Teachers Union History

Successful strike of the American Railway Union against powerful companies such as the Great Northern Railway inspired numerous wildcat strikes and participation into unions (Ginger). After organizing ARU, Debs led his first strike against the Great Northern Railway, demanding a rollback of recent wage cuts (Reitano). By efficiently unifying all classes of employees, ARU achieved most of their requests (Reitano). Those Great victories, unlike previously failed strikes, motivated other workers to fight for their rights, launching multiple wildcat strikes (Ginger). Furthermore, American labor activists who saw the great success adopted the ideas of industrial union, establishing labor unions nationwide (Ginger). Additionally, the ARU itself became the largest industrial union in the country, accepting railway workers of various places (Ginger). Therefore, the success of the American Railway Union’s strike under Debs’s leadership initiated the growth of labor movements in America, significantly improving the workers’

Weingarten, Randi. "Why unions must keep up the fight." American Educator, vol. 39, no. 22015, p. 1. Opposing Viewpoints In Context,

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

During the Progressive Era of the Gilded Age, many laborers were being mistreated by the companies that they worked for. Because of this, workers started forming labor unions or organized association of workers, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Many of these labor unions failed, while few of them achieved their goals and still exist today. Many factors contributed to the failure of these labor unions. The labor unions were given a bad image, the reason for this was the media, and they did this by publishing articles depicting the unions as violent, communist groups. The government supported big business during this time, since the government had a lot of power; this was a huge setback in the labor unions’ battles.

After the Civil War, many ideologies developed into the United States of America. Some of these ideologies included the free labor ideology and the producerist ideology. Free labor endorsed the belief that by removing slavery, or any other kind of barrier, everyone had an equal chance to try to get wealth (Farless). The producerist ideology tried to stay to the customary view of society and it stressed the importance of viewing the community instead of an individual (Farless). With these two ideologies, they had an impact on labor. By believing in the producerist ideology, people would be staying with tradition, and that leaves no change for our world. Many laborers wanted change, which led to problems for the laborers.

Individuals have been at work for thousands and thousands of years. Over the last century there have been many changes in the United States that protects workers in their positions and the duties they perform. There has been many changes for employers as well that protects companies and organization and offers beneficial information to keep them in compliance with changes and away from any from and form of discrimination. Over the last century there has been the organization of Unions (Bargaining Unit) in which are to protect workers in their positions, give them fair marketable pay and be the liaison between the employer and employee. Union organizations represent employees and negotiate contracts that

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 past 30 years have been gloomy ones for the labor movement. In the American private sector trade-union membership has fallen from a third in 1979 to just 7% today. There is an exception to this story of decline: public unions in America has strengthened over the same period from 11% to 36%. There are now more American workers in unions in the public sector (7.6m) than in the private sector (7.1m), although the private sector employs five times as many people. This private-public move has changed the trade union movement. In the 1950s unions were steady working class, men who had left school at 16 and inclined to go left on economics but right on social issues. Today they are much more middle-class: more than a quarter of American unionists

Organized labor has seen a long and ever changing history in the United States. What began as minimal organized labor movement catapulted into astronomical union membership rates as the nation grew and developed. The intense power unions possessed only lasted so long and in the years since 1970, union membership in the United States has collapsed. This paper will examine the most significant reasons for the decline in membership. In brief, organizational redesigns, the development of technology and substantial public policy changes have all contributed to the drop in affiliation rates. In addition, policy suggestions will be provided in an attempt to support the continuation of the trend. Much of the research regarding this topic refers to

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.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Strike in 2012 affected every single Chicago Public School and their Students in 2012. The strike affected about 600 public schools which is over 350, 000 students. The CTU began negotiating their contract with CPS in November of 2011, but their demands were not met. Since the negotiating did not solve the issue, the Chicago Teachers Union chose to organize a strike for the first time in Chicago in 25 years.

The NEA and the AFT represent millions of teachers throughout the country. Moe indicates that teachers unions are known has political powerhouses which contribute millions of dollars to campaign contributions and lobbying. Fortune Magazine has consistently ranked National Education Association in the top 15 of its Washington Power 25 list for influence in the nation’s capital. The American Federation of Teachers along with the National Education Association has given more than $60 million combined in campaign contributions over the last 20 years (Moe 267). Ballot initiatives that are created in to order to begin school reform usually are defeated because their huge sums of moneys that come from these unions in order to defeat a ballot that can jeopardize a teacher’s job. Let’s keep in mind that unions are designed to protect the interest of the teachers, unions are not designed to help the interest of children. The unions use this money mostly to demand special interest for the teachers, such as imposing a structure at the workplace giving teacher’s rights and restricting managerial control. Teacher unions are by far the most powerful forces in American education and use their power to promote their own special interests at any expense.

A union is an organization of workers who join together in order to have a voice in improving their jobs and the quality of work within the organization. In many occasions, unions help employees of an organization negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours and other work conditions that may arise. Unions have a role because some degree of conflict is inevitable between workers and management (Noe, 2003). In this paper, I will be discussing the impact of unions and labor relations within an organization.

     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.

Teacher Unions have evolved over time and have been essential in education equality and reform. Some now question the motivation behind these unions and whether or not they are now a barrier to reform, rather than a assistant. This paper will explore the evolvement of not only Teacher Unions, but the purpose and motivation behind said unions. Two of the most predominately known unions are American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association, NEA.