The Rise of Labor Unions

 Labor unions negotiate with employers to secure fair wages, benefits and working conditions for their members. Furthermore, labor unions act as representatives if workers experience unfair treatment from an employer.

After the violent conflict of 1877, many union leaders realized they could no longer fight the expanding industrial corporations through strikes or other disruptive methods; many shifted their attention towards more fundamental concerns like wage increase.

Workers Organize to Fight for Better Conditions

Unions exist to safeguard and advance workers' rights and interests. They do so by engaging in collective bargaining - negotiations between employers and employees that result in a contract outlining compensation, hours, health and safety policies as well as any other terms of employment - to secure higher wages, reasonable working hours, increased health benefits as well as greater awareness around social issues like using children in the workforce. Unions have played an invaluable role in securing higher wages as well as reasonable working hours, improved retirement benefits, better health benefits as well as increasing social issues like using children in the workforce.

Historically, many labor leaders were socialists or communists who attempted to use trade union work as part of a larger movement for social change. By the 1930s however, most influential unions had mostly become established institutions; some observers suggest this transition may have caused members to become disenfranchised while also decreasing their impact in the workplace.

Many of these new unions were organized into regional and national associations that influenced federal legislation such as the National Labor Relations Act and civil rights laws, while they also held considerable sway over state legislatures where they could force lawmakers to pass laws favoring their interests.

By the mid-1950s, one third of all workers had become union members, their numbers rising due to increasing awareness about child labor as well as more individuals moving into middle class positions.

Today, unions enjoy widespread public approval and support. This may be the result of increased worker needs during the economic downturn and subsequent recovery period or it may reflect a widespread distrust for corporate America.

Though unions remain popular, some observers remain dubious of their benefits. Critics contend that unions impose rigid rules on employers and increase long-term costs, rendering companies less competitive; additionally, union contracts make it harder for companies to dismiss unproductive employees.

Still, unions play an essential role in society and have contributed significantly to American life over the decades. Union members are more likely to receive employer-provided health insurance and contribute more toward retirement than nonunion workers; moreover, union members often enjoy paid sick days and vacation time, plus can report unsafe working conditions without fear of reprisal from management.

Workers Organize to Fight for Better Wages

Labor unions are organizations of workers that come together to fight for higher wages, safer working conditions and other workplace benefits. Union members elect leaders who represent them with employers when negotiations take place between union and employer representatives, paying dues in return for representation. Unions have long been part of American culture and history but are far less common nowadays - the two primary industries where unions still hold prominence are public service and transportation industries.

Unions use strikes and collective bargaining as effective tools to advance their members' interests, often temporarily refusing to work as a form of protest, and negotiations between an employer and workers to determine employment terms. Unions frequently resort to these methods in order to press for changes in wages or working conditions while simultaneously raising public awareness of workers' issues and garnering support for their causes from society at large.

At their outset, labor unions were typically nonpolitical and nonpartisan organizations that viewed their mission as protecting all citizens' freedom, equality and opportunity. Early unionists believed that protecting the right to organize was central to protecting Republic (Voss 1993, p.93).

As union membership grew, so too did their specialization into more focused groups; this ultimately caused divisions within the movement. For instance, workers in one industry might join multiple unions depending on factors like their gender, race or national origin. Finally in 1935, Congress passed what is commonly referred to as the Wagner Act, giving employees the right to organize as well as stopping unfair tactics from employers while creating the National Labor Relations Board to enforce those laws.

World War II saw unions reach their peak of power and membership. After the conflict ended, however, some of their momentum and power began to slip away; by the 1950s unions had become more formalized while many members felt as though they were losing some of their edge and energy.

Workers Organize to Fight for Better Working Hours

As soon as workers join a union, they pay dues and have an advocate on their side that fights on their behalf against employers to improve working conditions and wages for all members. Unions typically operate with a democratic structure where members elect representatives to represent them - today this practice is most prevalent among public employees as well as employees working in transportation and utilities industries.

Labor unions play an integral part in American politics and often shape government policy decisions. Indeed, they were instrumental in creating the Department of Labor in 1913 and passing Fair Labor Standards Acts of 1938 (mandating minimum wages, overtime pay and basic child labor laws).

Though most people view unions as tools for raising wages, they serve numerous other valuable purposes as well. Not only have unions been instrumental in protecting members' rights but they have also played a pivotal role in setting industry standards such as safety and quality controls as well as advocating workplace reform by pushing for equal pay for women and minorities.

Early labor organizations were trade specific, such as the Knights of Labor that organized coal miners. But by the turn of the century, more radical labor movements led by socialists, communists, and anarchists emerged; these unions sought to unify all workers regardless of skill into one large labor group, known as an industrial union and later joining together under Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

By the 1930s, when membership rates reached their peak, labor unions had become established institutions. But some argue that their increasing formalization allowed them to become too distant from their members and undermined their ability to protect their rights.

Today, 77% of Americans believe unions have a positive effect on society and economy - the highest support ever recorded by the Pew Research Center and almost identical to what was recorded back in 2009. Furthermore, 47% say unions help nonunion workers, surpassing 40% reached back in 2003.

Workers Organize to Fight for Better Safety Standards

Labor unions enable employees to collectively negotiate with employers over issues like wages, working conditions and safety - usually leading to a contract that must be approved by its membership - for collective agreements on issues like wages, working conditions and safety. They may also fight on behalf of individual workers with grievances against their employers, such as firings or disciplinary actions by management. One main benefit of labor unions is higher wages for union members compared with nonunion counterparts in similar industries - known as the union wage premium; research also shows that when unions represent workforces both groups receive higher wages (Rosenfeld Denice Laird 2016).

Workers initially seek to form unions to safeguard themselves against what they perceive to be arbitrary management decisions that negatively affect them - such as wage cuts or lay-offs. Furthermore, workers want an avenue through which to force management to address what they view as dangerous working conditions or excessively long hours; eventually they also desire greater job stability through fixed contracts that last a set timeframe.

To form a labor union, an employee group must first secure approval from an umbrella national organization that oversees such groups - usually Change to Win or the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

A union-organizing process established in the charter allows a group of workers to organize themselves through meetings between organizers and employer/management representatives in which organizers explain why they want a union. Furthermore, the charter allows this group of workers to strike should they fail to reach agreement on issues like wages and working conditions with their employers.

Labor unions can be powerful tools, yet they also come with potential problems. Unions have an unfortunate history of corruption; one such instance being that of Jimmy Hoffa who gave millions in pension money from union pension funds to the Las Vegas mob in the 1960s before eventually being convicted on jury tampering charges and eventually disappearing, believed by many to have been killed by them.