were in their infancy and a great deal of human labor was needed in
order to facilitate the mushrooming Industrial Revolution. This quickly
led to widespread abuse of workers, including children, who were often
consigned to sweatshops where they were forced to toil for several hours
a day. However, workers eventually united to form labor unions that
stood up to the big corporations and negotiated better pay and working
conditions for millions of employees and also demanded the passing of
child labor laws.The effectiveness of labor unions, however has always been a source of controversy. Who Do Unions Benefit?Of course, labor unions were created for the benefit of their members. The union represents the workers to the employers and negotiates on their behalf to secure better wages and working conditions. Unions also run the largest non-military job training
service in the country and often partner with organizations such as the
United Way to perform various community services. Research that tracks
the wages of unionized versus non-unionized employees indicates that the
wages of union workers exceed that of non-union employees by about 8 to
12%.
Economic studies have also suggested, however, that much of the
difference in pay and benefits that many union workers enjoy compared to
non-union employees can no longer be attributed to the unions
themselves. Modern union contracts make it more difficult for a company
to fire an unproductive employee, so employers now tend to be much more
selective in whom they hire, which has resulted in an increase in the
quality of the union workforce as a whole. Many unions form for
employers and industries that are larger and more stable financially
because this allows the union to demand better wages and benefits.
Economic ImpactUnions can convince workers to join them as a means of preserving the unions' clout in industries (such as the U.S. auto industry). But history shows that this can cripple an industry, especially over time. Members of the UAW enjoy wages of about $70 an hour, a wage greater than that of many Ph.D. scientists. They also enjoy a whopping seven weeks of vacation per year for unskilled laborers. Foreign automakers came to the U.S. auto market in the 1970s and used non-union workers in the southern states to build vehicles. Due to the savings in labor costs, these foreign automakers could afford to sell their vehicles for less money. This made it much harder for the big three automakers to produce competitive cars at affordable prices for the public, and in 2008 Chrysler and GM were forced to declare bankruptcy.
CorruptionJimmy Hoffa gave millions of dollars of union pension money to the Las Vegas mob in the '60s and '70s, and elements of organized crime can muscle into local labor unions and take jobs and other benefits from working members. Some unions are not above using strongarm tactics to protect their territories, as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union proved in September of 2010 when it attacked a railroad dock terminal, overpowered security
guards and sabotaged trains carrying grain for a company that tried to use a different labor union.
The Bottom LineRegardless of their effectiveness, labor unions have played a major role in workers' rights
and the economies of America and other capitalist countries. Although
some economists say that unions have outlived their usefulness, they
will likely continue to impact our industries and other sectors of the
economy one way or another for decades to come.
9 comments:
Labor unions have shown to be both effective and ineffective in certain situations. its effective when attempting to protect its workers from harsh labor conditions. Yet its ineffective when having employees who are bad workers and deserve to get fired. The union protects them from getting fired even if their output on the job isn't sufficient. Overall this creates a problem for companies in which they are paying employees a lot of money and not getting the same output in their businesses. it also raises prices of the goods and makes it more difficult for people to afford the goods.
I feel that Labor Unions are effective. Not only is wages set and skilled workers are hired but the quality of life for the workers are also better. People have a sense of security in better working conditions, better pay and even health insurance. With the information provided it was stated that unionized workers made between 8-12% higher wages than non-unionized. With anything good there will always be bad. Yes organized crime can play into Labor Unions which was actually the Mob’s strongpoint when dealing with Unions such as the Teamsters, prices of products are cheaper since wages are lower but it can cause damage to our economy and businesses. In 2008 GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy strictly thanks to foreign automakers that were non-unionized. For the most part, the good outweighs the bad. Standard of living is higher with Unionized workers and with the skills required to do these jobs it allows better quality products.
I feel that labor unions are effective in giving people in the labor force better conditions and greater benefits. I think without them, it would be difficult for workers to demand standards from their employers. Being apart of a labor union allows an individual to work without the threat of getting fired and allows them to find comfort in owning a health insurance plan as well as an established wage. However, there is always a possibility that labor unions can reach corruption. Overall, I believe they are beneficial to workers and are effective in getting skilled workers to get the job done.
Labor unions are effective when it comes to providing their services in protecting workers from harsh working conditions, and low wages. Without labor unions companies might take advantage of their workers just how they did in the past because there would be no regulation. However, labor unions are not efficient when it comes to getting rid of their unskilled, and unproductive workers. Companies are restrained from firing those workers because they are backed up by unions and they fear a potential strike because when workers go on strike is harms the companies profit.
I believe labor unions were much more important when they first came to be during the Industrial Rev. During this time, capitalists often took advantage of their labor force and viewed them as a commodity as opposed to human beings. This often led to poor working conditions and low wages. In modern U.S. society, it seems to me that labor unions have become more corrupt than effective. As the author of this article touched on, it is nearly impossible to terminate ineffective employees. This puts employers in a situation where they are committed to workers who may not be pulling their weight, yet they still receive the same benefits and wages as workers who truly deserve their positions. Finally this fallacy seems to promote foreign production who do not need to be partial to the unions. The unintentional favoring of foreign production can be devastating on a domestic level (i.e. General Motors)
Labor Unions Effective? Sure, they were back in 20th century when uneducated people and kids were “used” as cheap labor to benefit big businesses. Without doubt unions improved working conditions and wages for thousands of its workers throughout the years. Comprehensive insurance coverage for families, competitive wages and sense of security makes people want to work only in the unions. However, today unions are just bumping up the costs of many projects due to higher wages of its employees than in private sector. Productivity of union workers decreased than those working in the privet sector. Individuals working in the privet sector have to improve their skills constantly in order to keep a job or get a rise , whereas union workers are not working as much and as hard and being slower and much less productive are getting far better benefits than most of other people in the same trades. Overall, unions are effective to certain extant but they should be more regulated and bring the skill level up so only well trained workers with right skills are working in the unions.
I don’t think labor unions are effective. People will work hard till they get into the union then once they’re in some will take advantage of being covered by the union. It’s bad because the people who keep working hard can tell when the others slack because they know they can’t be fired for poor performance. My father has recently gotten a new job where there are union workers and he can tell a huge difference between the non-union members and the union members.
Unions were very effective in the 20th century, and now they are still very useful but not nearly as much. I worked in union over the summer and it was a great experience, but do some people take advantage sure, but that doesn't mean every worker in the union does. Most, if not all of the men I worked with were very hard working individuals and did their jobs very very well. We need unions otherwise big businesses would take advantage of their workers. This by no means is saying a worker shouldn't get fired for working poorly, because I am a firm believer in working hard and working to your full capability.
I believe that unions are effective and ineffective. I feel they are effective because they help those employees in the union have a sense of security. It helps them with working conditions and also better wages. But they are also ineffective because I've heard many stories who use unions in all the wrong ways. For example, when they enter the union workers decide to slack off and not work as hard as they would normally. So I believe unions should be used sparingly depending on the work at hand.
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