Unions­
Now
and
Then
Labor
unions
are
legally
recognized
as
representatives
of
workers
in
many
industries
in
the
United
States.
Activities
include:
• Collective
bargaining
over
wages,
benefits,
and
working
conditions.
• Representing
members
in
disputes
with
management
• Lobbying
activities
and
electioneering
at
state
and
federal
level
American
unions
remain
a
prominent
political
factor,
both
through
mobilization
of
their
own
memberships
and
through
coalitions
with
like‐
minded
activist
organizations
around
issues
such
as
immigrant
rights,
trade
policy,
health
care,
and
living
wage
campaigns.
Cites
and
states
make
efforts
to
reduce
pension
obligations
owed
to
unionized
workers
who
retire
in
the
future.
Republic
Tea
Party
support
in
2010
claimed
that
unions
are
too
powerful.
In
my
time
we
was
beaten,
rotten
egged,
cussed,
threatened,
tarred
and
feathered
and
blackballed
from
other
jobs.
Hurt
in
so
many
different
ways.
But
at
our
meetings
our
advice
to
the
men
and
women
that
was
hurt,
we
would
just
say
to
them
what
the
good
book
says,
the
Lord
will
not
put
more
upon
you
than
you
can
bear,
at
least
none
of
us
lost
our
lives
like
some
did
in
the
early
30's.
Thank
God!...
—W.M.
"Jack"
Anderson,
first
local
president,
UAW
local
645
Every
advance
in
this
half­century­­Social
Security,
civil
rights,
Medicare,
aid
to
education,
one
after
another­­came
with
the
support
and
leadership
of
American
Labor.—Jimmy
Carter
Now
Today
most
labor
unions
in
the
United
States
are
members
of
one
of
two
larger
umbrella
organizations.
Unions
continue
to
be
actively
opposed
by
conservative
political
and
media
figures.
In
general
they
have
shown
robust
growth
rates,
for
wages
and
working
conditions
are
set
through
negotiations
with
elected
local
and
state
officials.
The
unions'
political
power
thus
comes
into
play.
To
join
a
traditional
labor
union,
workers
must
either
be
given
voluntary
recognition
from
their
employer
or
have
a
majority
of
workers
in
a
bargaining
unit
vote
for
union
representation.
A
review
conducted
by
the
federal
government
on
pay
scale
shows
that
employees
in
a
labor
union
earn
up
to
33%
more
income
than
their
nonunion
counterparts,
as
well
as
having
more
job
security,
safer
and
higher‐quality
work
conditions,
and
additional
benefits
Then
(A
brief
history)
Unions
began
forming
in
the
mid‐19th
century
in
response
to
the
social
and
economic
impact
of
the
industrial
revolution.
National
labor
unions
began
to
form
in
the
post‐Civil
War
Era.
After
1960
public
sector
unions
grew
rapidly
and
secured
good
wages
and
high
pensions
for
their
members.
By
the
1970s,
a
rapidly
increasing
flow
of
imports
undercut
American
producers.
By
the
1980s
there
was
a
large‐scale
shift
in
employment
with
fewer
workers
in
high‐wage
sectors
and
more
in
the
low‐wage
sectors.
Many
companies
closed
or
moved
factories
to
Southern
states
(where
unions
were
weak)
countered
the
threat
of
a
strike
by
threatening
to
close
or
move
a
plant,
or
moved
their
factories
offshore
to
low‐wage
countries.
The
number
of
major
strikes
and
lockouts
fell
by
97%
from
381
in
1970
to
187
in
1980
to
only
11
in
2010.
Those
unions
that
enjoy
the
right
to
strike
have
no
guarantee
that
sacrificing
their
jobs
and
their
livelihood
will
result
in
victory
but
they
nevertheless
engage
in
lengthy
strikes,
not
because
they
are
assured
of
winning
but
because
they
are
determined
to
fight.—William
Burrus,
1998
Labor
Education
Program
In
the
US,
labor
education
programs
such
as
the
Harvard
Trade
Union
Program
created
in
1942
sought
to
educate
union
members
to
deal
with
important
contemporary
workplace
and
labor
law
issues
of
the
day.
During
the
founding
era
of
the
Harvard
Trade
Union
Program,
it
was
commonly
called
“an
experiment.”
For
much
of
the
early
twentieth
century,
the
idea
that
workers
would
study
at
elite
universities
was
mocked
and
questioned.
It
was
initially
designed
to
bring
15
labor
leaders
to
Harvard
for
nine
months.
The
Plan
had
several
unusual
features,
including
no
formal
academic
requirements
such
as
a
high
school
diploma.
According
to
a
Harvard
statement,
the
“more
important
qualifications
are
general
intelligence,
capacity
for
leadership,
and
devotion
to
the
labor
movement.”
1941
had
been
a
year
of
escalating
strikes
and
labor
unrest,
and
the
intensifying
international
crisis
called
attention
to
the
need
for
higher
productivity
via
more
harmonious
labor‐management
relations.
In
1942,
labor
union
officials
and
Harvard
educators
announced
the
Harvard
Trade
Union
Fellowship
Plan
as
“a
momentous
first
step
in
the
direction
of
better
American
labor‐management
relations.”
Union
Structure
The
Union
is
not
a
fee­for­service
organization,
it
is
a
family.—Sue
Carney,
APWU
Director
of
Human
Relations
Local
union
organizations,
referred
to
as
"locals,"
are
the
building
blocks
of
national
unions.
Most
union
locals
confine
themselves
to
a
geographic
area
that
is
small
enough
for
all
members
to
attend
meetings
in
which
they
elect
local
officers,
vote
on
new
contracts,
authorize
strikes
and
conduct
other
union
business
Union
locals
have
rules
that
determine
the
number
of
local
officers,
as
well
as
their
duties,
terms
of
office
and
salaries,
if
any.
In
addition,
the
local
determines
procedures
for
approving
new
labor
contracts,
authorizing
strikes,
collecting
membership
dues
and
selecting
delegates
for
national
union
conventions.
Local
unions
pay
dues
to
and
operate
under
the
constitutions
of
the
national
‐‐
and
in
some
cases,
international
‐‐
union
with
which
they
affiliate.
National
unions
make
laws
and
policies
for
their
organizations
at
the
national
convention.
The
conventions,
whose
delegates
are
chosen
from
locals
across
the
country,
choose
national
union
officers,
including
president,
vice‐president
and
secretary‐
treasurer