1 / 21

American Labor

American Labor. The Labor Force . Who is in the Labor Force? 16 years or older working looking for work Who is not in the Labor Force? military institutionalized or disabled those who don’t work. Labor Force – Facts and Figures. 146 million persons (2003) About half of the population

jalen
Download Presentation

American Labor

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. American Labor

  2. The Labor Force • Who is in the Labor Force? • 16 years or older • working • looking for work • Who is not in the Labor Force? • military • institutionalized or disabled • those who don’t work

  3. Labor Force – Facts and Figures • 146 million persons (2003) • About half of the population • 13.2 % in unions • Another 1.4% represented by unions

  4. Labor Unions Past, Present, and Future

  5. Highlights from History • Craft Unions – skilled workers who perform same work • Knights of Labor-1869 • First national union of all types of workers • Haymarket Riot of 1886 • American Federation of Labor - 1886 • Association of craft unions • Opposition • Danbury Hatters Case • The New Deal • Congress of Industrial Organizations • Split off of AFL • AFL-CIO - 1955

  6. Major Legislation • Norris-LaGuardia Act – 1932 • Prevented courts from rulings against unions engaged in peaceful activities • Wagner Act - 1935 - National Labor Relations Act • Established right of collective bargaining • NLRB policed unfair labor practices • Fair Labor Standards Act – 1938 • First minimum wage, work-week law • Prohibited oppressive child labor

  7. Major Legislation • Taft-Hartley Act – 1947 • Outlawed closed shop • Limited union activities in disputes • 80 day cooling off period to delay a strike • Allowed States to pass right-to-work laws • Landrum-Griffin Act – 1959 • Regulated the finances of unions • Right-to-work Laws

  8. Types of Union Arrangements • Closed Shop • Only union members will be hired • Union Shop • Worker must join union after being hired and remain a member • Modified Union Shop • Worker my voluntarily join union but must remain a member • Agency Shop • Don’t have to join but have to pay dues

  9. Basic Aims of Unions • Higher wages • Shorter hours • Union shop • Check-off • Union label • Job security • Fringe benefits • Grievance machinery

  10. Collective Bargaining • Achieving recognition • Negotiating the contract • Local bargaining • Pattern bargaining • Industry bargaining

  11. Peaceful Settlements • Mediation • Arbitration • Fact-finding • Injunction and Seizure • Presidential Intervention

  12. Management tactics lockouts injunctions strikebreakers political activity public relations Union tactics strike picketing boycott slowdown political action When Bargaining Fails

  13. Catagories of Workers • Unskilled Labor • Semiskilled Labor • Skilled Labor • Professional Labor • Noncompeting labor grades

  14. Why do some jobs pay more than others? • Market forces • demand • supply • Traditional Theory of Wages • Nonmarket forces

  15. Nonmarket forces • Labor unions • Theory of Negotiated Wages – bargaining strengthen raises wages • Education • Signaling Theory – Employers will pay more for workers with signals of ability • Regional factors • labor mobility, cost of living, and attractiveness of location

  16. Demand for labor demand for goods and services productivity Supply Attractiveness of the job Skill required Required training Worker mobility Market Forces

  17. Employment Trends and Issues • Growing but more slowly than in the past • Getting older but retiring younger • Becoming more varied by gender and race

  18. Decline of Labor Unions • General unpopularity of unions • Growth of the service sector • Automation • Global competition • Past success • Givebacks and Two-tier wage systems

  19. Lower Pay for Women • Human Capital Differences • Differences in Occupations • Discrimination • Remedies • Legislation • Comparable Worth • Set-Aside Contracts

  20. Increase in Part-Time Workers • Increase in opening hours • Greater flexibility in scheduling • Lower costs due to reduced benefits • Opposition • Wages low, no benefits • Denies full-time jobs • Hours difficult

  21. Minimum Wage • Advantage • Provide fairness and security to workers • Disadvantage • Creates unemployment especially among certain groups

More Related