Concept and Brief Description: Unions are organizations formed for the purpose of representing their members’ interests in dealing with employers.
Emotional Hook: Are labor unions bad for the American economy? Are American job being sent overseas as a result of labor unions?
Key Points:
Change in the structure of the economy – Union strength has traditionally been among urban blue-collar workers, especially middle-aged workers. Recent job growth has occurred among women and youth in the service sector. Women are less likely than men to belong to unions, and services industries such as finance, insurance, and real estate have lower union representation than manufacturing. Also, much business growth has been in the South, where workers are less likely to join unions.
Management efforts to control costs - On average, unionized workers receive higher pay than their nonunionized counterparts, and the pressure is greater due to international competition. Today, U.S. producers must compete with companies that have entirely different pay scales and work rules, often placing U.S. companies at a disadvantage
Human Resource Practices – Human resources is offering much of what employees traditionally sought through union membership.
Government Regulations – Stricter regulations in such areas as workplace safety and equal employment opportunity leaves fewer areas in which unions can show an advantage over what employers must already offer.
Facilitative Questions: Have labor union outlived their usefulness? With government laws and Human Resources taking over the role traditionally filled by Unions, what purpose do Unions have in our current workforce?
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