Monday, February 28, 2011

Collective Bargaining

Collective Bargaining
            In the work realm, people can have many benefits however, sometimes these benefits are not fair. To keep the work force at a balance between management and unions, collective bargaining is put into place. Collective bargaining is the processes by which the unions negotiate with the management to keep their working conditions and payments to everyone’s liking    (FAU 1).
            Before present day labor unions, people worked in small work places with masters and apprentices. This type of work force is called guilds. However, as the industrial revolution progressed, labor unions started to develop tremendously.  People were needed for employment in the factories as well in mining. Whenever the work force was discriminated by age, sex, and race and along with un-healthy working conditions, the Knights of Labor stepped in to help strike back. The Knights of Labor helped fight against the unfair condition with boycotts and strikes. Even though the Knights of Labor died out, it started to increase labor movements across the nation (Knights). Unions were growing rapidly in the early 1900’s however in the late 1900’s the union started to die off.
            Although unions have less importance than they did back in the day, they still have some importance in some aspects such as in the auto industry and politics. In some auto industry’s that have agreed to pay too much to the workers which in turn have left them bankrupt. The auto industry future now lies in the hands of their workers. In politics, workers recently have wanted the Employees Free Choice Acts to pass. This will lead to the unions to have more power than their management (History).
            I think that the unions only sound crucial depending on what perspective you are looking from. In the economical perspective, when unions successfully increase minimum wage, unemployment increases because the management cannot afford the increase in labor cost. However, if one is looking at it from the point of view of the auto industry and politics, they still need unions to function. Such as the auto industry going bankrupt or the Employees Free Choice Act for politics. Other people do not like the unions because they discriminate individualism. Some people do not want the same working conditions of others because they might be working harder than their fellow employees. In my point of view, unions are good for the workers but horrible for the rest of society. The unions work together to make sure they have equal rights however, they do not look at how to keep the rest of society equal. If we keep the unions, I think we should have an equal balance between the management and the workers.
            I feel that in some ways unions are outdated because there are so many other ways to keep our rights fair at work. However, I feel that if there are bad working conditions, they would be kept under wraps if there were not unions. This makes me feel like we need unions to help keep the people safe and have equal rights.
            If I had to pick a side, I would pick to keep the unions. I think that they are important to the people of our nation. It gives us a right to speak out against unfair and unjust conditions in the workplace. I think that having unions will keep the power of the people. I feel that if we did not keep the unions the rights of the workforce would be lost. I think the unions end up being very important to society even though sometimes they hurt it.


Works Cited
"FAU - Glossary." Welcome to Florida Atlantic University. 28 Feb. 2011.
"History of Labor Unions." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. 01 Mar. 2011.
"Knights of Labor." Encyclopedia of Chicago. 28 Feb. 2011.
"Labor Unions in the United States | Economic History Services." EH.Net | Economic History Services. 01 Mar. 2011.



Tuesday, February 8, 2011

10 Minute Writing Exercise 2/8/11

In highschool, I was in the Students Taking Action Now:Darfur club (STAND). This club was to help stop genocide wherever it my occur. It always spraked my interest because there were so many issues in the genocide that were not being taken care of. I remeber specifically not just about the genocide but the refugee camps. There was not enough supplies for the women to cook for her children such as firewood so she would have to go off the site to collect it. The men did not go with them because they would be killed but the women and children were brutally beaten and raped. Even some of the guards who were suppose to be protecting them would only help them for a sexual favor. There is now a project to help these women and children that helps them not have to leave the camp as much. The project helps raise money for solar cookers so the women do not have to leave the camp for firewood.