The following content is a thought-provoking excerpt from a past work submitted as a university assignment and for recreational reading purposes concerning labor unions, entrepreneurship, and making the transition from employee to entrepreneur to future “side hustle millionaire”:

 

Briefly explain why workers joined unions.

The real reason why workers join unions is because they want to feel a sense of guaranteed job security. People with families don’t want to work in any place of employment without a virtual guarantee of employment. And besides, no one, in past or present employment, wants to work for in unthankful narcissist employer who does nothing but quietly plot on targeted employees and wait until that targeted employee earns the company thousands of dollars in sales, until the narcissist employer and or crooked corporation wrongfully terminates that employee. Being a member of a labor union is a wise investment because not only does it protect the employee for wrongful termination and other forms of abuse from their employer, but it also helps them to solidify a pay raise and ensure their bi-weekly income.

 

 

With the “at will employment” at full strength today, it’s virtually almost impossible to be a member of a labor union when applying to certain companies for part-time or full-time employment. This is why it’s important to be mindful of where to put in an employment application. These workers made a wise choice in joining a union because not only did they make an investment in guaranteeing themselves biweekly income and being protected under employment law, but they also wanted to know their hard work would pay off in a sense of guaranteed retirement.

 

Discuss the legal reaction toward unionization before the NLRA (1935).

Employers back in the prohibition and World War I and World War II era had a strange way of thinking in my personal opinion and here’s why. According to the website u-s-history.com, “employers also had the right to fire workers because they had enrolled in unions or had taken part in strikes.” (National Labor Relations Act, n.d.). Some employers had a strange (peculiar) way of thinking back in that era because they allegedly viewed employees as potential slaves and “yes men,” whereas employers expected employees to have a one track mind in a sense whereas the employee came to work for the employer without any protection of job security or someone to fight for the little people in case the employer got out of hand in any kind of way.

The beauty of employees possibly fighting back against employers who engage in “wrongful terminations” was in 1933, Sen.Robert F. Wagner proposed a bill to Congress that would prohibit employers from engaging in unfair employment practices. Employers allegedly felt shook after Sen. Wagner introduced this bill because now, they couldn’t get away with the stuff they used to do.Sen. Wagner and the working class eventually one after the bill was passed in Congress and it was introduced throughout the United States known today as the NLRA-National Labor Relations Act. and to sweeten the pot, Pres. Franklin D Roosevelt lent his support at the very last minute to bring the Labor Relations bill into fruition. Employers are now running scared with their tail between their legs and growing yellow spines.

 

This bill was introduced on July 5, 1935 and has been in existence since. Lastly, the NLRA at also gives the employees a voice whereas they can join a union and collectively bargain through unions of their choice while having strong support of an organization, giving them a sense of hope that they to are just as powerful as the employer. Long story short… No employee wants to work for the rest of their life without benefits, and without job security and a healthy retirement pension to look forward to.

 

Identify the different national unions that emerged in the United States in the nineteenth century and contrast their basic goals.

1827 – Mechanics’ Union of Trade Associations in Philadelphia – (MUTA) was a coalition of citywide trade unions formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The purpose of this citywide trade union was for the purpose of overthrowing corrupt employers who unlawfully took advantage of employees.Philadelphia was known as a city of skilled manual labor back in the vintage era and many entrepreneurs profited illegally off of the sweat of the backs of employees who produced intense labor.

 

Employers allegedly denied workers benefits, and allegedly with held some funds from their bi-weekly paychecks. With the newly installed MUTA movement in Philadelphia, the average class working journeyman now had a voice to speak up against his employer without complete worry about employer retaliation, because now, not only did the working journeyman have a solid organization backing him, but the politics behind it also came into play.

 

International Typographical Union in 1852 – The ITU has a rich history dating back to 1852 from its humble beginnings in the beautiful state of Colorado.it is the oldest labor union in existence, according to Colorado.edu. The purpose of this organization Colorado.edu says was to “defend the wages, conditions, pay and skills of typographers, while also being stalwart defenders of the freedom of the press, as they performed the mechanized side of the press.

 

Their position was consistently undermined by technological change after the 1950s, as typography became ever more mechanized, then digitized and computerized.” (“From the Archives: International Typographical Union,” 2018). This organization, unlike the MUTA and other trade unions, specifically rallied or the section of employment of workers in the newspaper industry. This union help workers keep their jobs until retirement and health workers achieve retirement status so they can secure healthy pensions and have healthy work conditions before retiring successfully.

 

American Federation of Labor 1886 – This is the infamous AFL-CIO that was formed in 1955. Purpose of this organized labor union was to organize workers in craft unions. The beauty of this union was that it shunned away from having anything to do with politics.the AFL-CIO benefited workers because they specifically rallied for higher wages and less hours.

 

This gave labor union members a peace of mind knowing the average working-class man could bring more money home to his family and have more time on his hands to spend with his wife and children.the AFL-CIO also rally for better working conditions. Mr. Samuel Gompers was the first AFL-CIO president until he passed in 1924. Ironically, prior to becoming AFL-CIO president, Mr. Gompers got a first hand early experience in life of knowing what the struggle was like. How so? He migrated to the United States of America at the tender early age of only 13 years old, according to digitalhistory.uh.edu.

 

Furthermore, the digital history website goes on to say this about Mr. Samuel “Born in London, he immigrated to the United States at the age of 13, and worked as a cigar-maker. He became the leader of the cigar-makers’ union, and transformed it into one of the country’s strongest unions.” His work ethic at an early age spoke volumes about his character and his mindset toward how he wanted everyone to experience good working conditions and take home healthy pay. Samuel Gompers was truly in fact a champion for the working class man and pushed for equal rights for everyone.

 

 

References

From the Archives: International Typographical Union. (2018, May 30). Retrieved from https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2018/05/16/archives-international-typographical-union

The National Labor Relations Act. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1612.html