1. Organized Labor

2. Key Terms and Main Ideas
LABOR UNION is an organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members.
The union negotiates for all members the WAGE rate, OVERTIME rate, raises and benefits. They strive for safe and comfortable work environments for all members. Most importantly, the outline the instances in which a union employee can be fired from the job.
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING is the process in which union and company representatives meet to negotiate a new labor contract.
BLUE COLLAR WORKER is someone who works in an industrial job, often in manufacturing, and who receives wages.
WHITE COLLAR WORKER is someone in a professional or clerical job who typically earns a salary.
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MEDIATION A settlement technique in which a neutral mediator meets with each side to try and find a solution that both sides will accept.
STRIKE
If an agreement isn’t met between the union and company, the union can ask for a member vote on a strike: an organized work stoppage intended to force an employer to address union demands.
Arbitration: A settlement technique in which a third party reviews the case and imposes a decision that is legally binding for both sides.
Arbitration
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5. Organized Labor Timeline
1935 Wagner Act
1938 John Lewis heads Congress of Industrial Organizations
1970s increase in anti-union measures by employers
1990s Public Sector unions increase, such as a union for teaching assistants
1935, the Wagner Act gave workers the right to organize and required companies to bargain with unions.
1938 AFL splinter group goes independent as CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations, led by John Lewis.
1970s Employers begin a push back against unions
1990s see unions stretch to the public sector
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6. A Decline in Union Members
Right-to-Work law Taft-Hartley Act 1947
Blue collar jobs have declined over the years
Foreign competition sends jobs overseas
Relocation of businesses to areas of low union influence
Right-to-Work Law: Measure that bans mandatory union membership. Taft-Hartley Act Unions are not mandatory.
Less blue collar jobs.
Jobs moving overseas.
More women in workforce.
Moving a business to an area where unions are unpopular or there doesn’t exist a strong union influence.
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Unions Assignment
Research each of the unions listed below and give me a brief overall description of the union including items such as why and how they were formed, how you can join, etc.
AFL-CIO
United Auto Workers
American Federation of Teachers
National Association of Letter Carriers
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
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