Youth Brigade, Week 4


From Class War to Bargaining Tables
What Should Unions Do?


Business Unionism or Social Unionism…Choices!
Civil Rights, Immigration…Choices!

Field Trip: Bronx Museum of Art

Web: http://www2.widener.edu/~spe0001


Click on Courses, then Youth Brigade
Scavenger Hunt

If you’re doing it, you must hand it in with at least
three answers to the coordinators on the last
Thursday of the brigade
Organizing Unions

Decision to organize labor into union brings many, many
questions…

Who should be in the union?
 All workers? Only some races? Native workers and Immigrants?
Only men?
 What
 Who
should the union demand?
should they demand it from? Employers or
government?
Solidarity

Solidarity
 Community
of feelings, purposes, etc.
 Community of responsibilities and interests.

Different unions…different ideas about solidarity
Wagner Act

Wagner Act or National Labor
Relations Act(1935)
a
federal law that among other things
guaranteed workers the right to
organize unions, join unions and
collectively bargain.

Turning point in American History
A
conscious effort to strengthen
unionism by Federal Government
 Still
the framework we operate under
CIO, Solidarity and Industrial Unions

Industrial Unionism
 membership
composed
primarily of semi-skilled or
unskilled workers who are
organized on the basis of
the product they produce
 No
exclusion based on race,
gender, immigration status

Trying to turn poverty
wages to middle class
wages…
Solidarity & Courage Lead to Victory
CIO like a “crusade”


CIO Activity Pushes AFL to organize too
Union Density increases rapidly…By 1950s…1 out
of 3 workers is in a union
30
25
20
15
Pct. In Union
10
5
0
1930
1933
1935
1937
1940
Unions Concentrated in Key Industries

By 1946, Core of Economy almost completely
union

80-100% unionized


Aircraft, Aluminum, Auto, Breweries, Clothing, Electrical
Machinery, Meat packing, Rubber, Shipbuilding Steel, Coal,
Construction, Long shoring, Trucking
Will have spill over effect to non-union sector

Fear of unionization will prompt better wages, hours, and
working conditions
Within short order, there are dozens of unions
representing millions and millions of workers
Many Unions representing millions of
workers… O.K…NOW WHAT


What should these organizations do? What
should they demand and fight for? Who
should they demand it from?
Put another way…what do you want from
life? Are there things unions can do to help
you get these things?
Many Unions representing millions of
workers… NOW WHAT?




What should these organizations do? What should
they demand? Who should they demand it from?
Think about work. What kinds of things make a job
a good job? What do you want from your job?
Think about your neighborhoods and communities.
What kind of things make a neighborhood nice?
Put another way…what do you want from life? Are
there things unions can do to help you get it?
What Should Unions Do? More Choices


All Unions will fight for contracts that deliver better wages,
benefits, hours and working conditions from Employers
Some Unions will go beyond the contract and fight for
Government Policies that help all workers

A broader conception of solidarity

Laws regarding minimum wages, living wages, overtime, safety
regulations

Government action on a range of other things

Civil Rights, Immigration Reform, Affordable Housing, Social Security etc.
All Unions Bargain with Employers for
Better Wages: Share the Profits


“Treaty of Detroit” between corporations and unions tied
wages to productivity
Translation:


1947 Joe Union guy produced 100 widgets a day and was paid $100
1975 Joe Union guy produced 200 widgets a day and was paid $200
All Unions Bargain with Employers
for Better Wages: Share the Profits

From poverty wages to high wages…
All Unions Bargain with Employers for Better
Wages: Share the Profits
All Unions Bargain with Employers for
Better Wages: “Great Compression”
If workers get more…someone gets less…Unions
reduce inequality
Year
1922
1929
1939
1949
1958
1969
Pct. Held
by Top 1%
of
Households
31.6
36.3
30.6
20.8
23.8
20.1
Unions Also End Up Bargaining for
Benefits from Employer






Health Care
Dental Care
Pensions
Note that these come from the employer,
not the government…
In most other advanced industrial capitalist
nations, unions demanded & won these
benefits from government
How might this end up being a problem
for American companies like GM or Ford?
Choices by Management in the 1940s
Create Problems 50 Years Later

Detroit's carmakers
have been under siege
from foreign
competition, which have
lower costs in their
factories…U.S. Healthcare costs have sapped
$1,400 from the profit
of any vehicle(Business Week, 9/07)

Toyota's health care costs
are so negligible that they
aren't even a line item in
the company's financial
statements. Toyota benefits
both from the Japanese
national health plan's
coverage of retirees'
medical needs and from the
way that plan is structured
(autoweek.com)ttp://www.autoweek.com/article/20050401/FREE/50401

0702#ixzz0v6sGTzPg
Wages and Benefits


These benefits set standard throughout
economy for union and union-union companies
“The unions role in developing this system…was
central. By the early 1970s, pensions, health
insurance, and the like had become so commonplace
that millions of Americans took these hard-won
benefits for granted. Few remembered the
generations of militancy that paved the way
…”(Zieger, p.153)
American Unions Excel at Business
Unionism

Business unionism

using collective bargaining to improve the wages, hours and working
conditions of members who belong to a particular union.
 Focus

Deliver Better Wages, Hours and Benefits to members


is on bread-and-butter issues
Workplace governance system that provides for dignity at work…
What about things that can’t be addressed in a
contract…things like discrimination and civil rights?
Immigration? Affordable housing? What about improving
the lives of people who are not in unions?
Choices


You’re a proud member of Local 1 of the International Union of Youth
Brigaders. The IBYB has bargained a contract that provides you with good
wages, fair hours and safe working conditions. You come to work each day
knowing that you will be treated with respect and dignity by your boss. At
your last union meeting, an issue was raised that you’re not sure about.
Jill motioned that your union give money and organizational support to the
effort to pass the Fair Labor Standards Act. This act would legally mandate
a minimum wage and an 8 hour day. Joe stood up and said that IBYB had
already bargained for an 8 hour day and a wage well above the poverty
line. The union had no business using dues money to support political
movements that would primarily benefit people who were not in the union.
There was spirited debate, and the issue was tabled until next month. How
will you vote? Why? What are the pros and cons of each position?
Fair Labor Standards Act

AFL Business Unionism

using collective
bargaining to
improve the wages,
hours and working
conditions of
members who belong
to a particular union.

CIO Social Unionism

a form of unionism that focuses on
using collective bargaining to
improve the wages, hours and
working conditions of union
members WHILE also engaging in
campaigns that will improve the
conditions of the working class a
whole.

Unions try to craft and advance a
broader set of goals…above and
beyond contractual matters
Social Unionism Works Beyond the
Contract

…workers and Labor Union members have many
problems affecting their lives in addition to wages,
hours and working conditions, and related matters
involving the employer. These are the wide range of
the citizen in the community. The CIO Council becomes
the voice of the Labor movement about housing, public
and personal health, child care, education, public and
private welfare, city and community planning,
recreating, and a large number of things which are the
concern of the worker as citizen where he lives.
 -Ted Silvey, CIO Leader, 1948
Marching on Washington…1941


A. Philip Randolph, President of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
President of the Negro American Labor
Council, and Vice President of the AFL-CIO
In 1941 he threatened to march 100,000
on Washington unless President Roosevelt
prohibited discrimination in defense
industries and the military

FDR caved on industry…not on military
March on Washington…1963



A huge march on Washington is
organized to challenge discrimination
Many remember Dr. King’s “I have a
dream speech”…few know that
Randolph initiated the march
Even fewer know the demands of the
march? What did the marchers want?
Of the 10 Demands of the March on
Washington…4 were economic





1. Comprehensive and effective civil rights legislation from the present Congress — without
compromise or fillibuster — to guarantee all Americans:
Access to all public accommodations
Decent housing
Adequate and integrated education
The right to vote
7. A massive federal program to train and place all unemployed workers — Negro and white — on
meaningful and dignified jobs at decent wages.
8. A national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living. (Government
surveys show that anything less than $2.00 an hour fails to do this.)
[The minimum wage at the time of the march is $1.15/hour.]
9. A broadened Fair Labor Standards Act to include all areas of employment which are presently
excluded.
10. A federal Fair Employment Practices Act barring discrimination by federal, state, and municipal
governments, and by employers, contractors, employment agencies, and trade unions.
http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim63b.htm#1963mow
Choices


You’re a proud member of Local 1 of the International Union
of Youth Brigaders. The IBYB has bargained a contract that
provides you with good wages, fair hours and safe working
conditions. You come to work each day knowing that you will
be treated with respect and dignity by your boss. At your
last union meeting, an issue was raised that you’re not sure
about.
Jane motioned that your union give money and
organizational support to the civil rights movement’s march
on Washington. Joe stood up and said that while he
supported the civil rights movement, not all IBYB members
did, and the union had no business using dues money to get
involved in such matters since they had nothing to do with the
IBYB contract. There was spirited debate, and the issue was
tabled until next month. How will you vote? Why? What are
the pros and cons of each position?
AFL-CIO and Civil Rights

AFL-CIO would not endorse the 1963
March on Washington




Supported civil rights but viewed issue as
peripheral to collective bargaining
No $ or bodies provided
Didn’t open HQ to tired thirsty protestors
Some AFL-CIO unions endorsed the
march


Sent $ and bodies
Note Reuther of the UAW
Another Type of Unionism

a form of unionism that
focuses on using
collective bargaining to
improve the wages,
hours and working
conditions of members
who belong to a
particular union WHILE
also aggressively
engaging in campaigns
that will improve the
conditions of the
working class a whole.


using collective
bargaining to improve
the wages, hours and
working conditions of
members who belong to
a particular union.
Focus on bread-andbutter issues of a
segment of the working
class.
Unions and Immigration
The Song Remains the Same



Deciding how many immigrants to let into a nation has always
been a controversial matter
““Why should the Palatine (German) boors be suffered to
swarm into our settlements, and ,by herding together, establish
their language and manners, to the exclusion of ours? Why
should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony
of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us,
instead of our Anglifying them…” – Benjamin Franklin, 1751
Change German to Irish, Italian or Mexican, and you have the
debate in 1850, 1920 and 2010
Foreign Born People in America at
Record High…Kind of…
Long Hiatus from Immigration…

Immigration Declines Sharply
Recent Increase

Immigration Up Sharply
Different Types of Immigrants
What Do they Do…Not simply that
they do work “Americans won’t do”
Immigration/Illegal immigration …Who
Benefits and Who is threatened…

Who Benefits?
Immigrants…gain opportunity
 Employers…gain labor or cheaper labor
 Consumers…gain through lower prices
 General Pro Immigrant groups…the American way to
provide opportunity and hope to downtrodden


Who suffers or is threatened?

“Native” workers…more competition in labor market
leading to displacement or lower wages


From Black dockworkers to Microsoft Engineers to Janitors
Native Residents who fear newcomers will “ruin” America



You are president of IBYB Local
1. You represent janitors. Many
of these janitors are new
immigrants. Many are Native
born African Americans and
European Americans. Do you get
involved in the politics of
immigration?
If yes, why and what do you
demand?
If no, why?
Change to Win/AFL CIO Program

Provide a Workable Path to Legalization for Undocumented Workers




Undocumented workers who have established themselves should be able to earn legal status and citizenship if they work, pay taxes, learn English,
undergo background checks, and pay a fine.
Protect the Wages and Working Conditions of All Workers

All undocumented workers should have the same labor, employment, and civil rights protections that U.S. citizens enjoy, otherwise discrimination and
exploitation are inevitable.

All undocumented workers should have the right to organize into a union and to receive back pay for being illegally fired; the right to fair and
prevailing wages; the right to a safe and healthy worksite; and whistleblower protections that protect them from employer retaliation.
Hold Employers Accountable for Seeking to Exploit Undocumented Workers

A strong employment verification system is needed that is accurate and efficient, contains sufficient due process and privacy protections, minimizes
workplace disruptions and prevents discrimination.

Once reforms are put in place providing an earned path to citizenship for undocumented workers already here, tough legal penalties should apply
to employers who recruit, hire or exploit undocumented workers, produce fraudulent documents, retaliate against workers who exercise their labor
rights, or evade the payment of taxes on undocumented workers.
Secure Our Borders

A major overhaul of the immigration system will make border enforcement more realistic and doable. Improvements to border enforcement should
include "smart border" measures that combine personnel, equipment and technology to reduce illegal immigration; efficient processing and fair
proceedings; and strategies that focus on detecting and deterring terrorists and cracking down on criminal smugglers and employers that break the
law.
Another Type of Unionism

a form of unionism that
focuses on using
collective bargaining to
improve the wages,
hours and working
conditions of members
who belong to a
particular union WHILE
also aggressively
engaging in campaigns
that will improve the
conditions of the
working class a whole.


using collective
bargaining to improve
the wages, hours and
working conditions of
members who belong to
a particular union.
Focus on bread-andbutter issues of a
segment of the working
class.
Lunch

Back at 1pm for our
trip to the Bronx
Museum of Art