Why do Labor Unions still exist?

Question

In a time of codified labor laws nationwide why do we still have labor unions in the United States? What is thier purpose? Why have they declined to update their role in the manager - employee relationship?

Answer 1

Yes. They are EVERYWHERE in places like NY. They insure a pension fund and that the workers get too many breaks.

Answer 2

Good question. I don't think that a look at nationwide labor laws would impress anybody. Taft Hartley basically set back the labor movement forever. If you think the gov't likes workers, look back at Reagon's whoesale firing of air traffic controllers. Workers need unions, still. On the other hand, I agree that unions have shot themselves in the foot for not working with companies to adjust down as well as up. It's just that when you work so hard for something, it'as hard to give it up. Remember that every important thing that workers have gained from the big companies nationwide has resulted from strikes where workers have been killed by police, and even the military working on behalf of industry. If you think that companies just naturally want to pay their workers a living wage and provide reasonable working conditions, you live in a dream world. Check out working conditions in many American factories overseas. Kids work cheap!

Answer 3

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RE:
Why do Labor Unions still exist?
In a time of codified labor laws nationwide why do we still have labor unions in the United States? What is thier purpose? Why have they declined to update their role in the manager - employee relationship?

Answer 4

Labor Unions are designed to help people get paid the most money while getting by with doing the least amount of work both in production and quality.

Hey...like it or not, that's just what I've seen as I've worked with the Teamsters and was disgusted by them.

Answer 5

Many people today believe that the labor movement has outlived its usefulness -- that it had a valuable role to play in the first half of the 20th century but is now irrelevant, an anachronism.

My colleagues at the business school, for instance, describe unions as "dinosaurs" and as support of that idea note that their influence and power are waning.

It's true that the proportion of the national workforce represented by unions has fallen steadily over the last 25 years. And as the economy struggles and health costs continue to skyrocket, employers — even many of those earning healthy profits — do hold the upper hand in contract negotiations and are demanding wage freezes, cuts in benefits and other concessions from workers.

But those critics forecasting the demise of the labor movement are indulging in wishful thinking. Their arguments are the same ones that were in vogue in the 1920s, just prior to a half-century in which the union movement won unprecedented gains for its members and helped shape the nation's economic and political landscape.

The fact is, unions continue to play a critical role in our society — and one that extends well beyond the 16 million people who pay dues.

Today, for instance, two major strikes are underway in the Los Angeles area, involving public transit workers and supermarket workers. Both strikes reflect the ongoing struggle over health-care benefits for workers, and both are having a significant effect on life in the city.

Unions exist to serve as a countervailing force against employers — whether those employers are government agencies, corporations or not-for- profits. Unions participate through the collective bargaining process in decisions regarding compensation and benefits, working conditions and job security. Almost always, the result is higher pay and better benefits, safer working conditions and greater job security for their members, just as it has been throughout the history of the labor movement.

But union victories are also victories for those workers not covered by a union contract. This is because nonunion employers often match what's been won by unionized employers in the same industry.

Economists call this phenomenon the "union threat effect" because employers offer these improvements in order to lower the chances that their workers will organize.

The union threat effect expands the influence of unions well beyond the 14.6% of the workforce represented by unions nationally (in California, 18.9% of the workforce is unionized). And evidence suggests that not only are the wages and salaries of nonunion workers often higher than they would be without the presence of unions in their communities, but many of the benefits they take for granted were introduced into workplaces only because of the efforts of unions.

Answer 6

REPUBLICANS have helped to promote the CORPORATE CULTURE which in turn has has promoted a false set of virtues that exist as part of MANAGEMENT. That culture has made it acceptable to downplay the role of workers especially if they are organized. This is simply ignorance of the importance of organized groups in the macro sence.

Answer 7

To allow unskilled workers the ability to earn more than the minimum wage.

Answer 8

for there own benefit