Beginning or End of Unions

Beginning or End of Unions

HRM 330 Labor Relations

Professor Morris

December 12, 2012

In the earliest days of labor unions, working people had a great and unmet need to protect themselves from the exploitation of their employers. During the early 1900s there were no guidelines, rules, or laws governing employment practices. Unions were largely responsible for the positive changes in the workplace, and for that reason, among others, they may no longer be relevant in our society. Today, we have shifted from a country that makes products to a country that primarily sells products. Those in the service industries are struggling to have more than a part time job, or two, or three, due to the tendency of those service industries to primarily staff part time workers. While these workers may be making above minimum wage, they are still struggling to make ends meet. When salaries are suppressed and low, our nations economy suffers, and a stagnant economy can often result in layoffs and even higher unemployment. Unions, however, are not returning to popularity, even with a fiscal cliff within sight.

Labor unions were at their height in the 1950s. The workforce at the time was comprised of the GI generation, and the Silent generation, with Baby Boomers just entering employment (2004). Before the changes championed by labor unions, children were working in factories, the workweek was 54 hours long, wages were low, and work environments were sometimes unsafe. By the 1950s, consumers were purchasing cars, televisions, and having children. Workers wanted to stay at the companies they began their career life with. There were great incentives to do so, such as job security, cost of living raises, pension plans, and retiree health insurance (“Labor in the 1950s,” 2001). As Americans enjoyed the prosperity that unions had been instrumental in providing, union popularity of the organizations themselves began a decline. The American Federation of Labor created...