Labor Unions Today

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Labor Unions were first established to improve alarming working conditions. In America today, conditions are no where close to where they were in the late 1800's early 1900's, and current laws and regulation and agencies will never allow it to return to those conditions. Unions represent workers in many industries. The most well-known unions are among civil employees like teachers and policemen. Labor unions today mostly focus on collective bargaining over wages and benefits, as well as working conditions. They also represent their members if management tries to violate their rights. The National Labor Relations Board has done much to improve employment practices for American workers and fight for progressive labor laws, but errors such as…show more content…
In the last 20 years, unions have ruined a lot of domestic business. Many moved over seas for cheaper labor. In addition, foreign countries got into the auto industry and have been very successful. G.M. and other American auto makers are now competing with these other countries and not doing very well keeping up. They can force wages and benefits to unrealistic above-market levels and force the price of American made products out of the market. That encourages employers to reduce the number of workers, outsource the work, or move to states where workers don't usually join unions. The rules that prevent unfair terminations can also be used to protect useless or dishonest employees who should be fired. Labor unions force the price of American made products out of the market. Although unions improve compensation for their members, they tend to limit the number of jobs in an economy. They can do so either directly, by enforcing a limit on the number of workers that can enter a profession or company, or indirectly, by pressuring employers to raise…show more content…
This happens regardless of the state of the economy and of the New York State budget. If the state is experiencing a large multi-billion dollar deficit, and state employees are due a raise, they get it. This only adds to the amount of the deficit. The idea of unions was that employers and employees should work in harmony in their relationship. If economic times were good, and employees were working hard and the company was turning a good profit, the employer would reward them with either pay increases or

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