Warmup
► How
do you think the work place would be
if there were no laws protecting workers?
Unit VI
The American Labor Force
What is the civilian labor force?
► Men
and women 16 and up who are either
working or seeking employment
What is a labor union?
► Groups
of workers who fight together for
 Higher pay
 Safer working conditions
Types of unions
► Craft/Trade
Unions
 Workers who perform the same skills
 Ex: newspaper writers
► Industrial
unions
 Different types of workers from the same
industry
 EX: United Auto Workers
How are unions organized?
► Local
Unions
 Members of a unoin in a factory, company, or
geographic area
► National
Unions
 Represent workers on a national level
►AFL-CIO:
American Federation of Labor-Congress of
Industrial Organizations
How do labor unions and management work
to negotiate working conditions and benefits?
► Collective
Bargaining – officials from union
and company meet to discuss new contracts
► Mediation – 3rd party is brought in to help
reach compromise
► Arbitration – 3rd party listens to both sides
and comes up with solution which both
sides agree to accept
What do both sides do when an
agreement can not be reached?
Labor Union Tools
► Strike – workers in union refuse to work
► Boycott – encourage the public to refuse to
buy company goods
► Picketing – workers form a line outside
company; prevents others from working and
draws attention
Management Tools
► Injunction
activity
– legal order preventing some
 Can be used to prevent picketing/striking
► Lockout
– company prevents workers from
entering building until they accept contract
terms
 EX NBA lockout in 1999 and 2011; MLB in 1995.
Types of arrangements unions and
employers make
► Closed
shop – workers had to join a union
before they could be hired (now illegal)
► Union shops – companies can hire someone
as long as they join shortly after beginning
to work
Types of arrangements unions and
employers make
► Modified
Union Shop – workers do not have
to join a union to work, but must remain in
union once joining.
► Agency Shop – workers must pay fee to
union for representing them even if they do
not join
How have laws passed at the federal
and state level affected union
activity?
► Clayton
Act (1914) – gave legal support to
peaceful strikes and boycotts
► Taft-Hartley Act (1947) – declared closed shops
illegal
► Right-to-work Laws – prevent mandatory union
membership (22 states, including NC)
► National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – makes
sure that unions are brought into workplace only if
majority of workers request it.