Union Songs

Labor Relations I believe that the right to strike is an intrinsic element of the collective bargaining process, but not that strikes are. A strike is a situation where the workforce withholds its labor, usually in response to not having a contract. Certainly, workers are under no obligation to work without a collective bargaining agreement, in those situations where the company has agreed to the collective bargaining process. Workers should also have the right to bargain collectively, as there is often a collective interest (U.S. DoL, 2015).

Withholding labor will create motivation for the management to reach an agreement. While the right to strike is not the only bargaining chip that labor has, it is one of the most important. The right to strike also serves as a valuable counterpoint to management's right to lock out workers, in absence of a collective bargaining agreement. The right to strike where there is a collective bargaining agreement -- a so-called wildcat strike -- is less important to the collective bargaining process, is not necessary and is often detrimental.

A collective bargaining agreement should contain dispute resolution mechanisms that can bring about resolution to any issue that is encountered. Thus, any action taken outside of the confines of the CBA should be viewed as detrimental. I do not believe in the right to undertake wildcat strike actions. I also take issue with the specific wording of the question at hand: "Strikes are an intrinsic and essential element of the collective bargaining process." That is absolutely false.

The right to strike is critical, but actually striking is not necessary to bring about a collective bargaining agreement. It might be, but to suggest that it is essential to the process implies that the process cannot function without a strike occurring during every negotiation. That's the wording, and I disagree with that wording. There is ample evidence that agreements can be reached without striking, and there are many other tools that can be utilized instead of striking to bring about an agreement.

Discussion #2 Union songs are considered to be important by the unions as a means of creating a unified culture. Unions exist as bands of laborers within specific trades or workplaces. They exist in order to improve the bargaining power of labor, something that is necessary when labor is poorly differentiated, a situation which would give individual laborers very little bargaining leverage. Collective bargaining only works, however, when the union members are working together -- when they are on the same page, so to speak.

In order to encourage, this unions seek to create a common culture that binds the union members and has them committed to each other, in a common cause (Library of Congress, 2015). Union songs arose as one of the mechanisms by which union culture was created and transmitted, in situations where there were thousands of workers in the union, and often in many different job sites. When many unions were created, members were frequently illiterate, so the union literature that it produced could not effectively translate ideas to all members.

Songs, however, were universally transmittable, easy to remember and understand, and the group singing of union songs also enhanced the spirit of working together than permeated the union culture. One union song is Bread and Roses: a Youtube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWkVcaAGCi0 This song arose in the textile mills of Lawrence, MA. The song.