American labor union history and government influence

Sociology: Labor Studies

Unionization

This particular excerpt from The Oxford Companion to American Politics provides a fairly attenuated summary of the history and the efficacy of American labor unions. It traces the chronology of union involvement within labor practices dating from the founding of the American Federation of Labor in 1886, to the present day splintering of union solidarity that accounts for virtually all-time low participation rates. Furthermore, this excerpt provides a readily accessible synopsis of the benefits that membership in unions yields to its employees, which are readily contrasted with the benefits and wage information of non-union employees. The government's involvement in both the incline and decline of unions in the United States is recounted as well, while certain key facets of union membership (such as stratifications including the public and private sectors of labor) are also detailed in relation to economic, political, and technological changes throughout the years.

According to this excerpt, the U.S. government played a profound role in the development and eventual decline of union prowess and density. The goal of unions, of course, is to unite workers throughout a particular industry and allow for more rights and a better quality of life for such employees. The government's involvement was crucial to initial union success during the Great Depression, by enabling the passing of legislation, most notably the National Labor Relations Act (which is also called the Wagner Act), that allowed for unionization and collective bargaining. One of the most prominent of unions, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was founded soon after in 1937. Union involvement would flourish the most during the 1950s, when 35% of all eligible workers were members of labor unions.

However, the government would also prove to be influential in the reduction of union authority and involvement with the nation's workers. Legislation was passed to circumscribe some of the positive effects of the NLRA, including the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 and the Landrum-Griffith Act of 1957. Other noteworthy governmental actions that helped contribute to the decline of labor unions included Ronald Reagan's firing of air controllers in 1981, as well as the large amounts of "right to work" legislation that outlawed beneficiaries of collective bargaining contracts to pay dues to unions. Other factors responsible for the decline of union involvement include globalization and the outsourcing of traditional industries and sources of labor to overseas countries where there are no unions. Additionally, the splintering of the traditional AFL-CIO into other factions significantly detracted from the solidarity of unions.