In regard to unionized employee’s rights, “Employers stopped trying to eliminate existing unions and granted wage increases and fringe benefits” (Foner 941), such as pension plans, health insurance, and automatic pay adjustments. While these social contracts and their benefits were exclusive only to workers in unions, they did also sometimes benefit the nation as a whole. For example, in the 1950s and 1960s, unions were able to achieve an increase in the minimum wage, which was “…earned mostly by nonunion workers at the bottom of the employment pyramid” (Foner 941). Social contracts, as mentioned earlier, also helped prevent unauthorized strikes which would, in turn, reduce the inhibition of the production of goods, and therefore help prevent product shortages caused by strikes. In the
In regard to unionized employee’s rights, “Employers stopped trying to eliminate existing unions and granted wage increases and fringe benefits” (Foner 941), such as pension plans, health insurance, and automatic pay adjustments. While these social contracts and their benefits were exclusive only to workers in unions, they did also sometimes benefit the nation as a whole. For example, in the 1950s and 1960s, unions were able to achieve an increase in the minimum wage, which was “…earned mostly by nonunion workers at the bottom of the employment pyramid” (Foner 941). Social contracts, as mentioned earlier, also helped prevent unauthorized strikes which would, in turn, reduce the inhibition of the production of goods, and therefore help prevent product shortages caused by strikes. In the