Labor Movement
Nicholas Savett
Siena Heights University
MGT450: Labor Relations
Professor Stephen Ball
December 15, 2015
Reflection
When did the union begin? According to an article online at Unionplus.org the union in the U.S. began around the eighteenth century with the National Labor Union (NLU). The NLU back then did not just represent a certain type of worker and over time it did crumble but set the standards for the unions to move forward. After, the NLU the Knights of Labor emerged in 1869 and had a membership of over 700,000 members and addressed the issues of child labor and 8-hour work days (2015). The history of labor unions and fight for fairness at work.
In 1886 the America’s Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded by Samuel Gompers addressed wage increase and workplace safety and obtain over 1.4 million members. With WWII the AFL and The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) merged to create AFL-CIO in 1955. The AFL-CIO was able to create and offer Union Plus benefits to not only the members but their families with Union Plus Credit Cards, 35 financial insurance, and discount programs (2015). The history of labor unions and fight for fairness at work.
What is Labor Relations? According to an online article from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary Labor Relations “is the relationship between management and labor especially as involved in collective bargaining and maintenance of contract.” With labor relations we are going to take a look at social justice unionisms and labor management relations (LMR).
When looking at labor relations, social justice unionisms, and LMR it’s interesting to look at how the union has changed over the years. Unions are establish to give employees a voice or power to negotiate for safer working conditions, wage increases, and other benefits. For many members that join the union you do have to pay an introductory fee and monthly union dues to be in the union and have the power to negotiate. Unions can already be established in an organization or the employees can bring one in if a vote has been conducted to obtain representation from the union. As of today there is over 60 national and international unions that represent millions of workers not only in the U.S. but Canada (2015). The history of labor unions and fight for fairness at work.
I at my previous job I worked in a factory that was small and family owned. The company was owned by two different furniture businesses one located in Temperance, MI. and the other in London, England. The union talk had been out there for a while before a few employees took it serious enough to exactly take the time out to sit down with a member for a union and figure out what they had to offer and how to go about getting everyone on board to bring the union in. I was skeptical to bring a union in at that time just because I was scared of change I was not to upset with how the company was running their business. The other employees trying to bring the union in did not have success and nothing has happen since then.
To be honest I think now when I look back on it I think a union could have done that place some good. After, time had passed and the owner ship changed hands to the children you could really see that the support we got from management changed and we became just another number. We didn’t see any more raises, the work environment and atmosphere changed for the worse, and our benefits took a hit. When upper management got wind of a possible union they started to watch themselves and wanted employees to keep their eyes on others.
At my current job some departments are part of the union and to be honest you really can’t tell because it’s not like one department gets treated better than any other department. My company provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities so we hire a lot of direct care works for different departments. The departments that are part of the union do get the chance to negotiated wages and discipliner actions. I like that they are given many steps in the discipliner actions before they are up for termination and that every year they get a 2% wage increase because they have the hardest job but most rewarding job in our company. The direct care staff get to grieve the discipliner actions and after 60 days get the opportunity to bid on other positions. The only thing that I feel bad about is the introductory fee and the monthly union’s dues they have to pay. I know the an introductory fee and monthly union’s dues coming along with being part of the union it’s just hard to know that with what they make an hour it’s not much more over minimal wage. Most of the employees work double or triple duty to pick up shifts and make extra money to make a living.
For most companies and employees’ unions can have a positive impact into the work place and keep the relationship between managers and employees ethical. Every so often things can happen and a manager or employees can step over their bounds but the union is there to stand up for the employees and to work things out with upper management. The union has made many strides over the years and there has been times when the government was not on board with collective bargaining and almost waged war on them.
An article I came across online called "US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting for the Protections Being Rolled Back Today" had a few different stories on violence against unions that happened over a century ago. One of the stories was about Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company had opened fire on a camp of coal miners that had been on strike. The was at least 19 people died that day and most of them were woman and children. The other story was about deputies in Luzerne County, PA, who also killed around 19 striking miners. Businesses and government were so opposed to collective bargaining because they see them as weak and there was only a few collective bargaining units (Loomis, E. (2014).
Everyone is allowed their own opinions and views on the good and bad parts of the union. It’s crazy to look back at over a century ago and see how the government was not so open to collective bargaining. The union has many great aspects of getting employees together and giving them a voice they might not have had without the support of the union. On the other hand the union is not for everyone and not for every type of situation. In my opinion unions do a great job in factories, automotive industry, and heavy equipment industries. With that said it would be hard to see a union in a small ma and pa business that is family owned. Mr. Geoghegan and his book did a great job of explaining the ups and downs of the working middle class and how unions. He did a great job at making you look at how the government had to make changes to bring the middle class back (Geoghegan, T. (2014).
A good example of what the union can do for workers now a days in the automotive industry you can look at the negotiations that just happen a few weeks ago with Chrysler and the union with the new contract. The union members stood strong and even talked about going on strike if their demands were not meet. Luckily the union and Chrysler were able to come to an agreement with better working environments and a decent wage increase over the next few years that most should be able to get behind. One issue that I seen and heard about with this negotiation and the decision is that you can’t make everyone happy but as business and a union you can only do your best to meet everyone’s demands and stay within the boundaries.
When looking at the “Stage Four Arguments” I can see some positives and negatives to the changing LMR. When looking at stage 1 I don’t see much comparison or anyway it would work with a union due to there being nothing said to back you argument. With stage 2 you bring up a positive or negative argument but you don’t need it to make any sense or be strong which a great way to start negotiations is but in the long run you want to agree ideas that you can believe in and back up. Stage 3 you try to agree both a positive and a negative agreement which is a great way to bring up many different ideas, but you still are not 100% behind the ideas. Stage 4 we argue two-sidedly and responsively so the arguments might be necessary but we will not be able to make any progress. The four stages are a great tool but for the use of unions it’s hard to bring these ideas to the table and feel like you can get behind each ides.
Conclusion
At the beginning I had strong feelings about the union and was not a fan. I looked at the union as just an organization out to get money from hard working Americans. I have to put a lot of the way I thought about unions on my previous employer and my current employer. My last job was not union but when there was talk about bring a union in the management team made it seem like that anyone that wanted a union would be fired and if the union did make it through they would close the plant down. I looked at this as the union was just trouble and wanted to bring small companies down.
With my current employer some of the departments are part of the union and have been around for a long time. At first I looked at the union as just an organization that once again was taking my co-workers hard earn money and was nowhere around to support the employees when they were in need. The employees made just over minimal wage and it was a closed shop so even employees only working 24 hours a month had to pay union dues. At the beginning of the year I got to see the union negotiations with the new contract for the next four years and I even got to sit in on a debate on employees bring up the issue of the vacations possible being denied due to being short staff and not having enough people to cover the ratio’s we need to provide the services we do to children and adults with developmental disabilities.
I have to say I still do not back the union 100% but I do look at the support they do give hard working Americans. I agree that many unions are out to benefit their members and will be there to be that voice that everyone needs. I look back at my factory job and sometimes wish the union did make it in and I would of liked to see what they could have done to change our wages and increase are workplace safety. I will leave this paper knowing just how the union has made great progress and changes in the work force and that I can look at the union at work and know that the union is there to help and not just collect their union dues.
Nicholas Savett
Siena Heights University
MGT450: Labor Relations
Professor Stephen Ball
December 15, 2015
Reflection
When did the union begin? According to an article online at Unionplus.org the union in the U.S. began around the eighteenth century with the National Labor Union (NLU). The NLU back then did not just represent a certain type of worker and over time it did crumble but set the standards for the unions to move forward. After, the NLU the Knights of Labor emerged in 1869 and had a membership of over 700,000 members and addressed the issues of child labor and 8-hour work days (2015). The history of labor unions and fight for fairness at work.
In 1886 the America’s Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded by Samuel Gompers addressed wage increase and workplace safety and obtain over 1.4 million members. With WWII the AFL and The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) merged to create AFL-CIO in 1955. The AFL-CIO was able to create and offer Union Plus benefits to not only the members but their families with Union Plus Credit Cards, 35 financial insurance, and discount programs (2015). The history of labor unions and fight for fairness at work.
What is Labor Relations? According to an online article from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary Labor Relations “is the relationship between management and labor especially as involved in collective bargaining and maintenance of contract.” With labor relations we are going to take a look at social justice unionisms and labor management relations (LMR).
When looking at labor relations, social justice unionisms, and LMR it’s interesting to look at how the union has changed over the years. Unions are establish to give employees a voice or power to negotiate for safer working conditions, wage increases, and other benefits. For many members that join the union you do have to pay an introductory fee and monthly union dues to be in the union and have the power to negotiate. Unions can already be established in an organization or the employees can bring one in if a vote has been conducted to obtain representation from the union. As of today there is over 60 national and international unions that represent millions of workers not only in the U.S. but Canada (2015). The history of labor unions and fight for fairness at work.
I at my previous job I worked in a factory that was small and family owned. The company was owned by two different furniture businesses one located in Temperance, MI. and the other in London, England. The union talk had been out there for a while before a few employees took it serious enough to exactly take the time out to sit down with a member for a union and figure out what they had to offer and how to go about getting everyone on board to bring the union in. I was skeptical to bring a union in at that time just because I was scared of change I was not to upset with how the company was running their business. The other employees trying to bring the union in did not have success and nothing has happen since then.
To be honest I think now when I look back on it I think a union could have done that place some good. After, time had passed and the owner ship changed hands to the children you could really see that the support we got from management changed and we became just another number. We didn’t see any more raises, the work environment and atmosphere changed for the worse, and our benefits took a hit. When upper management got wind of a possible union they started to watch themselves and wanted employees to keep their eyes on others.
At my current job some departments are part of the union and to be honest you really can’t tell because it’s not like one department gets treated better than any other department. My company provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities so we hire a lot of direct care works for different departments. The departments that are part of the union do get the chance to negotiated wages and discipliner actions. I like that they are given many steps in the discipliner actions before they are up for termination and that every year they get a 2% wage increase because they have the hardest job but most rewarding job in our company. The direct care staff get to grieve the discipliner actions and after 60 days get the opportunity to bid on other positions. The only thing that I feel bad about is the introductory fee and the monthly union’s dues they have to pay. I know the an introductory fee and monthly union’s dues coming along with being part of the union it’s just hard to know that with what they make an hour it’s not much more over minimal wage. Most of the employees work double or triple duty to pick up shifts and make extra money to make a living.
For most companies and employees’ unions can have a positive impact into the work place and keep the relationship between managers and employees ethical. Every so often things can happen and a manager or employees can step over their bounds but the union is there to stand up for the employees and to work things out with upper management. The union has made many strides over the years and there has been times when the government was not on board with collective bargaining and almost waged war on them.
An article I came across online called "US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting for the Protections Being Rolled Back Today" had a few different stories on violence against unions that happened over a century ago. One of the stories was about Colorado National Guard and a private militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company had opened fire on a camp of coal miners that had been on strike. The was at least 19 people died that day and most of them were woman and children. The other story was about deputies in Luzerne County, PA, who also killed around 19 striking miners. Businesses and government were so opposed to collective bargaining because they see them as weak and there was only a few collective bargaining units (Loomis, E. (2014).
Everyone is allowed their own opinions and views on the good and bad parts of the union. It’s crazy to look back at over a century ago and see how the government was not so open to collective bargaining. The union has many great aspects of getting employees together and giving them a voice they might not have had without the support of the union. On the other hand the union is not for everyone and not for every type of situation. In my opinion unions do a great job in factories, automotive industry, and heavy equipment industries. With that said it would be hard to see a union in a small ma and pa business that is family owned. Mr. Geoghegan and his book did a great job of explaining the ups and downs of the working middle class and how unions. He did a great job at making you look at how the government had to make changes to bring the middle class back (Geoghegan, T. (2014).
A good example of what the union can do for workers now a days in the automotive industry you can look at the negotiations that just happen a few weeks ago with Chrysler and the union with the new contract. The union members stood strong and even talked about going on strike if their demands were not meet. Luckily the union and Chrysler were able to come to an agreement with better working environments and a decent wage increase over the next few years that most should be able to get behind. One issue that I seen and heard about with this negotiation and the decision is that you can’t make everyone happy but as business and a union you can only do your best to meet everyone’s demands and stay within the boundaries.
When looking at the “Stage Four Arguments” I can see some positives and negatives to the changing LMR. When looking at stage 1 I don’t see much comparison or anyway it would work with a union due to there being nothing said to back you argument. With stage 2 you bring up a positive or negative argument but you don’t need it to make any sense or be strong which a great way to start negotiations is but in the long run you want to agree ideas that you can believe in and back up. Stage 3 you try to agree both a positive and a negative agreement which is a great way to bring up many different ideas, but you still are not 100% behind the ideas. Stage 4 we argue two-sidedly and responsively so the arguments might be necessary but we will not be able to make any progress. The four stages are a great tool but for the use of unions it’s hard to bring these ideas to the table and feel like you can get behind each ides.
Conclusion
At the beginning I had strong feelings about the union and was not a fan. I looked at the union as just an organization out to get money from hard working Americans. I have to put a lot of the way I thought about unions on my previous employer and my current employer. My last job was not union but when there was talk about bring a union in the management team made it seem like that anyone that wanted a union would be fired and if the union did make it through they would close the plant down. I looked at this as the union was just trouble and wanted to bring small companies down.
With my current employer some of the departments are part of the union and have been around for a long time. At first I looked at the union as just an organization that once again was taking my co-workers hard earn money and was nowhere around to support the employees when they were in need. The employees made just over minimal wage and it was a closed shop so even employees only working 24 hours a month had to pay union dues. At the beginning of the year I got to see the union negotiations with the new contract for the next four years and I even got to sit in on a debate on employees bring up the issue of the vacations possible being denied due to being short staff and not having enough people to cover the ratio’s we need to provide the services we do to children and adults with developmental disabilities.
I have to say I still do not back the union 100% but I do look at the support they do give hard working Americans. I agree that many unions are out to benefit their members and will be there to be that voice that everyone needs. I look back at my factory job and sometimes wish the union did make it in and I would of liked to see what they could have done to change our wages and increase are workplace safety. I will leave this paper knowing just how the union has made great progress and changes in the work force and that I can look at the union at work and know that the union is there to help and not just collect their union dues.