Public Sector Unions

Great Essays
Unions Effect on State and Local Government
Today, unionized workers are more likely to be in public sector unions as teachers, police officers, or firefighters rather than steel workers, electricians, or autoworkers. Union’s effect on the economy is not a short story. They have shaped the economy and the industrial complex that we both have enjoyed and grown to dislike. Unions have brought about changes in the organizations we would see as unethical and morally corrupt. Nevertheless, corporations were engaging with the best practices of that particular time. Unions increased wages, benefits, workplace safety, child labor rights; reduced work hours, and diversity in a complex manner. Collective bargaining brought the political process into organizations giving employees a voice in the everyday operations. The creation of unions truly benefited employees and their families. The gap between profit and employees’ wages narrowed sharply due to unionization. Public sector labor Unions are growing, although at a slow pace. Nevertheless, public unions are not in the business to make money, they pass on their pay burdens by increasing taxes at the local, state, and federal level. Over the course of the past sixty plus years, states began to pass laws giving the rights back to employees for the freedom of choice, to enter into union contracts. These rights are in the form of the right to work states. The disparity between workers compensation and corporate profits are at an all-time high. Declining middle class, higher unemployment, pension burdens, and globalization have led to an economic downturn. State and federal government are feeling the financial burden of politics catering to union demands. Cost associated with maintaining public and private sector labor compensation packages had reached a breaking point. This affects the state and federal government’s ability to sustain the current compensation trends in the near future. In order to understand the union’s ability to affect state and federal government, their history must be discussed. History of Unions Unions were formed to protect and improve the rights of workers. Their first order of business was to establish the eight-hour workday and in 1866, the National Labor Union was born. Labor movements were around before 1866, but few organized up until this point. Unions created an environment for workers with difficult tasks, creating better pay, safer working conditions, and better sanitary work conditions. Unions made life better for many Americans in the private sector. Collective bargaining became the way in which employers and a group of employees reached agreements, coming to a common consensus. From 1866 to the early 1900’s unions continued to increasing membership and power. The real gains started in 1933 after several pieces of legislation such as the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, and the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 gave unions the right to collective bargain (Domhoff, 2015). WWII created a rapid buildup within the industrial complex, creating more work for women and African Americans, overshadowing the union’s inability to project their power in government. President Roosevelt created
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Economically unjustified collective bargaining agreements began to be seen as a problem. Cost of living allowances was the main concern and corporations were looking to change these arrangements. The Union began to decline in the 1960s for two separate reasons, corporate opposition to unions and automated production process (Domhoff, 2015). Unions continued to decline and inflation was the main concern, private unions in heavy industry were blamed. President Nixon proposed the Family Assistance plan assisting low-income …show more content…
Since 2009, membership in unions such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Education Association has totaled more than the membership in traditional private sector unions. Figure 1. Shows the private vs. public union density in the U.S. from 1929-2012 (Domhoff, 2015). Public sector union also account for hundreds of millions of dollars annually lobbying governments on behalf of their members. Courts were to ensure that funding for political activity would flow in the future by upholding rules that require payments from workers. Public sector unions use vast amounts of funds compared to that of their private sector union members. Debating the power and influence that public unions have and can project. In 1943, a New York Supreme Court judge

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