The Importance of Unions

There are benefits working people have that many may take for granted. Some examples would be minimum wage, eight-hour work days, or good workplace conditions. What made a lot of these benefits possible were labor unions, which have given working people more rights. There are many people who may be unaware of what exactly unions are and what they do for workers. Labor unions have been around for over 100 years and have had a major role in workers being treated more fairly. Unions have been declining in recent years because of declining members so it is important to know the benefits of unions and why they are important.

What are Unions

With the decline of labor unions there may be some people unaware of what unions are and what they do. According to Business Dictionary, unions are organizations of workers that unify for improved working conditions and other common interests they share. The groups of workers become a stronger voice by joining together to negotiate with employers on behalf of all union members. Unions are usually a group of workers in a similar industry with different employers such as teachers, steelworkers, service employees, or auto workers. According to UWUA, unions are “intermediary between its members and the business that employs them” with the purpose of giving workers power to negotiate with collective bargaining.

Unions make this possible because they have a big enough number of workers to put pressure on employers to recognize the organization and negotiate with them. Unions can also have a form of protest called a strike, which means workers refuse to work and protest outside of where they work if they are not being treated fairly. The main purpose of unions is to get improved workplace safety, higher wages, better benefits, and better representatives to work on their behalf (UWUA). The representatives are supposed to be highly skilled at negotiating so they can get a better contract for the workers they represent.

Brief History of Unions

Labor unions began in the industrial revolution during the 1800’s. It was determined that forming unions were illegal after the court case Commonwealth v. Pullis in 1806 (Grimsley). According to Grimsley, the labor conspiracy theory was formed saying “collective bargaining would interfere with the market and destroy competition”. Labor unions in the U.S. struggled during the 1800’s with employers fighting unions with the government's help. There were strikes that became violent with two examples being a steelworker strike at a Carnegie plant 1892 and a railroad strike in 1894 (Grimsley). Unions began growing in popularity in the 1900’s, which lead to the creation of the Department of Labor and Commerce in 1903 and the U.S. Department of Labor in 1913 (union-news.org). According to Grimsley, in 1914 the Clayton Act determined “that labor unions were not to be considered a violation of antitrust laws”. According to NLRB, The National Labor Relations Act in 1935 made it illegal for employers to prevent employees from forming or joining unions and for unions to force employees to join.

These two pieces of legislation gave people the right to freely join or create unions with no employer or government interference and paved the way for collective bargaining. According to the union-news.org another important legislation was the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 that introduced 40-hour work weeks, minimum wage, and made child labor illegal. It was revised in 2009 to increase minimum wage to $7.25 and to require overtime pay at 1.5 times the normal pay for workers that work past 40 hours in a week (dol.gov). These laws would not have been passed without unions raising awareness for labor rights and putting pressure on the government to address issues for labor rights. Labor unions were at their peak in the mid-1900’s but union membership has been on a decline since then. According to the bls.gov, the first year of union membership being recorded was 1983 with 20.1% of workers being in a union and has dropped to 10.7 in 2016.

Positives and Negatives of Unions

There are positives and negatives for unions but there are clearly more positives to being a part of a union. Unions are better than non-union jobs when it comes wages and salaries. Among five different types of occupations only one had non-union workers making higher medium weekly earnings in 2016 (bls.gov). The other four had union workers making higher medium weekly earnings at $258 or more per week on average (bls.gov). According to Jacobson (2014), “pay plus benefits for a 40-hour week was $1,508 for a union employee and $1,083 for a non-union worker”. Unions workers receive better benefits such as health care, sick pay, retirement, etc. Another benefit that was mentioned earlier is having representatives that represent the union members when negotiating with employers.

One possible disadvantage for labor unions would be possible corruption. According to The Department of Labor, 21.7 percent of audits for labor unions in 2014 resulted in criminal cases and there were 100 total convictions. One piece of legislation that keeps corruption in check is the Labor-Management and Disclosure Act passed in 1959, which includes five provisions (dol.gov). The provisions include a bill of rights for union members, requirements for reporting and disclosure of labor unions, rules for trusteeship, standards for fair elections of union officers, and protection of union funds and assets (dol.gov). This disadvantage is manageable because of audits and union members voting for new union officers if they feel they are no longer representing the members. Another possible disadvantage could be strikes, which causes workers to lose pay. Strikes usually are not a disadvantage because they are a last resort for unions and members vote for if they feel employers are not treating them fairly. There is some pay as well for every week there is a strike, depending on the union.

Conclusion

Labor unions have been a major influence for the United States since the early 1900’s and have made labor rights better for workers. Unions have been responsible for many of the improved labor practices such as better working conditions, minimum wage, better benefits, 8-hour work days, 40-hour work weeks, and much more. Many people may take these improvements to working for granted with the decline in membership for unions. The many advantages of being a part of a union outweigh any disadvantages that unions may have. People not in unions also benefit because unions raise awareness for labor rights and some employers may treat employees well to avoid dealing with unions. It is important to support unions even if people are not a part of them because of the amount of good unions do and with them being dangerously close to disappearing.

References

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/union.html

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t04.htm

https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2016/union-membership-in-the-united-states/pdf/union-membership-in-the-united-states.pdf

https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/annualreports/highlights_14.htm

https://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/

Grimsley, S. (n.d.). What Is a Labor Union? - Definition & History. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-labor-union-definition-history-quiz.html

Jacobson, L. (2014, Feb. 7). Labor Secretary Thomas Perez Says Union Members Earn $200 More a Week Than Those Not in Unions. Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/feb/07/thomas-perez/labor-secretary-thomas-perez-says-union-members-ea/

https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employerunion-rights-and-obligations

http://www.union-news.org/labortimelinelink

http://uwua.net/what-are-the-benefits-of-being-a-union-worker/