The Pros And Cons Of Right-To-Work Laws

Right to Work States prohibits Union security agreements; Unions cannot force employees of non-Union companies to become a unionized organization or members, pay dues and fees as a condition of employment. Right to Work states, allows employees if they elect, to be members of a Union (Shriberg, 2012, pp. 231-233). Currently, there are 25 Right to work States, and Tennessee is a Right to Work State. The textbook uses a 2002 survey, depicting 22 Right to Work States, increasing by three States over the past decade. Right to Work States has created two new categories of employees, free riders and cheap riders. Free riders are employees

“Elastic Clause”. This clause is also often referred to as the “necessary and proper” or the “sweeping” clause. It can be found in article 1, section 8 of the constitution, clause 18. The “elastic clause” puts forward that Congress has the power to pass any law that they have deemed to be both necessary and proper to implement the powers that have already been delegated to the Congress. (U.S Const., art. I, §8). In essence, this clause offers a way for the US Congress to “achieve its’ constitutional mandated ends”(The Heritage Foundation, 2011). The purpose of this clause to allow the organisation of the government, while also helping to effectuate the power of Congress, and in doing so it introduces a great deal of flexibility to the constitution.

There are many simmaleritys and differences between the Knights of labor and the AFL this will explain only a few. The Knights were established in 1869 vs the AFL established in 1886 a few years later. This means the Knights are the predisesors of the AFL. Some made compromises others started boycotts, and the following explanes all.

The wealth during the 1920s left Americans unprepared for the economic depression they would face in the 1930s. The Great Depression occurred because of overproduction by farmers and factories, consumption of goods decreased, uneven distribution of wealth, and overexpansion of credit. Hoover was president when the depression first began, and he maintained the government’s laissez-faire attitude in the economy. However, after the election of FDR in 1932, his many alphabet soup programs in his first one hundred days in office addressed the nation’s need for change. Although Roosevelt’s administration was not very effective in immediately ending the Great Depression, it left a lasting effect on the role of the federal government by creating

As industrial strength grew and technology advanced, labor in America changed. Machines replaced many of workers’ old duties and some skilled laborers who had been previously valued became easily replaced. Immigrants who were willing to work under poorer conditions flooded into the United States, big businesses grew, and political machines whose interests were not that of the people occupied the government. Laborers worked ten hour shifts, six-day workweeks, and started work as children. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, he describes the painful and vigorous work in the meat-packing industry, saying, “The hands of these men would be criss-crossed with cuts, until you could no longer pretend to count them...They would have no nails, they had worn them off pulling hides; their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a fan. There were men who worked in the cooking-rooms...in these rooms the germs of tuberculosis might live for two years.” These suffering Americans appealed to the government and labor unions for help, but they did not receive it due to lack of union organization, big business ties, and laissez-faire economic ideals. During the Gilded Age, the U.S. government suppressed the average industrial worker, and labor unions, though created for laborers’ aid, accomplished little and were futile when facing big business and government.

It is a difficult task to challenge the social and economic policies of a country, especially one as patriotic as the United States during the post wartime Red scare era of the 1920 's. labor unions could account for this as they saw their membership fall from a high of 5 million in the 1920s to a mere 3.6 million by 1923(Rosenzweig 353). A combination of Supreme court decisions, Employer pressures and in many cases a lack of a strong leadership seen in previous individuals like Samuel Gompers contributed to this.Yet this trend surprisingly didn’t remain consistent as the great depression emerged around the 1930s.In fact they tripled there membership during the 1930s(Rosenzweig 429).They opened up, recruiting millions of women in their causes

John Morrison's Testimony of a Machinist is a Transcript of Morrison testifying in front of the Senate. The transcript covers changes in factory work environments, possible causes of those changes and effects that they have. This paper is a very good source to see the growing unrest among factory workers, why they feel disenfranchised and why they might wish to unionize. What is overlooked in this which make his arguments weaker than they could be is the fact that technology will always be advancing and must be adapted to.

They had horrible working hours and usually had to work six days a week or maybe even seven. In some cases, laborers had to work from 3am till 7pm. The Government took notice and addressed this issue in the International Labor Congress in which representatives demand a reduction on working hours (6). Another issue that was addressed was the fact that workers had no health insurance if they suffered from any injuries while doing their jobs. The representatives called for factories to treat the lives and limbs of their workers as sacred and help pay for the injuries (6). This provided better working hours and safe conditions for the factory workers. People argue that the factory owners sent thugs to interrupt labor unions and government did little to protect the laborers. However, when the Antitrusts Acts were passed, it stated that nothing contained in the Antitrust Laws shall be constructed to forbid the existence and operation of labor organizations (7). This proves that the Federal Government tried to intervene and help the laborers. Sooner or later, factory workers got what they wanted with the help of the reforms during the Progressive Era.

*The Pullman Strike was widespread by the United States railroad workers, approximately a quarter-million worker were on strike at the peak and it impacted the expedition the railroad system across the states. The strike between the American Railway Union and George Pullman changed the course of future strikes when President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to break up the strikers; its influenced how the federal government and the court system would handle labor issues. The labor issues during the Pullman Strike were not limited that of rights of the workers, the role of management in the workers private life, and the roles of government resolving labor conflicts. Pullman planned communities for his workers how he determined

The organized labor of 1875-1900 was unsuccessful in proving the position of workers because of the future strikes, and the intrinsical feeling of preponderation of employers over employees and the lack of regime support. In 1877, railroad work across the country took part in a cyclopean strike that resulted in mass violence and very few reforms. An editorial, from the Incipient York Time verbalized: "the strike is ostensibly hopeless, and must be regarded as nothing more than a rash and splenetic demonstration of resentment by men too incognizant or too temerarious to understand their own interest" (Document B).

While the programs of the First New Deal were left-wing and progressive, some liberals decided that it had not gone far enough to help the common people. When the National Industrial Recovery Act was declared unconstitutional in 1935, employers once again began treating their workers unfairly. Worker strikes were broken up violently, and they could not achieve their rights without government assistance. This problem was combatted with the Wagner Act, which gave workers the right to unionize and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Additionally, liberals such as physician Francis Townsend and Senator Huey P. Long called for government pensions for the elderly in order to open jobs for the unemployed and simulate the economy. This demand was met by the Social Security Act, which granted the pensions to the elderly, dependent mothers, and the blind. These new acts were a part of the Second New Deal, and were necessary to meet President Roosevelt’s goals of reducing unemployment and reviving American Industry, as well as increasing his chances of

In 1887, Samuel Gompers mused, “... I hold it as a self-evident proposition that no successful attempt can be made to reach those ends without first improving present conditions.” What Gompers is suggesting is that regulations to protect the workers must be made before one attempts to abolish bigger discrepancies. His base work in improving workplace regulations resulted in a stricter hand in government telling businesses what they can and can’t do. Gompers creation of the American Federation of Labor made workers of America a more united force, that led to changes for the good of the working class. One of these changes that occurred from Samuel Gompers work was the Adamson Act. In 1916, which instilled an eight hour work day for interstate railroad workers, and also overtime wages. This was a victory for the American Federation of Labor because this act soon spread into more extreme business regulations. One such regulation was the Fair Labor Standards Act. Although this act was passed fourteen years after Gompers death, in 1924, this act was tied to all the work he had done with his union organization. The Fair Labor Standards Act enacted a forty hour work week, and established a national minimum wage. This act also guaranteed overtime wage and prohibited most workers who were miners. Theses regulations, although not always fully enforced, helped the life

The time period from when the Second Industrial Revolution was beginning, up until President McKinley’s assassination in 1901, is known as the Gilded Age. After the Civil War, many people headed out West to pursue agriculture, and many immigrants moved to urban areas to acquire jobs in industrial factories. It is in this context that farmers and industrial workers had to respond to industrialization. Two significant ways farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age, were creating the Populist Party and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

One of the main reasons people do not agree with the usage of labor unions are because they view it as a system of abuse. When they were first established in the eighteenth century they served a very valuable purpose on fixing the horrible working conditions and extremely low pay. Since this time nonunion members think that people abuse the power the union offers such as members knowing what the company can and cannot fire them for and that all the “loop holes” have been exposed to the union members. Not only do people think that the system is abused but they also believe that unions devaluate hard workers. When a contract states that there will be fair wages that means that everyone will receive the same amount of pay which means that there is no strive to do better and those who are dedicated workers lose the lack of value and motivation that they put into their work. Despite the cons of unions overall they help not only the employees but also the

In a time after the civil war, America improved their financing by switching to the gold standard, improved communication by boosting the telegraph, improved transportation by building railroads, and improved wealth by giving contracts for clothes to multiple companies. The economy was also improving massively also due to natural resources, demography, and law. Railroads allowed people as well as supplies to be transported quicker, safer, and cheaper. Companies bought each other out and formed monopolies which made the price go up and the owners very wealthy. Aside from all of these positives, there are also various problems that took place during the Gilded Age (1865-1900). Problems like how industrial workers and farmers responded to