Union Workers Research Paper

Labor unions are an organized association of employees who come together who would all like to better the relationship with their employer. They have power to impact things such as wages, job training and other work related issues. So why would employees want to start and organize a union? Well, one reason employees would want to start a union it’s usually because employees are dissatisfied with something in their job and they would like to fix it. The ‘things’ they would like to fix could range from something as basic as wages and to job security (Hunter 1).

An advantage of being a union member is that the union helps in setting the standard for higher wages, better benefits and improved working conditions for workers through a collective bargaining agreement contract. Workers work together with their union steward who negotiates workplace matters with their employer. When a tentative agreement is met, the bargaining unit, that was nominated by a few of the coworkers, vote for or against the contract. Some of the things negotiated on in the contract are salary, benefits, grievance procedures, dues collection and time

The document outlines the pros and cons of labor unions in America. The analysis takes into consideration how unions have improved the working environments for workers, and may continue to do so. The paper considers the power of unions for net social benefit, including the role they play in lobbying lawmakers, using collective bargaining to advocate for employees, and the prevention of abuse and discrimination. The cons of labor unions are also addressed. These drawbacks to labor unions include but are not limited to: decline in competitive advantage for American companies, corruption, potential decrease in productivity, possible reduction in employee motivation, and increased inefficiencies.

Organized labor affects the lives of many citizens everyday, often in a roundabout way. Labor Unions affect many different people from blue-collar workers to white-collar workers, stay-at-home moms, students, and retirees. Fewer; however realize the legal role Labor Unions have played and continue to play in the financial system, political affairs, and society in general. In today's society, more of our skilled hourly and unskilled workers belong to some sort of Labor Union and that is a good sign that Unions will not face extinction. As long as there is a need for higher wages, there will be a need for Unions.

The unions of yesterday have left the public feeling fearful of what might happen in the future. Will history repeat itself? Will employees be deceived through the mighty power of Labor Unions? Promoting benefits of unionized labor is one approach to regaining the trust of the public. Benefits include medical aid, heath insurance, worker compensation and overall respect of employees in the workplace. I feel with these measures taken Labor unions will once again reach the productivity that it once had pre-WWII.

Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).

Not only are there benefits for employees, but the employers themselves receive many advantages as well. The best benefits that employers receive is employee satisfaction. When being a part of a union needs and wants are met allowing people to become more satisfied with their job, with that satisfaction employees will be more willing to work harder for you. Not only will employees be willing to work harder for you, but you will also have less people leave their jobs or the ability to lose their say and position in the organization. With less turnovers of employees as a

Unions do provide a lot of good services to its members, such as higher wages, better hours, more benefits, and safer working conditions. There is a price to pay for these services, though. Every union requires its members to pay dues, whether they are in the form of a percentage of each paycheck, or a flat rate. The money form dues goes towards lobbying politicians to pass union-friendly legislation, or better labor laws. The money also finances officers in the union organization, who are the ones calling the shots, as far as labor negotiations are concerned.

Labor union organizations have helped enforce several workers rights from sexual discrimination to age discrimination. The AFL-CIO is very adamant about the following: people who want to work should have a job with a living wage, workers are proud of their work and should have the chance to do it right, workers should enjoy the freedom to form a union and bargain collectively, and want to contribute to, and share in, building a world-class economy (AFL-CIO, n.d.). Unions are still very much a part of the current work force and people are serious about their jobs and well being.

As everything in this world has both positive and negative sides, labor unions are not an exception. There are workers who support them and only want to be union members and others who are completely against them. I believe it depends on your profession, the company you work for and the state you live in. We base our decisions on what is better for us in a particular situation. A friend of mine is a nurse in one of Brooklyn’s Community Hospitals belonging to 1199SEIU union. On my question if she would rather be a member of a union or not, she stopped whatever she was doing, looked at me and said: “It is like having a private spa in your apartment and never going there.” Her analogy was rather vivid and made me realize it is actually worth it to be a union member.

What the union can do to help labor is to increase pay, help fix or get improvements in working conditions, or increase benefits, like vacation time, health benefits, etc. For example, according to Walters & Mishel, “unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation” (2003). So unions play a pivotal role in taking our issues as workers and taking those issues to management to represent us. Some of the advantages of forming a union is job security since termination of an employee has to

The labor union movement over the years has shaped the way individuals work and live for both the nicest and unpleasant. Some would think the unions influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In today’s time, some citizens insist the existence of unions are a must to aid in employee freedom, while others view the labor unions as just another problem in the line of progress. The purpose of labor unions was for employed workers to come together and collectively agree on fundamental workplace objectives. The rise of the union came about after the Civil War- responding to the industrial economy. Surprisingly at the least unions became popular within the 1930-50’s and began to slowly decrease,

First, joining the union can help workers receive more benefits. On average, union workers are more likely to enjoy more benefits compared to non-union employees. This can include health insurance, retirement accounts, and paid sick leave. Also, the union tends to raise the average pay wage rate for its members. However, researched studies have found that unions only raise wages for their members by raising prices and reducing job opportunities for non-union workers. This leads to me deciding if I am pro-union or anti-union. Both sides can be debatable, but from what I understand I would be pro-union. I believe the union can provide workers more benefits and opportunities. The union would help secure my job too. As I said earlier, it has been studied that individuals who are part of the union receive higher wages. I want to be on the side that earns more money. Also, retirement accounts are very important to me. I strongly believe that a company should help employees plan for retirement. The reason retirement plans are important to me is because I can see how it has helped my family members. They continue to receive checks in the mail because they joined the

Being a part of a working union comes with a lot of benefits, for example, most workers that belong to a union have a better set wage than those who do not. Also, “Some 93% of unionized workers were entitled to medical benefits compared to 69% of their nonunion peers” (The pros of Joining a Labor Union). Union workers are not easily fired, they have a lot

Though, unions are declining, the role of union have evolved over time. Now, it is more common to view unions’ primary role as collective bargaining, which is the product of the economic decision and making process with unionism of the private sector. A long time ago, Union was seen as the shield that protects American workers against some of the abusive employers. Many public sector employees have unionized. However, the National Labor Relations Act was designed for the private sector. Despite that, union has become a model for most public sector collective bargaining right. Regardless of the success that Unions have with collective bargaining in the private sector, there are still a few who are opposed collective bargaining in the public sector. Of course, there are some differences between the public and private sectors.