16 Replies to “Week 10 – Labor Movements”

  1. The upsurge in activity around wages is promising for workers and worker organizations, but there is a long way to go. First, the wages won are not necessarily going to lift workers out of poverty. “ Living in the city is very expansive and it only gets worst as time goes on. Also getting a job is also difficult for most people. It is going to take a lot to solve the problem of poverty.

  2. “ Unions help ensure than middle-and low- income workers enjoy health benefits and a secure retirement. They boost wages most for non- college black and Hispanic workers ( Stephen Hertzberg).” People who benefit the most are the low income workers. Many of them work more than 40 hours every week but could not get the pay fairly. The new policy minimum $15/h ensures their rights and authority. It helps to increase their income and enhance life quality. and It is also good to solve the economic inequality problems.

  3. “Certainly, Americans of all ages, occupations, races, and genders have a vested interest in making sure our economy works for everyone. To promote an inclusive economy and a robust democracy, we must work together to rebuild our collective bargaining system.” – How today’s unions help working people.

  4. “This past September, 6,000 hotel workers went on strike against 26 Chicago hotels to demand year-round health coverage for all hotel workers. In October, 7,700 workers struck 23 Marriott hotels in eight cities, including Boston, Detroit, Honolulu, and San Francisco.”
    This shows how unfair the companies are paying their workers. If only the company would do it fairly, workers wouldn’t have to do a strike. As a country with plenty of rich and powerful rich people, paying the workers should be an easy job. Strikes are good because every one has their voice and i believer it’s beneficial. Because with all these events happening, unions can start a change with the fair salary.

  5. Almost everyone has at one point felt unheard or powerless as an employee. Joining a union simply means that you and your colleagues have a say because you negotiate important elements of employment conditions together. That could mean securing wage increases, better access to health care, workplace safety enhancements, and more reasonable and predictable hours. Through collective bargaining negotiations, the union also works with management to develop a process for settling disputes that employees and their managers are unable to settle individually.
    Once a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is agreed to, union representatives work with employees and with management to make sure the rights and obligations spelled out in the agreement are honored. And they represent workers in high-stakes situations, such as when a safety violation has resulted in injury. By these means, collective bargaining gives workers a say in the terms of their employment, the security of knowing that there are specific processes for handling work-related grievances, and a path to solving problems.
    History showed and improved how union did well during the last decade. The union is the main organization to protect the workers right. Union gathered the employee to speak up about their right as one. The strength of the union comes from the solidarity and the co work . the most of the companies and capitalist do not like union because it limit the exploitation and the slavery. All the employee should have a union to protect their right.

  6. “Minimum and living wage campaigns are growing in many parts of the world as the low- wage, precarious labor market spreads.” ( Luce, pg75). People tend to settle for minimum wage because it’s difficult to find jobs with higher wage due to the requirements. Not everyone have high school diploma or college degree so it affects them.

  7. “The freedom of workers to join together in unions and negotiate with employers (in a process known as collective bargaining) is widely recognized as a fundamental human right across the globe. In the United States, this right is protected by the U.S. Constitution and U.S. law and is supported by a majority of Americans.”

    Unfortunately, this freedom of workers is threatened or thwarted by anti-union efforts to this day. It pains for me to say, but corporations will continue to fight against this fundamental right even if it costs them millions of dollars. A single fire can light multiple fires and lead to a flame more difficult to put out. This can be applied toward unionization because the success of a movement will garner more mobilization and failures will dissuade them.

  8. “Some labor experts say the recent surge of strikes could portend a new wave of labor activism, as more and more workers see that collective action can pay off. Others argue that the recent surge is more likely a one-time blip of militancy that will fade away as organized labor’s long-term decline continues.” (The Return of the Strike). I believe that the success of one strike will lead to more strikes as long as workers, members of unions are still fighting for the common goal of basic needs and fairness. I consider this is the fundamental and principal of not only labor movement, but indeed all social movements. Throughout history, we tackle an social issue not by one but many “strikes” throughout an extend period of time. The social movement will not “fade away”, instead it will transform and evolve in relation to the social circumstances.

  9. “Minimum and living wage campaigns are growing in many parts of the world as the low- wage, precarious labor market spreads. Labor market is fueling the spread of cheap labor. its helping to create more less paying jobs instead of more high paying jobs.

  10. Sociology
    Professor: L. Turner
    Week 10 Labor movements

    Sharon Block, executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, says labor’s renewed militancy reflects a broader shift in the zeitgeist. “When there’s a lot of collective action happening more generally—the Women’s March, immigration advocates, gun rights—people are thinking more about acting collectively, which is something that people hadn’t been thinking about for a long time in this country in a significant way.”

    The article The Return of the Strike is a summary of all the major strikes from the past 3 years and a visible differences from the previous past decades major strikes. Steven Greenhouse provided details on why a tsunami of strikes rise up on the year 2018. I learned the it was numerous reasons for this Strikes and protest, teachers, hotel workers, Google employees and others. The quote I selected in my opinion provided the answered, people is thinking more and gathering together in groups, collectively fighting together for the same cause, living their differences outside and working together toward their goal, something not easy to happened in a nation the it has been divided for decades for different reasons, raza, culture background, social class and many many more. Teacher in Arizona, West Virginia, North Carolina, and other states were all seeking for a fair and equal pay, Arizona educators not getting a raise for close to a decade made me extremely angry to learned about, I am glad the issue was resolved and today they are receiving a better salary. Hotel workers were seeking better salary, health insurance after learning the hotels business had been flourish and doing extremely well, so Why not reward your employees and provided them with fair salaries and benefits? Marriott Hotel workers were not even able to afford to live in the city they work, and I believe an Strike was the only solution to force the Marriott hotel companies to pay and provided health benefit and the demands present by the employees.
    “The strikers, members of the Unite Here hospitality workers’ union, voted to walk out for numerous reasons. They were unhappy with the modest wage increase Marriott was offering, much of which, the union said, would be eroded by higher out-of-pocket health costs. A number of strikers feared that robots and other new technologies would wipe out their jobs, and they wanted some protections in their new contract. Many housekeepers were demanding sexual assault alarm buttons in case they were attacked.” I found the demand for an alarm button winning an excellent devices to protect the female workers against sexual assault. The mass groups that gather together to fight for what they knew was justice is living proof the when employees are not threat it unfairly they will use the powerful tool to improve and obtain justice, collective action and strike against their perpetrators. Well organize strike will bring people together, using today social media is also a great tool to promote and educate the people involve in the, strikes and protest about the reasons and motives.

  11. The workers we represent were very frustrated because the industry is doing quite well and the hotels got an added special Christmas gift with the Trump tax cuts, but our members more and more couldn’t afford to live in the cities they’re working in.

    Even though a company is doing good financially doesn’t mean the employees are doing good also. Due to the fact of trump tax cuts it doesn’t help other communities with their living situation . It’s hard enough to keep up with the rent and actually be able to live in this world & company’s don’t acknowledge that .

  12. “Some labor experts say the recent surge of strikes could portend a new wave of labor activism, as more and more workers see that collective action can pay off. Others argue that the recent surge is more likely a one-time blip of militancy that will fade away as organized labor’s long-term decline continues,” (The Return of The Strike). I agree with this quote because even if they have an agreement of better labor environments and plans such as better health coverage and things like that, then how do the people know it’ll last their entire work career. If you stand up to make a change it can’t be for the just now, it’s has to be able to work for your enetire career at your current job.

  13. These statewide teacher walkouts won tremendous support from parents and students, partly because the teachers made clear that they were fighting not just for themselves, but for their students. The teachers demanded increases in school funding to reduce class sizes, renovate dilapidated classrooms, and replace tattered, obsolete textbooks
    (The Return of the Strikes)

    This isn’t the first time that these teachers are walking out, to have to do the same once again is clear that those higher up are not planning to any time soon solve this issue. Not only are the teachers restricted of their deserving pay but so is proper and safe education for the students.

  14. “By providing data on union coverage, activities, and impacts, this report helps explain how unions fit into the economy today; how they affect workers, communities, occupations and industries, and the country at large; and why collective bargaining is essential for a fair and prosperous economy and a vibrant democracy. It also describes how decades of anti-union campaigns and policies have made it much harder for working people to use their collective voice to sustain their standard of living.”

    I believe this quote best describes unions and how unions benefit members/ workers in making their work environment a better and fair place to work.

  15. “Union workers are diverse, just like America.”
    -Various authors

    There isn’t much to say about this. Unions need to be in every corporation’s case, so people can actually LIKE working their jobs, and won’t secretly wish their boss or CEOs hell when capitalism falls on their own brittle having knees, having to take it from the working class.

  16. ” However, the underlying issues are similar. In each case, policymakers feel the need to keep wages low, or eliminate wage standards altogether, to create a positive ‘business climate’
    and attract and retain investors.”
    -Stephanie Luce

    These “policymakers” are the same asshats who’ll tell you that tips are much appreciated towards the working class, and are the upmost stingy when it comes to bumping up minimum wage up by a few dollars. This blatant sign of late-stage capitalism illustrates that this type of thinking is a disease, as it completely makes the infected hollow and unable to be empathetic to the very people they proclaim they want to help, but are making our lives very difficult. Fuck Capitalism, and the toxicity it left mucking in all of our estates!

Leave a Reply to Ilse Morales Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *