Trade union and labor rights - position

Question 1

What are Trade Unions?

Answer 1

An association of workers in a trade formed to protect their rights and interests.

Question 2

What is Labour?

Answer 2

The workforce, as opposed to the employer or owners of a factory.

Question 3

What is mediation?

Answer 3

Negotiations between employers and employees to resolve disputes and reach a settlement.

Question 4

What is capitalism?

Answer 4

An economic system based on private enterprise, rather than state control, of the economy.

Question 5

What is collective bargaining?

Answer 5

Worker’s representatives join together and negotiate over issues such as pay and conditions.

Question 6

What were the issues around the position of union and labor rights?

Answer 6

The right for unions to exist.
Recognition of unions.
The involvement of unions in negotiations over pay and working conditions.
The establishment of systems for mediation.
The freedom of workers to withdraw their labour without fear of punishment.

Question 7

What are the pros of union membership?

Answer 7

Better pay - more money to spend - stimulates the economy.
Better job satisfaction, from better pay, conditions and protection of rights, increases the work rate, and less sick days overall.
Better communication between employers and employees.
Maternity and paternity leave.

Question 8

What are the cons of union membership?

Answer 8

Less profit, leads to higher prices, so the economy could constrict.
Increased unemployment.
Strained relations - increased strikes.
Less tax - less government spending.

Question 9

What were the problems with labour up to 1914?

Answer 9

The unions that did exist in 1865 only represented skilled workers in craft industries, but the USA was undergoing rapid industrialisation, so many new workers were excluded - limiting numbers, and their representation and protection.
Employers hired unskilled workers under contracts so they could be laid off.

Question 10

What were the problems with labour up to 1914 - health?

Answer 10

There were limited safety precautions, and no health and safety standards, as this would reduce profits through more supervision.
There was no support to those who suffered industrial injuries.

Question 11

What were early unions?

Answer 11

The Knights of Labor, who had a membership of 20,000 in 1881 to 700,000 by 1886.
The American Federation of Labor replaced it and attempted to unite unions, so it had 2 million members in 1914.

Question 12

How did the Haymarket Affair affect unions?

Answer 12

The violence caused the collapse of the reputation of KOL, and membership fell to 100,000.
The Industrial Workers of the World was established in 1905, but was less effective.

Question 13

What was the Wobblies?

Answer 13

The Industrial Workers of the World was established in 1905.
Its militancy and violence meant it was disliked by employers, so not very effective.
It had 100,000 members in 1923 but this declined.

Question 14

What were the divisions in the workforce?

Answer 14

White workers no longer enjoyed a monopoly of the market due to the arrival of ex-African American slaves.
Most accepted lower rates of pay, so employers exploited this and fired white workers.
New immigrants from Europe and Asia added to the available pool of workers.
Unions saw these as a threat and refused them to join unions - further limiting their ability to exert pressure on employers.

Question 15

What progress was there up to WW1?

Answer 15

Little advancement in rights.
But union membership had grown to over 2 million members.
Unions had begun to pressurise candidates in elections to support worker’s rights.

Question 16

What examples of no progress up to WW1 is there?

Answer 16

Unions represented only 20% of the non-agricultural workforce.
Many industries did not have unions.
Many unions were not legally recognised and so lacked power over negotiations.
Workers were divided by gender, skill and ethnicity.
The gains made were often limited to white, skilled males.

Question 17

What happened in the first world war?

Answer 17

The position of workers and unions improved.
There was increased demand for products - textiles for uniforms, steel for weapons - so more opportunity to increase profits.
Employers were more willing to make concessions to the workers.

Question 18

What happened in the first world war - NWLB?

Answer 18

The government negotiated with unions through the National War Labor Board to maintain production levels.
This limited working hours to 8, but in return, workers signed no-strike policies.

Question 19

What is the boom of the 1920s?

Answer 19

This saw a rise in real wages and a fall in unemployment.
Employees were offered benefits like reduced working hours, pensions, insurance.
This was usually in return for no-strike agreements and no negotiations over wages.
Employers didn’t want the workers to take advantage of the low rates to demand more.
Some company unions were set up - loss of independence or union membership.

Question 20

What did Henry Ford do in the 1920s?

Answer 20

Many employers including Ford refused to recognise unions.
He exerted tight control over the workforce, and only until 1941 did he recognise any union.

Question 21

What were the rights of the Pullman Company porters?

Answer 21

Many were African Americans who:
Had poor working conditions.
Relied on tips for most of their income.
Promotion was denied to non-whites.
The company prevented any efforts to organise unions, they sacked leaders and sometimes assaulted.

Question 22

What did the Pullman Company porters do?

Answer 22

They set up the Brotherhood of sleeping car porters (BSCP) union, under Randolph.
The company banned their meetings and did not recognise it in 1928.
BSCP only gained recognition in 1935 after Roosevelt passed the Railway Labor Act in 1934.

Question 23

What is the Great Depression?

Answer 23

It began with the Wall Street Crash in 1929.
High unemployment meant rights suffered as employers could exploit the weak position of workers.
They took tough action against strikers.
Union membership fell, as not being able to strike undermined the position and strength.

Question 24

What is the New Deal?

Answer 24

In 1933, Roosevelt introduced a range of legislation that benefitted the Labor movement and tackled the economic problems.
NIRA, Wagner Act, Fair Labor Standards Act were passed with varying success.

Question 25

What is the NIRA?

Answer 25

National Industry Recovery Act encouraged firms to agree to codes that improved hours, wages and union rights.
It let workers organise unions and collective bargain.
The effects were limited as not all employers signed the code and the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional 2 years later.

Question 26

What is the Wagner Act 1935?

Answer 26

It established the National Labor Relations Board, which could negotiate for worker.
Workers were given the right to elect their own representatives for collective bargaining and the right to join unions.
It led to the rapid rising of membership from 3.7 million in 1933 to 9 million in 1938.
This Act was deemed constitutional.

Question 27

Did companies resist the Wagner Act?

Answer 27

The increasing number of unionised workers increased their power.
Some firms resisted, but were soon forced to accept the change in circumstances.
The Steel Workers Organising Committee was recognised in 1937.

Question 28

What is the Fair Labor Standards Act 1939?

Answer 28

It set the minimum wage.
Overtime must be 1.5 x regular pay.
Children under 16 cannot work during school hours.

Question 29

What are the limitations of New Deal legislation?

Answer 29

Many unskilled workers had no rights so many in mass-production still lacked the gains.
Those at the low end of pay, the most in need of protection, did not benefit.
African Americans, immigrants, women.
Agricultural workers were not allowed to join unions.

Question 30

What is the Second World War?

Answer 30

Wages increased by 70%.
Unemployment fell so far that there was almost a labor shortage.
Union membership grew from 9 million in 1938 to 15 million in 1944.
The position of unions had increased considerably.
But many employers were unwilling to see this as permanent.

Question 31

What is the post-WW2 period?

Answer 31

There was a large number of strikes, leading to a decline in the position of unions.
Many in politics believed unions had become too powerful under Roosevelt.
The Taft Hartley Act limited their power.
The decline in number of blue-collar workers meant fewer workers joining unions.

Question 32

Why did membership fall in the 50s?

Answer 32

Many new jobs were in government who signed no-strike agreements.
Many workers were so much better off, gaining paid holidays, healthcare, pensions, and pay rises, so were less interested in unions.

Question 33

What is the legislation of the 1960s?

Answer 33

Kennedy passed the Equal pay act in 1963, giving men and women equal pay for equal work.
Johnson’s great society benefited those on the poverty line.
The civil rights act 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, religion or sex.
The economic opportunity act protected those over 40.

Question 34

What is the union merge?

Answer 34

The AFL and CIO merged in 1955, bringing together 85% of members, and had more influence with 16 million members.
They could bargain over conditions, wages, insurance, paid holidays and pensions, and unemployment insurance.

Question 35

Why did African Americans not benefit in the 60s?

Answer 35

There was increased attraction for unions, and they often had 20% higher wages.
But AAs position decreased due to the increased demand for skilled workers.
AAs lacked the necessary education from living in poverty.

Question 36

Who is Cesar Chavez?

Answer 36

Farmworkers had not previously gained.
The merging of AWOC and NFWA, founded by Chavez, in 1966, joined to become the UFW union in 1972.
Non-violence and a moral cause won them national sympathy.

Question 37

What is the Salad Bowl strike?

Answer 37

The largest farmworker strike yet, in the 1970s.
It won higher wages for lettuce and grape growers.

Question 38

How were unions attacked in the 1980s and 90s?

Answer 38

Both the government and employers opposed them.
Divisions within unions weakened their position.
The decline in factories and businesses meant it was more difficult to organise workers, and recruit them to unions.
Workers improvements made them see no gain in union activity.
There was an increase in women and white collar workers who less joined unions.

Question 39

What is the overall impact of workers from 1865 to 1992?

Answer 39

Workers had the right to join unions, but there were non-union firms.
Right to collective bargaining, though the threat of unemployment weakened this.
To strike, though some were forbidden or signed no-strike agreements.
African Americans and Hispanics did not benefit.