless their government puts in laws that protects workers then we might see homestead again or Gandhi’s march on the factories. If this happens then it will make worldwide news, then there will be a big deal and there might be a rebellion or civil war. And with that We or NATO might be called in to help fight the battle and that would not be good.

Nico Romano

Anonymous said...

Unions have outlived their usefulness. I believe that unions were useful back when the industrial revolution came along. Unions provided safe working conditions, better hours, pensions, benefits, and higher wages. Nowadays, since unions are taking so much and not working as much, they are hurting the company. In directly unions have caused consumers to pay more for their goods and services. Because unions are asking for better benefits and wages, the companies have to make up the higher expenses by passing it down to the consumers and charging higher prices. The union’s concept of wages is good, but it restricts the company, making some go out of business, or outsourcing jobs overseas. Either way the workers are fired or let go which further contributes to the unemployed and the economy. Unions aren’t needed now for a number of reasons, including labor laws have been established. They have become corrupt, which includes embezzlement and theft. Unions are also way too politically involved. The effect of being part of union on political viewpoint is stronger for people with less education. Unions add a democratizing opinion by supporting input among less-educated, working class who usually don’t have a voice in politics. Workers aren’t necessarily forced to join unions (unless your employer and union leader have a deal) but you may have to pay union fees if you don’t work in a Right to Work state.

Lexi Kizy
4th hour

Site:
• http://nlpc.org/union-corruption-update
• http://worldpolity.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/unions-and-political-participation/

Anonymous said...

I believe that unions have outlived their usefulness. Unions used to protect workers before many labor laws were passed in our country. These unions were formed because of money hungry company owners who did not protect workers from dangerous working conditions, long hours, and low wages. With the addition of labor laws, workers have a greater deal of protection against company owners. Today, unions prevent government interference in cutting wages and firing unqualified workers. Sometimes wages need to be cut, especially in the economy we have today, and unions prevent this. Instead companies are forced to outsource jobs, which does more harm then good, or even shut down the company itself. Unions demand higher pay and more benefits, which subsequently cause consumers to pay even more. They often demand outrageous conditions that companies could never agree to. The unions that do win high wages for their companies cause less investment, fewer new jobs, and a smaller 401(k) for the rest of people. Unions today also protect many unskilled or poor workers from being fired. These workers do not deserve the benefits unions are fighting for, causing many people to resent unions and their beliefs. Overall, unions today benefit a small amount of qualified workers, and cause more consequences for others.

Laura G. 4th hour

Sources:

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/05/what-unions-do-how-labor-unions-affect-jobs-and-the-economy "What Unions Do: How Labor Unions Affect Jobs and the Economy," James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation, May 2009.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012801621.html "American Union Ranks Grow After Bottoming Out," Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post, 1/29/2009.

Anonymous said...

I think that the Unions have outlived their usefulness. They used to give save working conditions to their workers back then. The Unions gave better hours, high wages and benefits. The unions were formed because of the hunger and the owners that did not protect their workers and gave them so little money and they gave the workers dangerous conditions, they didn’t care about their workers health. I think that the Unions concept of wages is great, it restricts the companies, make some companies stop working/go out of business. Unions demand higher pay and better benefits which make the customers pay more. Sometimes they demand outrageous conditions that companies don’t agree on. Now, unions protect poor people and people that don’t have any talents/skills from being fired from their jobs. They don’t really deserve all of that support/benefits unions are giving them, causing a lot of people to resent unions and their benefits. Now, unions benefit small amounts of workers and they cause more consequence for others. Unions aren’t really needed in some places, but it is in others like, China, Africa and some others that need the Unions unless their government put the law to benefit their workers/people .

Dina Kadadi 4th hour

Anonymous said...

Bella Adelman
4th Hour

i believe that the unions have outlived there usefulness for many reasons. i think that they are not useful anymore but i believe that they were useful along time ago. I think that it was help full along time ago to help with the low wages, long working hours and the health of the people. Working conditions back then were very bad and some of them were not even safe to be living in. the Unions wouldn't work until there hours were cut off and they had higher pay. they believed that there jobs deserved more money then what they were getting. They would protest and not go to work and most of the times there wages would just be less then they were before, and they would get a less amount of money, or they would be fired and not abel to go back to work. even worse, sometimes there companies would just be shut down. unions aren't necessary now because of the labor laws that have been passed. If the labor laws weren't passed then the union would be necessary because it would protect the workers for good causes. this is why i believe that the unions have outlived there usefulness.

Anonymous said...

Unions have outlived their usefulness for a number of reasons. Back when the first unions were being formed there were a lot of reasons to have them because times were so different than they are now. Unions were being formed back then because working conditions were really harsh and unsafe. Many of people would die in factories because the tools they would use were really unsafe and also because of the extreme temperatures in the factories. Also another reason why unions were formed because many people who worked in the industrial revolution got payed badly and couldn't live well with the money they were being payed. Those were good reasons to start unions and now most workers expectations are way higher than they use to be and people expect more. When workers start unions now it is usually for more money or more days off and in this economy right now unions aren't what we need. People just need to work and help our country get back on its feet. I feel that unions should usually only be formed for the reasons they used to be formed like bad working conditions and very low pay. Most companies now do a good job providing safe working conditions and usually the pay is enough to live on. So yes unions have outlived their usefulness

Anonymous said...

I think Unions have outlived their usefulness because nowadays most of the people in the Unions are taking advantage of the benefits and are taking it for granted. Companies are struggling and people in the Unions are greedy and keep demanding more money and more time off. If Unions keep doing this then eventually most businesses will go bankrupt and won’t be able to keep paying the workers and will shut down. Then those workers won’t even have a job. People in Unions need to learn to back off for a little bit and let the company regroup. Even the smallest of companies are just barely hanging on because of these Unions. There are some people who do not take Unions for granted and that is great for them, but most people just want more and more and won’t stop until they get what they want. Some Unions are just in it for the publicity and politics. Most of the time, the people in the Unions are they lazy ones who barely do any work. They take “sick days” off when they aren’t even sick just because they think they deserve it. That is my personal opinion of Unions. They used to be really good in the past and helped a lot of workers who were getting unfair pay and time, but now they are terrible because people are greedy and selfish.

Elise S.
4th Hour

Anonymous said...

There have been many unions through out america. There are some that help and some that outlived them self.Th reason why is because there have been changes in the law. For example there once were union for workers to have betters working conditions and now the workers have received that right. The unions made a big effect on the workers when there was no law. Unions would protect the workers from health. And most worker would not even make that much money every week even when they do jobs that could kill them. In that time unions would have a lot of power that they would incur age the worker to fight for what they deserved. For example there was the child labor law, safety laws,payment laws,and more.And now in todays world there aunt that many unions around. Like there is the teachers union,worker unions, and more.In my opine i that that unions had more of an effect then, then it does now.

Zach Egziabher

ronald G. said...

Unions have not outlived they’re usefulness because it’s been documented that they’ve earned workers rights, good working conditions and better salaries for many years. According to the Economic Policy Institute, unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%. This is a significant number considering the wage inequality. Unions also help reduce wage inequality because they raise wages more for low and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers. Even if workers don’t join the union they still benefit from them. Workers in an industry that is at least 25% unionized receive 5% more pay. Unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans. Unionized workers receive better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement. As the percent of people in unions decreases, so does the middle class share of wealth. Unionized workers also receive 26% more vacation time and 14% more total paid leave (vacations and holidays). Unions should be empowered not erased.

Sources: http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_bp143/

Ronald G
4th

Anonymous said...

Jacob Corbeille
September 23, 2012
U.S. History
4th Hour
Unions
I don’t think unions have outlived their usefulness yet because people are still facing things like not making enough on minimum wage. It’s true that times are not as bad as they used to be, but some people have trouble in these times. Unions are still useful to those people who have a rough time making a living. Even though times are better now it doesn’t mean there better for everyone and that there should be restrictions on unions. They would be much more useful than they already are if there were fewer restrictions. The only difference between back when times were harder and now is that there are less people in need of union support. I don’t think unions now even have a big enough negative impact on the companies for it to matter if they exist or not. Some companies just need to not be so selfish and think about the people who really need that little bit of extra money just to survive another day. Unions have not outlived their usefulness and I don’t think they will at least for a very long time.

Anonymous said...

I think that unions have outlived their usefulness. I think that unions were better back then a long time ago, but now, I don’t think we need unions anymore. Since the people in the unions weren’t being treated great when they were working, the workers began to protest. So then the workers didn’t work which stopped the unions from making money. Back then, you had to work for long hours for very little pay. Also you might not have had the best working conditions. For example, the homestead, in the winter it was freezing and in the summer it was extremely hot. It was hard for the workers to keep working so successfully in these conditions. Now, we have all of these laws from the government so we don’t need all of these different unions. Union members tend to earn more than non-union members, but union members are taxed more. This lowers the profits to the unions. The unions start to lower their investments. Unions have more labor in their work. They also force the workers to pay higher wages. The percent of non-union members and union members have dropped over the past 25 years from 20% to 12.4%. I think these numbers are going to keep dropping. This is why I think that unions have outlived their usefulness.
Jaime Ettinger
4th Hour

Anonymous said...

first off I think that unions are bad. first of all they stop workflow. If they didn't stop were actually help without disturbing the workplace I think they would have been good. on the other hand they also were good because they have to get benefits for the workers. but sometime to get workers fired or killed. most part I think that unions were good. But they could have been done better by not interfering with the workplace.
Jason c.

Anonymous said...

I think unions have outlived their usefulness for many different reasons. One reason is that there is a law making sure that minimum wage is no longer ridiculously low. Second, if a company wants to fire an employee who is doing a bad job, it is much more difficult if that employee is in a union. Thirdly, people are no longer being treated horribly at their jobs and do not need any one to stand up for them because they are being treated poorly, since they are being treated fine. Also union workers lack the work ethic of non union workers (most of the time) because they figure that their job is secure so they do not need to work as hard to keep it. So unions may be needed in certain times but not now, not in America.

Connor Biondo
4th hour

Anonymous said...

I think unions have started to outlive their usefulness. Unions were very useful one hundred years ago when the working conditions were so bad that people were getting disease and dying and wages were incredibly low; but it’s not like that anymore and unions give unskilled workers pay and benefits that they don’t deserve. We are currently in an economic crisis so some unions could be forcing some companies out of business because they make it very hard for the owner to make wage cuts, benefit cuts, and unions make it very hard for the owners to fire bad workers that are only able to keep their job because of union regulations. Unions these days make it too easy for people to get a job and then do bad work and not work hard because the unions they are in make it so hard for them to get fired. Without unions the average middle class worker would get paid less and their job wouldn’t be as secure but if they decide to be a very hard and productive worker then they could get a promotion and get their wages raised. I think all unions should be ended because that would cause people to be harder workers to try to keep their jobs.

Max Watzman
4th hour

Anonymous said...

Unions have outlived their usefulness. I believe that unions were useful back when the industrial revolution came along. Unions provided safe working conditions, better hours, pensions, benefits, and higher wages. Nowadays, since unions are taking so much and not working as much, they are hurting the company. In directly unions have caused consumers to pay more for their goods and services. Because unions are asking for better benefits and wages, the companies have to make up the higher expenses by passing it down to the consumers and charging higher prices. The union’s concept of wages is good, but it restricts the company, making some go out of business, or outsourcing jobs overseas. Either way the workers are fired or let go which further contributes to the unemployed and the economy.

Davion Curry
4th hour

Nicai Sorrell 4th said...

Unions haven’t overstayed their welcome in my book. To me unions can be the only way a public demographic gets any recognition when things start to get unfair, at times it may look like it should leave or disband but logically the company might slow revert back to its bad habits or try an even dirtier trick. Like the teacher strike in Detroit back then, teachers knew it was going down but because there wasn’t a strong union it got worst for the teachers and professors making them strike. The district, however, managed to counter this with a court case and in the end workers got the double sword tips since Michigan rule is “Every day a teacher or professor is on strike, they do not get paid,” they lost more pay and still got a pay deduction then had to go back to school. People will always have different views on Unions no matter what really as some think Unions have done their part or that workers already have made a decent pay. I support the Protect Our Rights ballet because taking that away would be the closest Michigan has ever been to disregarding the 1st Amendment; Freedom of speech, religion, press, to peaceably assemble, and petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Unions in the United States have outlived their usefulness. I say this because majority of all the major companies send their materials to different countries like China and Japan to be manufactured. In those countries they don’t have child labor laws, and they can make workers work long hours with very low pay. Meaning that it doesn’t really matter what they do because it’s not against the law. I think that Unions should be formed overseas because people are taking advantage of the people of poverty who aren’t really used to jobs so they will take anything. Another reason I believe that Unions have outlived their usefulness is because since Unions were created there were laws made for the working people that pretty much assured them of nice pay, good working conditions, and things of that nature. However I do believe that Unions are still necessary for nurses and automotive workers so that they can make sure that they can keep benefits, continue to make good wages and to assist with job security.

Johne' Dogan 4th hour

Anonymous said...

i think unions have outlived there exctance for tons of reasons. Back in the day unions were useful now they have basicly no use because now there are workers rights. also back in the day there were no workers rights and saftey issues with working condtions. another reason why they are a pain in the but because they are always complaing about their pay but there pay is fine. another reason why unions were useful back in the day because of bad pay and no working breaks. also unions now are mad about the have no days off and no vaction time, the econmy now does not need workers taking a lot of days off. also another bad thing about unions is that they now protect bad workers.


Lenny trotta

Anonymous said...

I believe that Unions have outlived their usefulness for many reasons. One of which being that they protect ALL workers; both good and bad. They allow bad workers to be protected and it is very hard to fire them if they are a part of the Union. Originally Unions were a really great idea as they provided safe working conditions, higher wages, and better hours. They were also the voice of the worker to the employer, allowing the workers to have a say in what happens. Unions used to protect workers before many labor laws were passed in our country. A huge number of jobs go over seas because it costs too much money for Union workers to make products. With increased pay, and health insurance it makes the products cost more. It is much cheaper out of the country where very few, if any, unions exist to make the product. Why can’t employers do the right thing and give benefits and good pay without the Union, it would save a lot of hassle. I am not necessarily and completely anti-union; I still believe they do great things such as giving benefits, making sure both men and woman have equal pay, and protecting jobs.

Bella H.

Anonymous said...

Unions have outlived their usefulness for a number of reasons. Back when the first unions were being formed there were a lot of reasons to have them because times were so different than they are now. Unions were being formed back then because working conditions were really harsh and unsafe. Many of people would die in factories because the tools they would use were really unsafe and also because of the extreme temperatures in the factories. Also another reason why unions were formed because many people who worked in the industrial revolution got payed badly and couldn't live well with the money they were being payed. Those were good reasons to start unions and now most workers expectations are way higher than they use to be and people expect more. When workers start unions now it is usually for more money or more days off and in this economy right now unions aren't what we need. People just need to work and help our country get back on its feet. I feel that unions should usually only be formed for the reasons they used to be formed like bad working conditions and very low pay. Most companies now do a good job providing safe working conditions and usually the pay is enough to live on. So yes unions have outlived their usefulness

Patrick M.

Anonymous said...

I do not think that Unions have outlived their usefulness. Oh the surface, it may seem that unions are no longer needed due to today’s better working conditions. But if we take away unions, companies can cut down on many benefits for their workers, like tenure, health insurance, and worker’s comp. And because of the tough economic times, job security is a big issue. Companies can lay off experienced workers who have been working there for years and years in favor of newer workers who can be paid less. Unions can keep people’s jobs secure and make sure that workers have the best benefits possible. Without worker’s unions, there is no medium for the employees to negotiate with their employers for changes they wish to make in their work environments. If people can’t negotiate with their employers, then there’s no way to get more benefits or improve working conditions. It is an employer’s job to make sure that his employees have the best working environment possible, and not having unions would hinder that. Some people argue that unions lead to the outsourcing of jobs, and that may be one unfortunate drawback to worker’s unions. But that isn’t a reason to dismiss unions as having outlived their usefulness. We still need unions to protect the rights of workers and provide them with mediums for negotiation.
Patrick Takata 4th hour