LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL LABOR UNIONS

Local and International Labor Unions

Local and International Labor Unions

Introduction

This paper discusses that there should be some limits on employer and union campaigning. I believe now a day's human resource department can easily solve all the problems of employees. So we don't need employee union and their campaigns.

The History of Unions in America

The roots of Local and International Labor Unions began long ago during the founding of our nation. Primitive unions and guilds of carpenters and cabin makers emerged along the Atlantic coast in Colonial America ("The Local and International Labor Union Movement in America"). These unions began in hopes of improving their working life; they grew in number and took action as unions do today (Robert, 1968). By the 1820s, unions had won a major victory in reducing workdays from twelve to ten hours. This work formed the beginning of the union: an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions. (Cook, 1972)

The Diminishing significance of Unions

While Local and International Labor Unions were once crucial to the workforce of America, they no longer meet the workplace purpose that American laborers once looked to them for. At one point in time, Local and International Labor Unions were essential for the benefit and even the survival of the American working class. The early labor movements of the 1880s began when working conditions were unbearable and even inhumane towards people in the working class (Robert, 1968). Workers felt that industrialists often paid them too little to live on, worked them too hard, and subjected them to unsafe conditions. During that time period, employers were extremely wealthy and extremely powerful, and could get away with almost anything. Where as, compared to today's time, companies are watched over very closely by not only the government, but the public, too. However, during the 1880's many workers realized that they had little leverage dealing with their employers individually. But if they banded simultaneously and endangered to hit, they could often force employers to improve wages and employed conditions. Thus, Local and International Labor Unions came about for the protection of the working class. (Michael, 1949)

Unions' Effects on Non-Unionized Workers

Despite their decline in power and membership over the past 30 years, unions maintain major authority in the lives of millions of Americans. This influence is often felt in a radical sense ...