Daviana Mazzone
Project 1 – 41 Pages
Undergraduate Summary
Why Unions Matter – M. Yates. Book Summary
Preface
The first edition of ‘Why Unions Matter’ was published in 1998. This first book argued that unions improved the lives of people making the world a more democratic place. What is the same that was stated 10 years ago is the same in today’s day and age in society. The numbers in the Second Edition have been updated to be more accurate within this day and age. Although things are virtually the same as little as ten years ago as they are today, we as people are more able to get ourselves in a host of problems today which include: Employers are more likely to move operations to parts of the United States with lower wages and poorer countries overseas, many of which are factories in China that do the same work people can in the United States but for much less. Employers are also more likely to contract out to lower-wage states and nations such as call centers and higher-wage labor like computer programming and medical service work. Large numbers of people have come into the United States which gives greater competition in the labor markets, allowing employers to divide their workforces. During the Bush Administration, government has also changed into an increased supporter of corporate interests. Our government in our history has been able to establish many things that have help gain control over employers, but let’s not forget that they have also wasted hundreds of billions of dollars waging war. War spending takes up mostly all of the money for useful public investments and social programs that once were thriving. On top of this compounding worker insecurity has collapsed. This collapse can be described as the stock market crash and the real estate market collapse that started in 2007. When the first book was published people in the United States had high hopes for the ‘New Voice’ movement in 1995, which was going to get the excitement of unions back into the labor force. Thirteen years later not much has changed. Today there are fewer union members today than there were in 1995. Labor in general has gotten ‘the short end of the stick’ and many free grade agreements have put an end to most federal aid to the poor, which has worsened health care and made many peoples lives worse off in our country. Although many things throughout the development of labor unions, the labor force and our government have worsened, there have been some progresses, which have been made. Many unions joined the fight for global justice that have made wages and working conditions decrease throughout the world. The most famous of these battles was in 1999 in Seattle. Shortly after September 11, 2001 these events made it difficult for labor movement work together with foreign policy. In Dan Clawson’s book ‘The Next Upsurge: Labor and the New Social Movements, he describes several important and successful organizing campaigns which are follows: Unionization by women that focused on nontraditional issues such as child care. Union alliances with community groups to win affordable housing for workers. Campaigns waged by Worker Centers, which provide support to low-wage workers. Living wage campaigns and anti-sweatshop organizing, which have been successful in forcing many cities to pay workers employed by firms with public contracts a wage that would yield an income. Clawson’s book shows that there will soon be a labor upsurge and also many important and interesting things happening in the world of organized labor. Michael Yates also states that the past twenty-eight years he has been a labor educator, teaching union workers and students in unions halls, motel and hotel meeting rooms, in college and university classrooms and throughout the internet. He states that through his experience unions are needed more then ever in today’s society and that there are thousands of people involved in unions throughout the country trying to get them back on track and not only to employer them but to help people grasp the economics and politics of today’s tough times by using this saying ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’.
Introduction
Yates starts off first by introducing a scenario that took place in Meadville, Pennsylvania. There was a factory that manufactured plate glass. In 1994 it employed 330 production workers in rotating shifts making plate glass 24 hours a day 7 days per week. Most of these people were white men and some consisted even of women. In the fall of this time Yates received a phone call to speak to the coworkers regarding their legal rights as workers. When Yates found out that the Aluminum, Brick, and Glass Workers of America (ABG) approved of him speaking he agreed to visit the plant. He spoke twice to sixty men and women and six months after he did this he was asked to speak again in regards of the national union. Unfortunately his efforts were not successful in forming a union for this certain plant, although his effort was emotionally an intense experience. Experience of these workers taught them that when you are unorganized trying to start a union you are at the mercy of the company and they will not show you any mercy. Unions like this can help workers overcome their isolation. The basic idea for the group is for each team member to be trained to do other members jobs. Workers that are desperate for change is often extremely excited about teams but then find out that management uses them to increases their labor and profits. Every years thousands or workers are fired for many different situations in the work force, but if there were a union would have not been fired for without a just cause. At any time in our work career corporate downsizing, plants closing, outsourcing and off shoring can make people and will make workers jobless. In Meadville as they were trying to regroup again, at the time of the union election the Meadville plant was about to close one of the tanks in which the glass is made for rebuilding and there would be a thirteen month layoff. Many workers feared that the tank work was done and there would be no recall rights in 13 months to come back and open the tank. In the union plants, employees had unlimited recall rights over these type of issues. During Yates many visits again to get the union to regroup he also overheard the union would get the employer to treat the workers as if they were human and give them the self respect in which they deserved. The workers then made and wore shirts to show their employers they were serious about their union-organizing efforts. The working class in the United States has suffered great hardships for the past thirty-five years. Millions of workers have lost their health insurance and an increasing proportion of new workers don’t have any insurance to begin with at all. This book will argue that no amount of education and training can do for workers what unions and political organizations can achieve. This book portrays unions as positive, but also shows the realities of the effort it takes for unions to come together. For example a majority of the workers at the Meadville glass factory voted against the union. This book will make a distinction between reasons external to the labor movement and those internal to it. It will also look at the many obstacles unions deal with, the reasons for low and declining union density in the US, the close alliance between business and government, and the obvious animosity of the media toward organized labor. This book will also direct its attention to organizing new members aggressively, racism, sexism, and corruption in the labor movement. The most important idea stated in both books is that unions can only grow when they are a part of a larger social and political movement. Therefore, the growth of unions must occur together. In Meadville, employment has fallen since Michael’s last visit fourteen years ago. As of September 2007, there were 257 workers. To the best of his knowledge no union drives were attempted after the failed efforts of 1994.
Chapter One: Why Unions?
In chapter one this book states that we do not work for ourselves or for others, we are in the hands of our employers. We as workers are easily replaceable when budgets are low because there is a high replacement of people trying to get a job and some positions my be eliminated completely all together if there is not enough money for wages. If most people tell their bosses that they will not work without a pay raise, you will most likely not get your raise and will be out of a job because you cannot force your boss to give you the higher earnings. All in all the first few pages state that employers have a certain power over employees because of money, and that employers have what employees need (work) but employees are replaceable.
Chapter One: Strength In Numbers
Most employees do not like to believe that their supervisors have control over them because of the obvious; they think they will end up as one of them themselves. But when this does not happen employees soon realize that alone they cannot stand up to their employers, but with many other employees together they have an impact on business decisions. People in groups who feel strongly about certain things going on in their workplace stand up to their employers everyday, which causes an uproar in which most cases the boss has to compromise with the employees to keep them somewhat happy. While the example of the daycare the author gives happens all the time, he states that this is a cycle in every business. Workers quit, retire, and move, so the workers who win a particular struggle may not be there for the next fight. Secondly, workers will not always have the energy or courage to have direct actions with their boss because of certain circumstances, and third many workers realizing that there are matters that constantly arise and need to come to their employers attention during a certain time bases, which makes sense that a more formal gathering of everyone associated takes place to address certain issues. This is where labor unions come into play; so that workers can defend themselves in the face of their powerful employers. In many ways labor unions are like volunteer organizations. People who feel strongly about a certain topic, for instance their neighborhood street lights, will join together and raise issues and bring them to the attention of the city council so that something is done to fix the problem. As the volunteer group grows, money may be collected as dues so that the group can establish a working office, phone number, equipment etc., and begins a working business. The difference between volunteer organizations and labor unions is all workforce related. When enough people are angry about there work the stopping of all employees willing to work my stop. This is how a labor union is started. It is when a workforce is in need of a permanent defender of the employee’s rights ready to voice their opinions and fight for what they want in the workplace against their boss’s.
Chapter One: The First U.S. Unions
In 1776 is when the whole concept of labor unions first began. As people began to see if they organized their businesses and skill shops in a more hierarchical way they could increase the profits they were bringing in. The journeymen during this time started to organize themselves together to protect themselves from the master’s of their craft. These early attempts of unionization were the cause of sudden depressions, which was the end of unions all together. Many politicians condemned the unions as threats to liberty. By 1880 skilled workers had finally formed a permanent labor organization called the ‘AFL’ or American Federation of Labor.
Chapter One: Do Unions Work?
Most employers say that unions do not benefit workers, when companies and employers here that their employees want to start a union the employers usually begin a disinformation campaign so this does not happen. Employers state that the only thing they will get out of a union is ‘monthly dues’ which inevitably will cause a strike to occur losing employee’s paychecks all together. The media also never represents unions in a favorable way. Strikes and strike violence is always the first thing to be reported in the media to show the confrontations and fighting. The good that the employees are trying to fight for (safer workplaces, higher wages and benefits, and a right to a fair hearing) are always ignored when being reported on. Workers trying to unionize need to be aware of the lies their employees will tell them so a union does not form. The whole reason behind employers not wanting unions is simple, because every corporation wants more money. This means that the corporation will have free control over all employees so in turn they do not have to comply with union rules. But all in all the fact that unions benefit workers makes this argument much more important. By comparing wages of union workers to non-union workers you can see that union worker’s wages are considerably higher than those who are not involved. Insurance and pensions are also higher with unionized workers that non-union members. For example, ‘ In the early 2000′s, 71.9% of union workers had pensions, whole only 43.8% of nonunion workers had them’. Other characteristics may contribute to the fact that union and nonunion wages may be unequal which include union workers may have more education and more experience in the workforce than nonunion workers. Factors that include the determination of wages in unions and non-unions are as follows: experience, education, region of the country you live in, industry, occupation, and marital status. On page 40 of ‘Why Unions Matter’ there is a table that shows know matter what the factors are union workers have considerably higher benefits and wages. Although in the past three decades inequality has risen due to the steady decline in unions throughout the country. What nonunion workers do not understand that even when a union is present and they do not belong to it a ‘spillover effect’ occurs. This means that when unions are strong, nonunion workers will reap the benefits of the members constituting in higher wages and benefits for all.
Chapter One: Unions and Dignity
All workers need to know that unions improve the wages and benefits of all, and also that workers make less wages and have less benefits because employee’s are not powerful enough individually to make their employer’s pay them more. In order to live in today’s society most of the world must sell their ability to work in turn to live. In our employer’s eyes we are just ‘ costs of production’ they have the right over because we need our job to be able to survive. The fundamental and main goal of a union is to change the relationship between labor and management. Without unions, employee’s can be discharged, transferred, for any reason that include, sex, race, disability, and union activity. A union can and usually will change all of these factors resulting in a fair, respectable and much more enjoyable work environment and overall gives employers a ‘voice’ when it comes to work matters. Union workers also have the opportunity of grievance pay. Which in the situation where a worker is hurt or anything else happens a worker can file for this when a union-member and get their full pay reinstated. Any worker that stands alone is in trouble. Unions undoubtedly are the result of higher wages and better fringe benefits, and employers actually listening to their employee’s concerns and this is the result of workers standing together as a whole.
Chapter Two: How Unions Form
Up until the 1930′s unions were nothing but to gain power. Employers wanted nothing to do with unions and would do anything to keep them away from their companies including union violence on working people. Most authorities and public figures were often guilty of anti-union violence. Employers would force their workers into signing ‘yellow dog’ contracts, which said that they would not join a union, and if broken the workers would be fined and have possible imprisonment. More than a thousand court orders were issued in the 1920′s. Despite all of the commotion workers ended up being able to organize and come together to protect themselves and their fellow employees interests in the workforce. Skilled workers during this time were much more able to form together than non-skilled workers and African Americans. Once organized skilled workers could maintain union wage scales and conditions as long as they took direct action. National markets, local unions, and different cities and towns would come together with other skilled workers and form national unions. The United Mine Workers for America was founded in 1890 and is still here today. Once these national unions formed, union workers began to form umbrella organization that in turn could cause boycotts and strikes. Last, the federation of union workers tried to build a federation for all national unions which could result in a national newspaper, lobby for political reforms, develop staff and experts in unions, and directly organize new workers into unions around the country. The (AFL) American Federation of Labor in 1886 was a result of all of these efforts. The relationship between government and business was an important situation for unions during this time as well. Unions wanted authority to take place in their movement including the police force, courts and legislatures. The best quote the political party came out with was, ‘fight for labor-oriented candidates and policies within the major parties’. The president of AFL, Samuel Gompers put his quote as ‘ reward its friends and punish its enemies’. It is still the long-standing backbone of today’s unions in society. The Democratic Party is more closely knitted with unions today.
Chapter Two: A Little History
After the civil war the world became dominated with large corporations after 1865. Most people were forced to become wageworkers, because the ability to own small businesses began to diminish. Competition between corporations resulted in the diminishing of them because they would force the expansion of their production too much. This horrible cycle of corporations in turn led to massive unemployment and layoffs throughout the economy. During this time the competition between workers was too intense that the ability to form unions did not work. In 1877, The Great Uprising occurred. B%26O Railroads was the largest company during this time and during the depression they cut wages of the rail workers 10%. This caused workers to walk off their jobs. President Hayes sent troops to West Virginia where this took place to stop the strike, but the troops could not do anything. The strike spread north and west and became a national insurrection. Hostile crowds formed and a militia was sent into the city. This uproar could not stop the strike still. The workers ended up destroying the railroads property, men, women and children were killed because of the anti-union violence workers restored the order although later were defeated by the troops. Other strikes of this sort happened throughout the country. When all the commotion died down the media in newspapers reported the union strikers as thugs, tramps and communists, which started the bad union-member reputation. Rebellions rose in 1886, 1892, 1894, 1919, and during The Great Depression into the 1930′s. Because of these rebellions police reacted violently, wounding many civilians and labor leaders were arrested and charged with murders they did not commit. Without evidence that they committed these murders they were still convicted guilty and sentenced to death. Henry Clay Frick shut down the Carnegie Steel Works and tried to reopen it with nonunion labor. Workers tried to take over the towns fighting a battle causing them to surrender when the government brought troops in. Two years after these events the Pullman strike started. The Pullman railroad cars factory was struck over repeated wage cuts of workers. This monumental strike was also broken up by troops and injuctions. After the First World War a massive strike shook the American economy that ended up taking over the workforce. There were so many strikes during the 1930′s. The strike in Chicago in 1932, more than one hundred thousand people participated to protest the murder of several people by police. There have been no labor uproars since the 1930′s. The reason for this is that mostly white men throughout the years who have acted racist towards people of other color have dominated the labor union. The challenge of this day and age was to part politics in the labor movement and the basis for the formation of labor political parties. The result of all of this commotion ended up with a conservative trade unionism, which ended up being considered more of a side-by-side partner to employers.
Chapter Two: How Unions Form
During the Great Depression, unskilled workers relied on the direct action tactics of skilled workers in order to help themselves. Renewed military led to the formation of national federation unions and (CIO) Congress of Industrial Organizations. During this time Franklin Roosevelt passed laws that would give workers fundamental rights in their jobs. The Norris-LaGuardia Act is a result of this. This act limited the ability of employers to obtain injuction in labor disputes. The Fair Labor Act also came into play in 1937 and provided for the payment of a minimum wage and overtime pay for hours in excess of forty per week. After these laws were passed the workers for this time felt as if great victory had been achieved for them. The (NLRA) National Labor Relations Act was also formed which gives workers the right to form labor unions without employer interference has employers bargain with unions chosen by the employees forming them. On top of this the (NLRB) National Labor Relations Board was formed to investigate employer violations in terms of these following new rules and guidelines. The law placed serious blocks against union formation with the use of direct action, this means when you want to form a union you will use the NLRB to do so, or a similar agency. During the George Bush administration the NLRB was taken over by members that were extremely upset to organized labor. Several tactics have been used to secure employer recognition without going through normal procedures. These tactics are as follows: Use economic, political, and community pressure to force the employer to recognize the union on the basis of showing major support, another is a strong union (SEIU) to use its bargaining power in one area to get an employer it has organized in that area to agree to remain neutral in a union organization campaign in another area. The NLRA does not cover farm workers, domestic workers, railroad and airline workers and public employees. Although these are not covered by the NLRA, Congress passed laws to protect these workers in times of need. The basic principles of the NLRA are as follows: if a majority of workers in a workplace want a union, the should have a way to one without having to engage in direct action, and also only one union should represent any particular group of workers. All workers in a particular union must have common interests. After this first process workers must then convince the NLRB there is definite interest in forming a union in this particular area of work. 30% of the workers must be interested in joining a union for it to go any further. Great time, consideration, and care must be taken in choosing a union. Too many unions today do not survive because they don’t recruit new members into joining. The typical way in which workers show union interest is by signing union authorization cards: these state that each worker authorizes the union to represent them for the purpose of collective bargaining. Once the union has 30% of the cards they can go to the NLRB, although through past experience no union unit should start bargaining without 50% or more with union authorization cards signed. A petition is also an excellent and an ever better way to get the votes of potential union members. Once the union notifies the NLRB and there are enough authorization cards signed the NLRB contacts the employer. Employers use tactics to delay the outcome of the unions like having hearings. Employers may also try to convince the NLRB reasons why there should not be a union within their business. Just recently, the NLRB has made it easier for employers to challenge the bargaining units. When all of this is said and done and the union successfully states its case the board will set a date for an election. Employers are allowed to hire consultants and do anything possible to promote their anti-union campaigns. Under current low it is legal for an employer to: Barrage the workers with anti-union propaganda. Assign supervisors to engage in daily discussions against the union, to union supporters, hold captive audience meetings at the workplace and will pull out all the stops to convince the workers that disaster awaits them if they vote for a union. Sometimes employers will go further and commit illegal acts during this crucial time. These illegal acts will sometimes be bribes, or firing them in order to defeat the unionization. Most of the time these tactics come too late and don’t make a difference at all. On Election Day workers have a secret ballot. The union must win over 50% of the votes to be certified by the NLRB. If the union loses it then can challenge the results if the employer has violated the law by committing unfair labor practices. The board then will hold a hearing and has the power to overturn election results if need be. This does not happen very often, only if the employer seriously has acted against the law. Once a union is certified it notifies the employer that it is now ready to negotiate a contract.
Chapter Two: Successful Union Organizing
Over the past 40 years employers have been dealing with labor laws unfairly which has caused in the decline of unions overall. Today the number of elections even held to form unions has dropped significantly as well as the workers who are actually covered by the bargaining agreements. Studies show that employer’s unlawful tactics these days have a negative impact on unions and their success rates. Some employer’s however have the recognition from unions. The National Labor Relations Act sometimes has unions organize outside of it. This is used for when particular employers are targeted for organization; the union has already built a climate around the employer praising the building of unions.
With The California Nurses’ Association In Texas
In 1903 the CNA was founded as a professional association for nurses. This turned into a labor union for nurses, similar to public school teachers. CNA had great success with their union especially in California, where they have better pay, benefits, and bargaining agreements. The union also wins the hearts of the general public. When governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended the Labor scholar Gordon Lafer law in 2004 the CNA made many appearances and in turn had others unions protest. Instead of giving up, the governor put together four propositions; two of them were for anti-unions. The first proposition would make it easier to fire teachers for any reason, and the second required public employees unions to get annual written permission before using any member’s dues for political purposes. Because of this California’s unions spent over 100 million dollars to defeat this four propositions. All four unions put together millions of dollars for this reason. Television commercials, media and radio ads were made to help fight this case. More than 10,000 people were working to get people to protest these 4 propositions. The nurses, however, where the ones who really followed the governor and made their presence known. They staged more than 100 protests in 1 year. At the November 8th proposition all four of Arnold’s propositions were defeated. To expand the base of the CNA the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) was formed and began to get national recognition. The NNOC put a lot of their efforts into Texas where there is not a collective bargaining low for public employees, because the majority of nurses work in public hospitals. Texas is a right to work state so even if a union secures representation rights, it cannot negotiate a union security agreement with an employer. The CNA also lobbied the Texas legislature to secure staffing ratios. It held demonstrations in the state capital and across the state to recognize the public working conditions of nurses and to try to do something about it.
Chapter Two: Successful Union Organizing
To overcome obstacles in order for unions to succeed in needs time to build. Workers who support the union must build a rank-and-file organization inside the workforce from the start. This means the workers will be talking up the unions and trying to get as many authorization cards as possible. ‘Unions which focus on issues such as dignity, justice, discrimination, fairness, or service quality were associated with higher win rates than those which focused on more traditional bread and butter issues, such as wages, benefits, and job security’. This quote stems from the fact that most people believe unions sole purpose is to get their members more money. In order for this to work, the workers must come to understand the ‘class enemy’ of the workers, one that can be defeated only of workers stick together. The union needs to encourage others to understand that solidification and understanding that the union will only work as a whole is both needed and beneficial. In their research, Bronfenbrenner and Juravich found specific tactics that were especially helpful in winning elections for unions. These tactics are as follows: Forming an organizing committee. This workplace committee should include a high percentage of workers as possible. It should be representative of the composition of the workplace, and each department of the workplace should be represented in terms of sexual and racial composition. House calling is another tactic. Successful unionization demands face-to-face contacts. Only through personal contact is there any hope of winning the emotional commitment without which a union cannot succeed. The third tactic is holding mass and small group meetings. Unions are collective organizations that require regular meetings to work effectively and democratically. At meetings, not only can workers not only can workers hear what the union is all about, they can also learn the fundamentals of democratic organization and begin to gain the confidence that will help them confront their employers. Using solidarity days is also another tactic used. Depending on circumstances, a solidarity day can also be an occasion to challenge managerial authority in a more direct way, such as a group of union supporters formally grieving some management action. And the last tactic that is used is forming a bargaining committee before the election. As workers develop concrete contract proposals, their ingenuity is tapped and they become impatient that their proposals are not ready. The idea is to make a unionization more or less self-fulfilling prophecy. These tactics are proven to win unionization even when the employer does everything to resist the efforts. Even after a union wins the election, employers will continue to do everything to prevent the union from getting the critical first collective bargaining agreement, and they will barely succeed. Under current labor laws you cannot negotiate a contract that forces workers to become union members, so this means you must convince all members of the bargaining unit to become members.
Chapter Three: Union Structures and Democracy
In 1996 Presidential candidate Bob Dole, repeating bashed the unions that were supporting President Clinton. In 2008, John McCain did the same thing. The irony of this is that Dole and McCain both got money from corporate officials who are bosses. While many unions are not as democratic as they should be, there is no doubt that unions at a local level are the most democratic institutions in the country. General Motors is an example of this. They are emanating orders from the top, yet are carried out from below. This means that most employers do not have democratic organizations, and they cannot be made to have them. The power is always at the top. Unions are extremely different because they are made up of volunteers where members have the real voices and power. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is known for its corrupt union. This union was run by corrupt criminals who used its pension funds as banks for their casinos in Las Vegas. The Teamsters were led by one of the labor rebellions of the Great Depression. Because of this Teamsters for Democratic Union (TDU) was formed to win back the control of union members who stood up to gangsters and their unions and eventually succeeded in getting the federal government to intervene. There were many problems to be solved but despite the turn of events, the Teamsters union has been changed by the efforts of the TDU. This could not have been done with a privately owned business or a government agency.
Chapter Three: Locals and Internationals
When workers form a union, they usually form a local of a larger national or international group. The local union will always have to follow the bylaws that officers of the union and local rules of the operations will have. These bylaws are who is eligible to run for office, the duties of the officers, the lengths of the terms of officers and the frequency and times of the union meetings. In the United States there are thousands of local unions. Almost all of these unions are members of national unions as well. There are very few independent locals unattached to national unions. In most cases the union has autonomy but it still bound by the rules and policies of the national or international union of which it is a member. A union may also contain intermediate bodies between the levels of the local and the national. The national unions set the overall program of the union. It will higher staff, organizers, lawyers, lobbyists, and locals who will help service the unions. The most common of these bodies is the local-intermediate-body-national. Local union differs from union to union. Some unions have large strike funds but before anyone can gain access to it they must get permission from the national union agency. Also, local unions vary in size and in the complexity of their tasks in regards to the large union as a whole. A union also differs in how they select their officers. Local officers are normally selected by secret ballot of the members who then choose staff. In a factory setting the level union official will have direct contact with the union members. Stewards may also be elected in some unions. Intermediate body and national officers are usually chosen in a few of ways. They are either elected by the direct vote of members, or are elected by delegates from nation conventions. Both ways are the most democratic and the most desirable and fair. Nearly all national and international unions the country are part of one of two federations of unions, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. This relationship of federations is similar to the relationship between national and local unions. It hires organizers, sponsors and lobbyists to carry out the union’s duties. Within certain areas around the country these federations are affiliated with central labor councils. These councils could support a boycott of the target company’s products. In a strike the council unions could help with the picketing that goes on. Central labor councils can sponsor labor education classes for union members for any workers in the area. This can help build strong labor movements. While a few central labor councils still do these things, many of them are inactive and devote most of their energies to helping local charities such as the United Way.
Chapter Three: Union Structure And The Law
All unions must conform to federal labor laws, The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act is known as the Landrum-Griffin Act. This was formed in 1959 because congressional investigations into union corruption took place. Employers and their government allies wanted to create the impression those unions were in conflict with their members in order to defeat them. This act is divided into a number of parts, which include: Title 1, the union member’s ‘bill of right’s’. This guarantees that a union cannot deny the rights provided by its constitution and bylaws to any member. No member can be denied the right to speak out at union meetings, to run for union office, or to have access to the union’s newspapers. A union cannot deny a member running for union office the right to place advertisements in the union paper if the incumbent has such a right. The most important of Title 1 is that no member of any labor organization may be fined, suspended, expelled, or otherwise disciplined except for nonpayment dues by such organization or by any officer thereof unless such a member has been served with written charges or given a reasonable time to prepare his defense. Title II states that unions must file various memberships and financial reports with the Department of Labor, and all of this information must be made available to the members upon request. Title III states that strict limits are placed on the right of the national union to implement relationships. The constitutions of most national unions give them the power to the temporarily take over the affairs of their locals or intermediate bodies. This is called putting the local in trusteeship. Type IV says unions must have regular elections of their officers. Local unions much have such elections at least once every three years and national unions once every five years. All elections must conform to minimal democratic standards. The Department of Labor, which administers most of the act, has the power to overturn a union election and to oversee a new one.
Chapter Three: An Example Of Union Democracy
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers for America or UE were one of the unions in the head of the movement for industrial unionism. The UE established a record of both rank-and-file democracy and progressive and won higher wages, better hours and working conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. Unfortunately the union fell victim to the Cold War and did not make it. After the CIO took the UE away, other unions raided its members. It lost all of its members in 1950 and began a comeback almost three decades later. Today the union has about thirty five thousand members and has seen some of the greatest UE victories and defeats. It no longer organizes only within industries and will organize any workers who agree with its principles. Recently it has organized southern states in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. The vitality of the union is explained by its internal democracy. The national officers of the UE only serve two years and must stand for election at the biennial conventions of the union. This is in contrast to many other unions. Beneath the national union there are three regions: Eastern, Northeaster and Western. In each region there is a regional council. The goal of each council is to secure mutual protection of all locals within a given region. The base of the union consists of the local unions in each district. Each local must have a constitution, which has a number of officers, duties of the officers and times of the local meetings. The national constitutions provide for chartering of new locals, and the basic dues structure are given wide divergence in wages throughout the union. In the UE the locals call strikes. Still any strike must be in conformity with the union’s constitution. The UE goes to great measures to insure that the members actually control the union from national convention to daily operations of every level of the union. Although a union may not act as democratically as its constitution might suggest, the UE operated throughout its history in accord with its principles. It can also serve as a measuring rod for the evaluation of other unions. The (UAW) or United Auto Workers has an independent review board to which a member can appeal an adverse ruling. The UAW is much more dominated by its staff then the UE is.
Chapter Three: A Local Union Meeting
Every aspect of the American Federation of teachers was democratic when the author was apart of it. They had constitution bylaws and made their own decisions with respect to strategies and policies. The AFT’s state federations and national office were affiliated with both the Pennsylvania Federation of Teachers and the AFI. They set their own dues, but had to pay per capita amount of money to both state and national federations. The AFT provided the teachers in the union with organizing drive funds as well as organizers and staff to use. They held their meetings in a building owned by a church and conducted them according to standard form. There were times the meetings were routine and other times where the meetings raised issues and got heated. Many times the members did not agree on certain things but things were always kept democratic and done the right and fair way. After research has been done they are finding that more democratic the union movement is the better off the workers end up being.
Chapter Four: Collective Bargaining
Once a union has been formed it will put together a set of rules the members will abide by. Today, wages, hours and the terms and conditions of employment are settled and worked out by a process called collective bargaining. The National Labor Relations Act requires the employer to bargain in ‘good faith’. The union is the main bargaining agent for the workers and employees. This means workers must bargain and voice their opinions with their union, no individual workers or other unions. Reaching a compromise with the employer of the business can be extremely difficult when making up the union contract. The employers often use surface bargaining, which is a stalling technique that they go through all the processes of negotiating and bargaining without actually having the intent of reaching an agreement at the end. These tactics are illegal but labor laws cannot always stop the employers from doing this. In the meantime if the employers are stalling, the employees become concerned with the failure to get a contract and the employer will take advantage of the workers. There is no monetary penalty for such actions on the employers. The weakness of this law makes big refusals to bargain and other unfair labor practices. Between the 1950′s and 1990′s these actions increased which slowly made the formation of union membership decline. This situation is not so bad for already formed unions but does impact unions that are trying to win their first collective bargaining agreement against their employers. Researchers have found essential tactics that are necessary for collective bargaining. These tactics include: one-on-one meetings, solidarity days, house calling, rank-and-file mobilization, community support, and skillful preparations.
Chapter Four: The IWW’s Case Against Collective Bargaining
The American Federation of Labor, the trade union association created in the late 19th century was mostly made up of skilled or craft workers. The AFL made barely any effort to organize those workers that were unskilled. Skilled workers were the ones who were willing to carry out militant actions and strikes, once they achieved their goals, they did everything they could in order to negotiate their contracts thoroughly. The acceptance of wage system and the willingness to work within the two-party political framework was the conservative approach to unionism. Eugene Debs and Bill Haywood, and women led the radicals of this like Elizabeth Flynn formed other kinds of unions. The IWW believed in ‘one big union’ regardless of what work they could do, if they were skilled or unskilled or their race or gender. The IWW recognized some of the nations most downtrodden workers and it won some spectacular strikes. ‘Soap boxing: is giving unannounced public speeches in parks and on street corners in towns across the nation, this was used to help make free speech a reality for the working people. The IWW was defeated by a combination of employer and government violence, AFL antagonism and its own internal weaknesses. Some unionists still believe that collective bargaining is a conservative strategy to discourage workers trying to form unions. On the other hand the IWW’s contempt for collective bargaining made it more vulnerable to employer and government attacks by making every victory wholly dependent on its own members reserves. Every disagreement or non-compromise that took place had the ability of turning into a huge fight or battle.
Chapter Four: Strategies Of The Contract Campaign
When unions were more powerful in the United States many years ago, collective bargaining was very common. In the 1950′s the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) was the union that represented mostly all of the workers who worked in the United State’s steel mills. This union had won contracts from all of the large steel corporations. These contracts were for members who did not have a ratification vote. Because of this the employers had very little ability to hire any replacement workers who could do the same job as the others to break the strikes. Today after much union decline, the employers have more of the advantage. Today’s companies are more resistant to union demands and do not mind strikes because they have the opportunity to hire replacement workers. The United Auto Workers (CAW), which broke away from the UAW in the 1980′s for twenty years, was a model of uncompromising and successful bargaining. The old bargaining tactics no longer work and unions have to rethink their processes. Campaigns have been found to work the most in favor of unionization. If a union has been recognized by an employer and wants to negotiate a contract, the union must first notify the employer of its desire to bargain. Then the union is allowed to start its campaign. People who know the best ways to ‘sell’ their opinion usually win collective bargaining. The most important thing for a union is to try to expand their campaign as best as they can. This will create a lot of power outside of the bargaining table. In a contract campaign, leaders of the union can begin to establish unity and organization by preparing a planning document that lays out what the union wants to do. Time is very important to organize and put everything into place. A lot of research has to be done in order to put together goals that the union wants to accomplish. Researchers for unions can get information in several different ways: by polling its members and conducting surveys, one-on-one contacts, small group meetings, and union meetings. Most unions have research departments that conduct this research for them. Unions keep everything on file from grievances, arbitrations, and one-on-one contacts, transactions, most of which are all available to the public. The local courthouse, IRS or Securities and Exchange Commission has all of this information. Employers themselves are not a viable resource in ways to get information. Information may be hearsay, passed through management etc. The union has legal right to obtain any information from the employer. The employer has to give in to these requests or an unfair labor practice takes place. A union cannot request information concerning anything that is submissive. The courts have ruled that management has certain inherent rights simply because they own the property. A union cannot make the employer bargain about price of any product, a decision to close a plant or anywhere that produces a product, the nature and any type of product, the choice of health insurance carrier that is used and the benefits that are given. If a union was trying to reduce the cost of health insurance for its members, they can request a copy of all health plans that are now in effect, employer and worker premium payments, administrative expenses, yearly cost per hour, number of claims per employee, amounts of all claims, distribution of the types of claims filed, and any and all reports, costs and information based on health care costs throughout the business. The Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or similar state agency have files of all job classifications broken down by race and sex, affirmative action plans, documents and studies that can all be requested by the union. Because there is so much information that is available publically for the unions the unions can benefit from doing research. Once the union sets all of its goals it now must create a structure that is responsible for making these goals actually happen. Campaign committee’s, negotiating committee’s and specialized committee’s must be formed to aid in this process. The negotiating committee will actually sit down with the employer and represent the bargaining unit. The members of this committee should be trained carefully in the aspect of a trained negotiator. The campaign committee is to mobilize the membership in a series of actions at convincing the employer that reaching an agreement is much better than not. This committee is responsible for everything from communication, logistics to all campaign events. This committee is trained to take a subtle approach and then aggressively persuade. A corporate campaign is used outside the workplace that makes the employer most vulnerable. Banks, financial institutions, and other companies that do business with the employer may be persuaded into helping the union. Every employer is subject to regulations and laws during this whole process. Unions should try to maintain a close relationship with all groups that might support them in their struggle to fight against employees. Community organizations, churches, civil rights groups, environmental groups can be convinced to make a relationship with the union as well. The pressure from the union needs to increase as time goes on so the employer feels this. The seriousness of the workers needs to be felt by the employer before the election is won. The workers can do almost anything that is legal to make their demands feel important. When a single union local faces a one-plant employer the structure is decentralized. If any of the workers do the same type of work the structure is narrow versus a very wide structure if there are many types of occupations.
Chapter Four: Bargaining In Wartime
The First World War in 1917 was the result of international economic and political rivalry for overseas markets and colonies. Workers should not have supported it at all although many did. In most cases government makes it extremely dangerous for those workers who disagree with their terms. The AFL eventually supported the war and its unions agreed not to strike. Union membership then grew and unions won many collective bargaining agreements. Some groups actively fought against the war and later were persecuted and prosecuted by the government for doing so. During the Second World War the radicals mostly took part in it. The government placed a lot of pressure on employers to recognize unions in their plants and to bargain collectively with them. Top national union leaders put labor-management cooperation into place. Because of this relationship with the Soviet Union, Communists went along with their agreement. Radical politics were put on hold during the Second War. After the war the government went all out to destroy the left-wing labor movement. The CIO expelled the most radical unions, which marked the end of the movement of workers during the Great Depression. Both collective bargaining and grievance procedures can be of great advantage to workers. If a collective bargaining campaign is effective it can permit unions to regroup to win. A grievance procedure can be used as another tactic in workers versus employers.
Chapter Four: At The Table
Negotiations and unions are a very important topic. A lot of research has been conducted on the art of being a perfect negotiator. There are many useful things a negotiator has to remember when they sit down to bargain. Substantive issues are items the unions hopes to get into the final collective bargaining agreement. Before substantive issues are taken into consideration, procedural subjects must be bargained. These include dates, places, and times of meetings, tape-recording etc. Although these are smaller points they are still crucial and negotiators should give them the same care as all other issues. At the actual table, the bargainer should maintain a tight discipline. Several people do the talking, but all bargainers must have the same terms of agreement with each other because the employer will be looking for different opinions by the union. Whenever there is a disagreement between the negotiators of the union they should call a caucus. A caucus is when the union will meet alone outside the negotiating room to discuss their issue. An excuse is always a good thing to have before hand so they can stop the bargaining process and head outside. Delaying tactics can also be used, such as: you can ask the employer to repeat its proposal, silence is also a good way to get the other side to repeat itself and give you more time to think. Union negotiators should always be well prepared for each session. On the first day of bargaining the union spokesperson could just hand the unions proposed agreement to the employer. The employer will be forced to listen and this sends a message to the employer that the union is serious and has prepared a great campaign to secure their agreement. A critical element in the bargaining process is for the union to know the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. Also the resistance point, which is the point beyond which it would rather not reach agreement. The CAW-GM negotiations are an example of the principled bargaining. The union based its position on a strong union principle; steady increases in real wage rates and refused to compromise on the principle. Bargaining based upon principle support is difficult to encounter. Imaginative bargainers figure out ways to tie issues together so that both sides can win something. A successful union is a union that keeps all of its members up to date on everything that is going on so that the members have a sense that they feel like they are a part of the process. Under labor laws if despite all of these tactics the union fails to convince the employer an impasse exists. This is when further bargaining process have to take place. The employer bargains again with their last offer. The only possibility of an impasse should be dealt with accordingly in the campaign contract. A strike may prove this necessary if an agreement does not happen. A strike is the only way to deal with an impasse. If this happens a mediator may be brought in to try to get the parties to agree together and compromise. A mediator can only recommend contract terms, not impose any of them. In a few states interest arbitration is called a ‘final offer’. Once a dispute reaches an impasse the arbitrator imposes either the unions or the employers last offer but cannot dictate any sort of compromise solution.
Chapter Four: The Agreement
If the agreement between negotiators and employers comes together a collective bargaining agreement that will serve as the low of the workplace will take place and be signed. The contract will be divided into 4 parts: union security and management rights, the wage and effort bargain, individual security, and contact administration. A clause that may take place is a union shop agreement, which states that every member of the bargaining unit must join the union within a specified number of days after being hired. An agency shop does not require membership of a union but does demand that every unit member pay dues that are equivalent to the union. Two issues that happen most today are management rights and no-strike clauses. The essence of management is control which a good collective bargaining agreement will limit this control. Unions need to try to keep managerial rights as narrowly defined as possible because the employer will always refer to these rights in times of a dispute. Very rarely there is a contract that has a no-strike agreement in it. The workers who strike out of a no-strike agreement subject themselves to losing their job and membership in the union itself. Some unions have managed to take out some issues from the non-strike agreement. The NLRB or the courts to mean that workers cannot refuel to cross another union’s picket line might interpret an agreement with no special wording. The wage and effort part of this usually contains hundreds of clauses covering everything from wages, benefits, to how workers will be paid, etc. Many collective bargaining agreements embrace the ‘team concept’, although it is a dangerous concept. Once a union has been formed the management has to take the workers into account no matter what it does. Individual security provisions include the grievance procedure and seniority rules. Through the grievance procedure, workers gain fundamental due process. This process is extremely important. It is what separates organized workers from unorganized workers. Its significance can be measured by how rare such a system is in a nonunion company. Although a grievance system is not a substitute for a militant and vigilant rank and file controlled union. Collective bargaining cannot eliminate the uncertainty in the economy, but it can offer workers job protection through the rule of seniority. Seniority is a very powerful weapon in terms of unions. It gives older workers preference over younger worker. One problem that seniority may cause is that it perpetuates discrimination is some ways. In terms of contracts, once a contract is signed it must be enforced. Enforcement should be seen as part of the ongoing campaign to increase the workers powers. Arbitration of contract disputes is such an important part of the collective bargaining agreement. Once the last step of grievance arbitration takes place and has failed to generate a settlement, the union has a few days to spell out in the contract and to invoke arbitration. Anyone can be selected as the arbitrator and there are no specific qualifications that a person must have to be one. You should always choose one who will be versed in collective bargaining agreements. Some states use panels of arbitrators. An arbitration hearing is a legal proceeding where both the union and the employer will make opening statements to each other in front of an attorney. Both sides will introduce documents of evidence, and write closing briefs, etc. Numerous court decisions have made it difficult for the losing side to overturn an arbitrations ruling. Unions should always prepare for arbitration as they do for bargaining and should be extremely well prepared. The employer of the company has to give the union any information that is relevant to the case as before. Witnesses will also be called if necessary who will work and oversee the grievant claims. The arbitrator that is chosen does not know anything about the grievance until he/she gets there and the union tells them the situation as clear as possible. The arbitrator first must overlook the contract and make the collective bargaining agreement truthful around it. Understanding every piece of the contract is vital to the arbitrator’s understanding and knowledge of the argument. Employers and outsiders of unions say that a union will take any case to arbitration, this cannot be taken seriously. Every person has the right to the due process law and to have his or her voice heard within the terms of innocent until proven guilty. A union also has a legal right to thoroughly investigate every grievance.
Chapter Four: Politics And Collective Bargaining
On one hand there have been overly political workers’ groups. These organizations goal is to directly confront the economic system and the state that supports it. On the other hand these movements also were movements of working people that had no particular political platform and simply concentrated on organizing unions to bargain for better wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment. The most important of all the organizations that were listed was the American Federation of Labor. The founder of this organization was Samuel Gomper and his standpoint was to urge workers to reject radical politics and operate within the two-party system of Republicans and Democrats. Collective bargaining by its nature accepts the rights of the employers to run their businesses and relegates the workers to winning a slightly bigger share of the pie that they could without a union. Recent studies have pros and cons to both views on this. Maurice Zeitlin and Judith Stepan-Norris that were secured by the left wing, centrist, and right-wing unions between the years 1937 and 1955 compared contracts. All of the unions were affiliated with the CIO. The left wing unions and those most allied with the Communist Party won contracts that enabled workers to protect their interests at work. Through collective bargaining workers have fought and won impressive movements throughout the past 100 years that not only helped them monetarily but also helped with human rights. While many employees have condemned unions and collective bargaining as detrimental to managerial flexibility, workers have used them to deal creatively with disparate and rapidly changing circumstances. Some agreements even provide childcare, flexible work schedules, transfer rights, sabbatical leaves, retraining and education funds, affirmative action, and many other procedures and laws for the employees. Unions and collective bargaining cannot solve all the work-related issues people face every day such as racism, guaranteed employment, meaningful work in clean environments and sexism but it i
