How Does The Labor Movement Affect The Middle Class

Throughout history many people, such as politicians, officials, and generals, have been noted to have molded the United States, neglecting the fact that workers have also played an important role in shaping this nation’s history. During the 1870s to the 1930s, laborers faced many hardships; they had trouble keeping their jobs, had their wages decreased, and were forced to work sixty-hour weeks without insurance. Over time, workers began to feel aggravated by their employers’ demands and began to voice their opinions. Only by forming into unions and standing up to what employers’ thought was “freedom” in the workplace were the laborers able to change working conditions more favorable for them.

Unions in America today have grown smaller and smaller in the past 30 years. There are many reasons for this. The major one is that industries in other countries that are non-union have much cheaper labor costs, and therefore can offer products and materials at a much lower price than our US union-run, high wage cost factories. “During the 1970s and 1980s, a fifth of large unionized companies in the United States went bankrupt, unable to compete against companies with lower wage costs.” (Rachman, 308)

The shift in organized labor in the United States (U.S.) from the private sector to the public sector has been a dramatic one. Union growth in the American public sector is part of a 60-year trend fueled by the decline of labor power in the private sector (Norcross, 2011). In 2009, union membership in the public sector passed that in the private sector for the first time in U.S. history

The labor Union movement played a big impact during the late 1800’s that we as American’s have benefitted from still to this day. The idea is basic: better working conditions, better compensation for the work being done. Up to this timeframe, farming was a primary source of subsistence as well as finance for many typical American households. However as the Country grew and industry began it’s reign on the American economy, many of these former farmers and their children took to working for a salary. Unfortunately, as seems to be a trend within history, the people that control the money tend to treat their employees with little regard until someone steps in to speak up for these workers.

The labor relations movement has been one of the most successful driving forces behind such efforts as: providing aid to workers who were injured or retired, better health benefits and to stop the practice of child labor in the workforce. Ostensibly, unions in the United States arose out of the need to better protect the “common interests” of laborers. Today, many of the social movements and alliances forged are created under the guise to better protect the employer from a plethora of interests made against the organization, rather than, increasing wages, improving reasonable employment hours and/or enhancing work conditions.

While a labor political party could provide broader support for union members, it would not focus on the primary concerns of labor members: wages, benefits, and working conditions (Fossum, 2012, p. 28). While some believe establishment of a labor political party would benefit the labor movement more than either the Republican or Democratic parties, the reality has never resulted in an effective national labor political movement (Levitt, 1955). Even national union efforts have not been entirely effective over time: the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the merged AFL-CIO, and now the Change to Win coalition (Colorado State University-Global Campus, 2014).

During the Civil War, many unions became synonymous with strikes, promoting workers to strike for better wages and a decent way of living. However, this act encouraged employers to unify against poor workers and to penalize those that tried to start strikes. By the time that the Civil War would end, the interactions between companies and laborers would leave negative connotations over the heads of union leaders as rebels that slowed production during a trying time in the history of the United States (Paludan, 196). While unions were able to have influence on the local level of politics, by the end of the Civil War, unions would not be able to reach a national audience. Instead, the war offered the groundwork to organize into a strong movement where workers and industrial manufactures would be able to civilly interact with each other while trying to reach common ground between the owners and the workers of a manufacturing

The difference of income and workers conditions has been a timeless conflict present throughout history of the United States. In the past workers were faced with deadly work conditions and around the clock hours for little pay. These unjust conditions dramatically increased during the Industrial Revolutions that the United States experienced in the nineteenth century. The latter period of industrialization produced the organization of the first labor unions in the Country, namely the Knights of Labor established in 1869 and the American Federation of Labor established in 1886. In present day countless unions exist, and are a lot less needed than they were in the early industrial days of the United States (Brinkley, 2012).

Change can be seen as a scary idea, but when looking back on American history, change has proven to be significantly helpful to aide the country into a better lifestyle. American reformation has been romanticized throughout history books as changes that have strongly impacted the country. The US has gone through many reformations such as Abolition, Women's Suffrage, Temperance, Religion, and Labor. Although each reformation movement was helpful to America, the Labor movement has impacted the US the most and has been the most successful. Labor had the biggest impact on American society because it led to better living environments for children, women, and immigrants.

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,

The rise of capitalism as the dominant economic system in the United States made the rise of unions inevitable; given the natural division between those with capital that control the means of production, and labor, who is treated simply as another factor of production (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008). While labor unions have made significant improvements to the working environment, with the regulation of safety, environment, labor and wage; labor unions have also contributed to the decline of U.S. dominance in industries like steel, automotive, education and airlines. In today’s global economy, can labor unions continue to be a force for good in the United States, or have they become harmful institutions?

The great depression brought unemployment levels up to nearly 25%(Carter, 2017). Beyond this, employers were keen to discriminate or terminate any workers attempting to join a union or otherwise organize since this would hurt the employer’s bottom line and ultimately require them to improve working conditions and benefits. Since the passage of the Wagner act and the 82 years after, unions and labor issues have changed quite drastically. Today’s workers are concerned with income inequality, the power that corporations have over law making policy versus the average worker, and advanced robotics making many entry level jobs obsolete (Kumar, 2015). Another issue plaguing workers is the speed at which inflation and prices for goods has increased compared to the slow crawl that wages have increased

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).

     The past of Unions is indisputable; however, the outlook can be altered to form a promising future. The reversal of history can be done through reconstruction and restatement of workers rights. A reestablishment of worker liberties should be considered in order to clarify any confusion in which present and prospective employees are faced with. Unions are notorious for being tyrannical and inconsiderate towards employees and thus union heads should confront this issue head on and give workers a voice (i.e. vote). In order to regain union strength in today’s society I believe Unions must give workers honorable rights and a democratic right to be heard.

Since the beginnings of industrialization in the United States, a struggle between the rights of individuals working in industry and manufacturing and the desire of the ownership of these endeavors to maximize profits has raged. As various eras in history passed, labor movements in the United States met with varying degrees of success. The fortunes of labor movements in the United States has ebbed and flowed along with other key factors in American society. In times when human rights and the rights of the individual were national priorities, the labor movement prospered, in times where businesses and profitability were the priority, the labor movement faltered.