Organized Labor
Key Terms and Main Ideas
• LABOR UNION is an organization of workers
that tries to improve working conditions, wages,
and benefits for its members.
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• COLLECTIVE BARGAINING is the process in
which union and company representatives meet to negotiate a new
labor contract.
• BLUE COLLAR WORKER is someone who
works in an industrial job, often in manufacturing, and
who receives wages.
• WHITE COLLAR WORKER is someone in a
professional or clerical job who typically earns a salary.
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• MEDIATION A settlement technique in
which a neutral mediator meets with each
side to try and find a solution that both
sides will accept.
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Organized Labor Timeline
• 1935 Wagner Act
• 1938 John Lewis heads Congress of
Industrial Organizations
• 1970s increase in anti-union measures by
employers
• 1990s Public Sector unions increase, such
as a union for teaching assistants
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A Decline in Union Members
• Right-to-Work law Taft-Hartley Act 1947
• Blue collar jobs have declined over the
years
• Foreign competition sends jobs overseas
• Increase of females in workforce
• Relocation of businesses to areas of low
union influence
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REVIEW
• Name and describe laws that protected workers’
rights and/or affected unions.
• Compare blue collar jobs to white collar jobs.
• List reasons for union membership decline.
• Name industries that are influenced by unions
today.
• How has the increase of female workers
contributed to the decrease of union members?
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Copyright © 2011 Texas Education Agency. All rights reserved.