Labor Unions
Business and Workers in our
Economy
TODAY @ A GLANCE
 YWBAT: Recognize the concerns of labor and
examine how labor unions endeavor for
workers rights through strikes and collective
bargaining.
 Compare and Contrast: the U.S. before and
after labor unions.
Do Now…NOT LATER!
Who are some people you know that
work hard? Do you think workers today
get enough time for rest? What does it
mean to have a good balance between
personal life and work?
Explain in 1 complete paragraph.

EXPECTATIONS:
 Enter Silently
 Start Immediately
 Work Independently
 ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
Types of Workers
 Blue collar: members of
working class that does
manual labor and
earns hourly wages
 White collar: salaried professionals who tend
to do more non manual labor, individuals who
obtain more human capital
 Pink Collar: jobs that are traditionally held by
women, such as teacher, secretaries, nurses
 Skilled workers: individuals that
possess certain skills and knowledge to
perform a job
 Unskilled workers: non skilled labor
 Human capital: training, skills and
knowledge obtained by workers. The
higher the unique skills the higher the
pay.
What do you think?
Everybody Writes!
Analyze the quote?
1. What is human
capital?
2. Why is the federal
government in a
human capital
crisis?
EXPECTATIONS:
 Enter Silently
 Start Immediately
 Work Independently
 ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
What do you think?
Everybody Writes!
Analyze the quote?
1. According to Pres. Fox
what should the
government do with its
revenues from oil
companies?
2. What should
politicians not be
allowed to do?
EXPECTATIONS:
 Enter Silently
 Start Immediately
 Work Independently
 ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
1. What percentage of foreign born
Hispanics believes having more
high-skilled labor would greatly
help the economy?
2. What percentage of native born
Hispanics believes having more
high-skilled labor would not help
the economy?
3. What percentage of foreign born
Asians believes having more
high-skilled labor would help the
economy some?
4. What percentage of native born
Asians believes having more
high-skilled labor would greatly
help the economy?
5. Do you believe allowing more
visas for high skilled labor would
greatly, somewhat or not at all
help the U.S. economy? Why?
Organized Labor
 Labor Unions are special interest groups
of workers who band together to have a
better chance to obtain higher pay,
benefits and better working conditions.
1. Which country has
the highest
percentage of child
labor?
2. How many children
are working
Bangladesh?
3. Which percentage of
the work force is
child labor in India?
4. At what age do the
children in India and
Bolivia start working?
5. How many children
b/w the ages of 5-14
work in Burkina
Faso?
Types of Union Shops
 In the past, some unions supported a closed
shop where workers must be a member to
hired.
 The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 banned most
closed shops.
 Open Shop: workers do not have to belong to
union to get jobs this called “right to work”
states.
 At will employees- employees can be fired at
any time, for any reason except for job
discrimination .
1. Who was polled?
2. When were the polls
conducted?
3. What happened to
Republicans approval
of Labor unions from
2008-2009?
4. Which group
approves of labor
unions the most?
5. Between 2008-2009
did labor unions
approval increase or
decrease?
 AFL-CIO is the largest union. The AFL-CIO
union movement represents 11.5 million
members.
 They are teachers and miners, firefighters and
farm workers, bakers and engineers, pilots and
public employees, doctors and nurses, painters
and plumbers and more. The labor union’s
lobbyist try to persuade state and national
governments to look out for workers rights.
1. List 2 states that
have the highest
percentage of
unionized
workers.
2. What is North
Carolina's
percentage of
unionized
workers?
3. Which part of the
country has the
highest
percentage of
unionized
workers?
4. Which part of the
country has the
lowest percentage
of unionized
workers?
Craft Union
 All workers of a certain craft (job)
join together to get better
conditions/wages
 Must pay dues
 Example - In the movie industry, all
screenwriters join a screenwriters’
union and all actors join an actors’
union.
Industrial/Trade Union
 All workers of a certain industry
join together to get better
conditions/wages
 Must pay dues
 Example- In the movie industry,
ALL screenwriters, actors, and
directors join the Movie Makers’
Union.
Labor Unions
 Video Expectations:
 Listen Actively and Silently
 Write down 3 facts from the
video
 ALL STUDENTS
WORKING!
1. Are private (private
companies) or public
sector (gov’t)
employees unionized
the most?
2. How many educators
and health workers
are unionized?
3. Which category has
the least union
membership? How
many?
4. Which 2 industries
make up the largest
union membership?
What do you think?
Everybody Writes!
Analyze the political cartoon
1. What are the key items in
the cartoon and what do
they represent?
2. Describe the action taking
place in the cartoon.
3. What is the cartoon’s
message?
EXPECTATIONS:
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Enter Silently
Start Immediately
Work Independently
ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
What do you think?
Everybody Writes!
Analyze the political cartoon
1. What are the key items in
the cartoon and what do
they represent?
2. Describe the action taking
place in the cartoon.
3. What is the cartoon’s
message?
EXPECTATIONS:
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Enter Silently
Start Immediately
Work Independently
ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
Negotiations
 Collective Bargaining: union and company
representatives meet to discuss the terms of
the workers’ new contract when the old one
nears the end.
 Focus on wages or salaries,
benefits/insurance, work hours, work rules.
 Life, medical, (insurance)
 If the two sides cannot agree, they may try
mediation
 In some cases they choose arbitration.
Arbitration:
When problem is resolved for you
by a judge.
Ex. Labor disputes
The Law of Arbitration
for the Quarreling Giants
Mediation
:
When a problem is resolve with a
third party present.
Ex. Private disputes –divorce
Collaboration:
to work jointly
with others
 To pressure management to accept their
position, workers can call a strike-all
workers in the union refuse work.
(picketing, boycotts)
 Management can stage a lockoutcompany blocks workers from entering.
Management hopes lost wages will
pressure workers to accept its terms.
Labor vs. Capitalist
 Video Expectations:
 Listen Actively and Silently
 Write down 3 facts from the
video
 ALL STUDENTS
WORKING!
What do you think?
Everybody Writes!
Analyze the political cartoon
1. What issue or event does
the cartoon deal with?
2. Describe the action taking
place in the cartoon.
3. What is the cartoon’s
message?
EXPECTATIONS:




Enter Silently
Start Immediately
Work Independently
ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
The National Labor
Relations Act
 The NLRA: known as the Wagner Act, its authors
intended it as a law to extend democratic rights in the
workplace by guaranteeing workers the rights to
organize and to bargain collectively with their
employers.
 NLRA-The Wagner Act guarantees that workers have
the right to collective bargaining, outlawed company
unions, and listed unfair labor practices. It prohibits
employers from restraining employees in exercising
their rights to form unions, bargain collectively, and
strike.
In a potentially game-changing moment for college athletics, the Chicago district of the
National Labor Relations Board ruled on Wednesday that Northwestern football players
qualify as employees of the university and can unionize.
The NLRB’s regional director cited the players' time commitment to their sport and the fact
that their scholarships were tied directly to their performance on the field as reasons for
granting them union rights. Northwestern's legal team faces a tough battle to get last
Wednesday's well-reasoned ruling overturned on appeal.
The director wrote in his ruling that the players "fall squarely within the [National Labor
Relations] Act's broad definition of 'employee' when one considers the common law
definition of 'employee.'"
The NLRB ruled that the players can hold a vote on whether they want to be represented by
the College Athletes Players Association, which brought the case to the NLRB along.
"I couldn't be more happy and grateful for today's ruling, though it is the ruling we
expected," said the president of both the National College Players Association, a nonprofit
advocacy group that has been around since 2001. "I just have so much respect for the
football players who stood up in unity to take this on. They love their university but they
think it's important to exercise rights under labor law.
"The NCAA invented the term student-athlete to prevent the exact ruling that was made
today. For 60 years, people have bought into the notion (idea) that they are students only.
The reality is players are employees, and today's ruling confirms that. The players are one
giant step closer to justice."
Northwestern issued a statement shortly after the ruling saying it would appeal to the full
NLRB in Washington, D.C. "While we respect the NLRB process and the regional director's
opinion, we disagree with it," the statement read. "Northwestern believes strongly that our
student-athletes are not employees, but students. Unionization and collective bargaining are
not the appropriate methods to address the concerns raised by student-athletes."
Fair Labor Standards Act
 Fair Labor Standards Act or Wages and
Hours Act, establish minimum living
standards for workers engaged directly or
indirectly in interstate commerce. A major
provision of the act was establishment of
a minimum wage, along with a maximum
workweek of 44 hours. Other provisions
banned products of child labor from
interstate commerce.
1. How much do Chinese
make an hour?
2. How much do Indians
people make an hour?
3. How much do Mexicans
make an hour?
4. Based on the graph how
many countries have a
higher minimum wage
than U.S.
5. Which country’s minimum
wage is twice as high as
the U.S.?
6. Do you think the U.S.
should raise its minimum
wage? Why or Why not?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Which part of the
country tends to have
minimum wages higher
than $7.25?
What is North Carolina’s
minimum wage?
Overall what is the
minimum wage in most
U.S. states?
Which part of the county
has no minimum wage
or a wage lower than
the federal minimum
wage?
According to the
Supremacy Clause
what is the wage for
those states listed in
#4?
What do you think?
Everybody Writes!
Analyze the quote?
1. According to President Obama
how has the labor union movement
improved working conditions in the
21st century?
2. Describe the middle-class
workers?
EXPECTATIONS:
 Enter Silently
 Start Immediately
 Work Independently
 ALL STUDENTS WORKING!
What not to do at
work?
 Video Expectations:
 Listen Actively and Silently
 Write down 3 facts from the
video
 ALL STUDENTS
WORKING!
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Blue CollarWhite CollarFair Labor Standards ActCollective BargainingStrikeLockoutArbitrationHuman CapitalLabor UnionsAt will employees –
How does division
of labor and
specialization
affect the
productivity of a
company?
Tell 2 reason for
labor unions
starting in the
1900’s.