ipl-logo

Summary Of Quote 2 By Morton Bahr

947 Words4 Pages

In Quote 2, Morton Bahr speaks of the role that unions have played in shaping the America that we know today. He references government programs and regulations that have helped America’s entire working class. I believe that the benefit that the labor movement has provided for workers is that it has brought us closer to being able to realize our potential as full human beings, rather than solely suppliers of labor for capitalists. I agree with Bahr that union members need to return in our thinking to that of previous eras when many of the gains now taken for granted were made. I would go further to say that specifically we need to fight with the goal of ensuring that all workers can fully experience our humanity. Bahr mentions that unions …show more content…

Their financial compensation restricted them from living a life beyond providing labor, examples of which being deepening family relationships, engaging in leisure activities, and learning new skills. The labor movement was able to secure a 40-hour work week, bringing workers closer to full human realization. Today, with greater potential for workplace automation, union members could focus our efforts on shortening the work week further, so that we may grow in other areas of our …show more content…

They could have focused solely on demanding private retirement programs from their own employers, but instead they were able to attain a universal program administered by the government. However, as this program is limited, it is necessary for union workers to continue the effort of our predecessors and demand a program that truly ensures all American workers are provided for upon retirement. Many non-union workers do not receive pensions from their employers and do not have 401k accounts. I believe that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to survive on Social Security

Show More
Related

  • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

    759 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since the labor unions were becoming stronger, working conditions were improved. In the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, employers treated their employees horribly. First, management would keep watch over the workers during the entire shirt to make sure they were all working hard (Greenwald, 2002). Second, the factory was cramped and filled with supplies and workers leading to overcrowding. This created lack of air flow, lack of cleanliness, and lack of respect for adequate room to perform their jobs (Greenwald, 2002).

    Read More

  • Summary Of Conditions At The Triangle Shirtwaist Company

    487 Words  | 2 Pages

    Employees worked a six-day workweek starting as early as seven-thirty and ending around nine o’clock at night. They were underpaid, had cramped workspaces in unventilated buildings, no safety precautions and were locked in their workplaces. Workers were charged for electricity, thread used and any damage that occurred. Housing compared to working conditions was no different; many of the workers lived in

    Read More

  • Burnham In Eric Larson's The Devil In The White City

    933 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the midst of unemployment, unions gained strength. The unions could be seen as a positive impact on society because they showcased people standing up for their rights, however the truth was far from that. The strikes organized by union leaders were violent and unsafe. Protesters blocked trains, burned railcars and set buildings aflame. One man, General Nelson A. Miles sensed that the spreading unrest was, “‘more threatening and far-reaching than anything that had occurred before”’

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Ferguson And Dred Scott

    1873 Words  | 8 Pages

    It required that the Unions were to give notice before their strike, diminishing the effectiveness of union strikes, as now the employers can prepare for that circumstance. This resulted in the weakening of worker unions and employees, which gave much more power to employers instead of trying to keep the ideal of equality that the United States tried to uphold, demonstrating that in the United States policies are not only created to uphold morality. Additionally, in the Fair Labor

    Read More

  • Urban Labor DBQ Essay

    501 Words  | 3 Pages

    The nineteenth century was the result of the U.S. growing urbanization and the early twentieth century marked the new industrial age. The workplace was dramatically changing bringing in women, children and immigrants, most unskilled workers. An abundance of workers were available for these jobs making them expendable in dangers conditions while wage continued to decrease. Most workers had at least a ten to twelve-hour work day, making less money than what was necessary to live a decent life. Health and safety conditions were a concern in the workplace, Federal laws offered little protection and poor workers had limited resources.

    Read More

  • Knights Of The Labor Movement In The 1870s And 1880s

    899 Words  | 4 Pages

    The transforming economy changed the visions of the Labor Unions. The result, early labor leaders chose to make two distinct classes, the rich and the poor. With goals of reaching every person they could do join the unions. Some of the goals the unions had was to increases income, this helps to insure a fair pay for the work they do, while also staying with the rising cost of living (Davoren 1). While increasing income the union tries to strive to improve working conditions, they demand shorter working or work weeks along with secure working environments, such as safety.

    Read More

  • Future Labor Unions

    1106 Words  | 5 Pages

    Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=87786622&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Author's Main Points Hurd (2013) noted the importance of understanding how the Labor Union began, grew, fell, almost became great again, and how it benefited the labor union leaders not the laborers themselves or the labor organizations within the states throughout these difficulties. During this article Hurd (2013), points out how he feels the unions

    Read More

  • Labor Movement In The Late 1800s

    838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Looking at it today, working conditions were not as cool and comfortable as they are now. Well, you might ask how have they changed, in short, they were not as cozy as they are now. Labor movements worked hard and formidable in order to change and improve the working conditions, and as time passes the working condition will keep on improving time after time. Workers at this time were joining unions to go against the working condition they are in, but mostly to fight the wage system. Employers made workers sign sheets that states that they will not join a union and if they do so their job will be a threat of being lost.

    Read More

  • Labor Unions In The 1800s

    580 Words  | 3 Pages

    For over 40 years unions have been growing less dominant and shrinking. Labor unions date back to the eighteenth century, when new workers were in the need of representation. “By the 1820s, various unions involved in the effort to reduce the working day from 12 to 10 hours began to show interest in the idea of federation-of joining together in pursuit of common objectives for working people”(Jackson , 2001). When workers started to realize the powerful effects their employers have, slowly more people started to join in groups in citywide federations. It created poverty for many and great fortune for some.

    Read More

  • Effects Of The Gilded Age On The Economy

    948 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some skilled fields of work commanded high wages and high control over their working conditions. Jobs that required technical skill and knowledge held a level of autonomy in their work; it was dubbed the miner’s freedom. Those with the miner’s freedom held an almost managerial position over themselves, giving them power over what they do in their jobs. On the other side of the coin, the growing unskilled labor force was not given such freedoms over their work lives. They were subjected to longer workdays and lower pay in working conditions that were often fatally dangerous.

    Read More

  • Changes In America In The Late 1800s

    858 Words  | 4 Pages

    An example of the type work people had to do on a daily basis was Ford Motor Company’s Factories in Document 5 .Which was a company that focused on mass production and assembly lines 24/7. Factory work was the most popular type of work at that time especially, for the Captains of Industry at that time, which were Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Carnegie (Including ford) who were all in control of the Industrial period and how successful it was. However, many people at that did not believe that at that time, because of the long hours and poor working conditions. People then started to realize that they becoming more and more like a machine instead of human being. Document 7 even states, “he lives to work instead of working to live.”

    Read More

  • Reconstruction Era And The Progressive Era

    1276 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Pullman Strike in 1894 was also a secret union and again, it’s illegal but they risked it for better working conditions, an eight-hour working day, and thirty percent back to their wages. This strike was formed because the government cut the wages by thirty percent which affected three thousand citizens (lecture, February 12). These people struggled for social justice and equality and these organizations improved society and the Gilded Age which is soon to be the Progressive

    Read More

  • What Are The Changes In American Society Between The 1900s And 1940s

    1576 Words  | 7 Pages

    During the Great Depression, there was a dramatic decrease in labor union members as unemployment rates rose notably. Although it seemed like the labor movement was over, the movement would soon strengthen and expand in numbers and power with the start of the Roosevelt administration and legislations from the New Deal. Ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution era, there had always been conflict between the working class and employers as workers suffered poor wages, bad working conditions, and long hours. Labor unions, such as the Industrial Workers of the World believed “The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life”.

    Read More

  • Industrialization Dbq Essay

    746 Words  | 3 Pages

    Labor Unions such as the American Federation of Labor advocated for better working conditions. Such was stated by Samuel Gompers, who was the leader of the American Federation of Labor and was a strong advocate for human rights and the protection of workers from being abused (document 6). Through protests and advocacy, they were able to gain some od their rights from the companies they work for and their efforts increased their quality of life. In addition, many were able to advocate for their rights in the workplace by voting for political party candidates who supported this issue, such as the “People’s Party” (document 5). This party advocated for workers’ and lower class rights and fought against oppression and poverty.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Economic Policies Of Farmers And Industrial Workers In The Gilded Age

    1652 Words  | 7 Pages

    But it did not completely stop from the unions forming into a national organization. Workers complained and argue in not the common goal, such as, wanted to be paid more, racial disagreements, or how were immigrants were treated. But most of the Unions of workers have a similar goal of how much less work they needed. But most workers will go beyond

    Read More

More about Summary Of Quote 2 By Morton Bahr

Open Document