Term Paper on "Labor Relations Project Outline"

Term Paper 15 pages (3894 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Lqbor Relations Project

Labor Relations Project

In the United States, Canada and other advanced countries, labor unions are legal workers' representatives and the union activities largely centered on the collective bargaining over wages and improvement of working conditions of union members. Unions remain important actors in the United States, and unions fight for the issues such as wages, trade policy and improvement of healthcare for membership. Labor unions also assist in minimizing the income disparities; guarantee a secured income, as well as improving standard of living of industrial society.

"Unions also aimed at correcting imbalances in income distribution through maintaining "solidarity wages" that minimized differentials between workers. Unions also they adopted an inclusive approach to workers outside the union, and provided a variety of services which made them non-competing groups in the world of work." (Jose, 2006 P. 2).

Formation of Unions started in the 19th Century. In 1880s, Knights of Labor was the major force in the United States that fought for the labor cause, however, the organization collapsed due to poor management. In the late 1800s, organized labor union became politically vocal in the United States. The American Federation of Labor also emerged and coalition of many national unions assisted in resolving many jurisdictional disputes during the period. However, there was a rapid growth of unionism in the United States between 1900 and 1919, which was followed by a long years of decline until there was a promulgation of the Wagner Act of 1935 that induced the labor movement in the United States. However, after the Second World War, unions formed the backbone element of Modern liberalism and New Deal Coalition in the United States, and the percentages of workers belonging to union reached 35% in 1954. (Marinas & Condruz-Bacescu 2006). In 1970, unions became major players in the U.S. national politics usually taking the side of the Democrats. In 1979, union members were estimated to reach 21 million and between 1970s and 1980s, labor leaders provided stiff opposition to trade liberalization, which include North American Free Trade, and World Trade Organization. For more than 3 decades, labor unions fought for higher trade barriers, and labor unions lobbied for higher tariffs and quotas as well as outright bans on imported steel from China. (Griswold, 2010).

Presently, labor unions are under the two umbrellas of CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) and AFL (American Federation of Labor) and both organizations play active roles in politics and economic issues. Despite the significant impact of union in 1980s in the United States, the unions experience a steady decline in the membership participations since 1980s. The decline in union membership is more pronounced in private sectors than public sectors. Since the middle of 20th century, there has been a decline in the American labor movement. In the early 50s, approximately one-third of American workers belonged to unions, however, at present, only one-tenth of American workers belong labor unions.

This project formulates research objective to enhance professional understanding on labor relations and unions

Research Objectives

To provide understanding on the changes that is needed for unions to maintain support from the community, their membership, and the employers.

To provide understanding on the impact of politics on membership decline. In the last few decades, there has been a drastic decline of labor unions membership and political influence has contributed to the decline in the unions' membership.

To investigate the generational aspects, such as baby boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y, influencing labor unions and continue to do so.

To investigate other external dynamics, such as global workforce, that has impacts on labor unions.

To understand the strategies that Labor Unions need to adopt to remain active and viable in the 21st century.

Impact of Politics on Unions Membership Decline

The decline of the union membership started around 1960s where workers collective voice started to weaken and unions' influence waned. Major factors leading to the decline in the unions' membership is partly due to the increase in the income inequality and wages stagnation. Devinatz (2011) argues that number of worker joining the union has declined since 1980, and the peak of union popularity was in 1954 when union membership reached 34%. The erosion of the industrial union within the key manufacturing sector in the United States has been a major contributor to the overall decline of union membership in the United States. Since the last three decades, there has been a crisis in the key manufacturing sectors such as auto, steel and rubber, and the effect results in a crisis of private sector unionism. A recent statistics reveals that unions only registered 6.9% of union members from private sectors and the decline of unions' membership has been attributed to the inability of labor organizations to successfully win bargaining with employers and increase in the number of emerging industries that have sprung up in the United States. While union membership has relatively declined in the private sector, however, there is a considerable increase in the number of union members in the public sector. Typically, employees of federal, state and municipal governments who are members of unions are five times larger than union members in the private sector. At present, there are approximately 36.2% of public employees belonging to unions. Despite the larger percentages of public workers joining the unions, union membership has drastically declined in the United States compared to other industrialized countries. In 2010, the union density was 11.4% compared to the 27.5% in Canada, 18.6% in German and 70% in Finland. Estreicher, (2010) argue that since the unions in the United States have not been able to realize their primary objectives, they often use politics to realize their primary objective at the bargaining table. However, fundamental factors leading to the decline of union membership within the private sectors have been attributed to the political influence.

Since 1950s, American unions remain the engine of the important political factors both through coalition with the activist organization and mobilization of their members. In 1970s and 1980s, unions have been able to mobilize their members to support a political party that supported their interests. However, in the present political environment, the influence of union over political parties has declined drastically. The U.S. Democratic Party has realized that the only strategy to win the consent of people is to generate employment and increase people standard of living. Present economic situation in the United States has made parties in the United States to focus more on economic issues and not align with political lobbyists. With drastic decline in the union membership within the private sectors in the United States, the union's members have faced challenges in mobilizing people to support a political party to achieve their objective.

In the United States, union implements three objectives: workers' recognition, wealth redistribution and representing workers in the political parties and legal arenas. To drive up the wage and benefits of workers, labor unions have sought political remedies. Before 1950s, American labor unions routinely played a major role in politics. They used their substantial organizing power to influence presidential, congressional, state and local elections. During this period, labor leaders have been able to enjoy the privilege of politicians especially, officials of Democratic Party. In 1964, the strong link between labor unions and Democratic Party made 90% of union members to cast their votes for Lyndon Johnson in the Presidential election. However, the decline in the union membership has weakened the ability of labor to mobilize their members to vote for a particular political party. The decline in the labors' membership has left million of workers in the United States to participate in any political party they wish.

Between 1940s and 1950s, there had been a tremendous increase in the union membership. With large union membership during the period, unions possess the force to mobilize workers to vote for a particular political party, and union could influence the large turnout of their members during political campaigns. However, between 1980s and 1990s, there was drastic decline of union membership leading to the shrinking of union forces. The union in the United States no longer possesses power to influence the decision of the political parties. With the declining power of union over the decision pf political actors, the political parties in the United States do not considers unions as forces that could bring them to power. Thus, the issue of unions influencing union's members to support a particular political party in the United States has declined drastically. With increase in the unemployment rates in the United States, many workers have realized that they have to stick to the decision of their employers to keep their jobs. In the contemporary technological and globalize environment, the U.S. firms continued to face competitions from firms from other industrialized countries and emerging economy. To cut costs, many older factories have resulted to automation to save labor costs, and unions have sought the varieties of measures to protect jobs with limited success. In the face of domestic and foreign competitions, management is ready… READ MORE

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