What are the cons of the Knights of Labor and the American Ferderation of Labor(AFL)?
Ok...problems with the Knights of Labor - not a conventional labor union in that they took in any worker who applied, regardless of skill level, or even race or gender (women and blacks allowed, although not Chinese), and this led to conflict between skilled and unskilled workers and disputes over race and gender. Also, their leadership was not strong after Terrence Powderly, and they got involved in strikes that weakened them after they lost. Problems with the AFL: Seen as too conservative and unwilling to make enemies. Supported only pro-labor political candidates. Very exclusionary as it only let in skilled workers, which pretty much blocked women and blacks from joining. Neither of these unions was pro-socialist. Indeed, one of the biggest knocks on the AFL is that it was so conservative and bolstered capitalism.
Why do Labor Unions still exist?
In a time of codified labor laws nationwide why do we still have labor unions in the United States? What is thier purpose? Why have they declined to update their role in the manager - employee relationship?
What are the pros and cons of unions in America?
In a nutshell, The Unions began by fighting for worker rights and fair pay, but they became so big that they became a business instead of remaining a pro-democratic social movement. It ddn't help that the mafia infiltrated the union power structure and turned unionists into violent thugs and crooks Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the unions w/o which we would not have vacations or the 40 hour work week. But they are less a factor now because of the change in focus mentioned above. Also unions have been demonized as socialists by capitalists who have commodified workers as mere business assets. Our econ-system is very sick and has been regressing since the 1980's when Reagan made it easy to bust up the unions through legislaton and lax enforcement of anti-union activities by management and hired consultants. ps KPFT.org in Houston has a weekly program on unions. As a disclaimer of any conflict of interest, I was never a member of any union. As a member of management I had to deal with the bad elements in unions(OCAW) who behaved badly by being petty, vindictive and corrupt. Still I recognized the good they did. Addendum: The unions are trying to re-emerge as a social movement but that is made difficult by the old goats hanging onto the union powerstrings.
How and why did some labor unions become intertwined with organized crime like the mafia?
It started out when companies in the early 20th century hired low-level Mafia thugs to beat up workers on strike.Later, the Mafia understood that it could make money using organized labor, so they infiltrated the unions (either by bribing it’s leaders, or joining the union itself as a leader) and would basically extort companies, most often in the construction industry, called labor racketeering.It works like this:A mob controlled union who has say 1,000 workers in an area of New York, some of those workers work for Construction Company XYZ that is about to start construction on a new apartment building.It’s simple, the union leader or mobster has a conversation with a high level project manager (whether they are in the company or a 3rd party) and basically tells them if they do not pay an extra $X per square foot of concrete and $Y for every ton of steel, they will have the workers go on strike (workers are completely loyal to their union, as they promise them rights and such) which is not good for business, as it delays the project and costs Construction Company XYZ a lot of money.So the company has 2 optionsPay a certain amount of money and get the job done.OrLose more money and get the project delayed by a couple of weeks.Any businessman would easily pick the first option.
What are some pros and cons of Labor Unions?
help employees that are being unfairly treated. good becomes a system that pits works and employers against each other, and creates a legacy system that breeds mistrust, bad. tba
What's the purpose of labor unions?
In practice, the purpose of a labor union is to unify workers under one banner and to act as a collective bargaining unit representing workers whenever they negotiate a new contract with management. When used for this purpose, a labor union can be very effective in enhancing conditions for the working person. A labor union can negotiate for such things as increased wages, better working conditions, better work hours, and worker safety.Unfortunately, nowadays the original purpose and intent of the labor union is greatly misunderstood and often abused. These days, labor unions are starting to resemble the big business entities they were originally formed to work against and act more as a go-between for rank-and-file workers and management. Even though an excellent concept, labor unions these days are often viewed as as much of an enemy or threat to employment as big business.If labor unions got back to their original roots, and actually represented the best interest of workers, they would regain much of their lost respect. Hopefully, that day will come again soon before it's too late, ie big business has taken over the entire country and contaminated our society with runaway capitalism.
How do you teach labor unions?
I would start first by talking about the working conditions that led to the need for labor unions such as low pay, long hours, dangerous working conditions, and child labor. You can do this through a role playiing activity where they get character cards describing different jobs with poor working conditions. Ask the students what they could possibly do to improve their situation. Maybe have them brainstorm ideas. You then could introduce the definition of a labor union and talk about how they work and how they improve the lives of workers. You can then talk about the different labor unions that were created such as the American Federation of Labor, Knights of Labor, etc. You can then return to the role playing activity to talk about the conflicts between labor and business that resulted in violence and the attempts made by business to stop union membership. You can introduce Black lists, yellow dog contracts, and lockouts to the role playing activity to show how they were all attempts to stop union membership. You could then explain how these attampts by business would often result in violence by talking about famous strikes include The Homestead Steel Strike and the Haymarket Riot. I'm not sure what grade you are teaching, but I hope this gives you an idea to work from.
What are the pro and con of labor union?
Pro. Job security Better pay Health Insurance extra benefits Cons. If the Union is a lame duck and cannot get nothing done, you end up paying for nothing. In regards to Labor Unions getting smaller you would have to consider the reason labor unions came about. In a sense, safety, work hours, benefits were all on account of labor unions. Thus, their own success has resulted in their downfall. Now on another note, Union membership has balanced out finally; unfortunately, not to the level it had before where almost 60% of workers were union. In short, a labor union can be considered protector of your job, or just a selfish way to take your dues. I'm a union member and I make roughly $30K more a year then non-union members who do the exact same job. My dues are approximately $115 a month.
Have labor unions largely become corrupt in the USA?
Unions have their problems but that ain’t it. Lack of vision, failure to build solidarity and common action between unions, and bureaucratic control by top leaders are more the problems today.In the past corruption only affected a minority of unions — these were typically conservative AFL business unions — such as the Laborers union or sections of the Teamsters union. This came about in the ’20s and ’30s for historical reasons. One of the last bastions of mob influence in New York City were in the carpenters and laborers unions and that was broken by the feds in the 1970s.There are a handful of small fake company unions that are just rackets. But, as I say, this generally applies to only a small number of unions — apart from occasional problems of kickbacks (as recently in UAW). But in that union the problem of extreme entrenchment of top leaders is the real problem. With that kind of entrenchment by a bureaucratic machine, you get lack of accountability.There are 20,000 local unions in USA and they vary quite a bit. But corruption — in the sense of mob control or taking kickbacks from management or embezzlement of funds — is not widespread though it happens from time to time.