Labor Union

What It Means

A labor union is a group of workers who have joined together to negotiate with employers in order to secure better wages and working conditions. Unions originally consisted of male “blue-collar” workers (people who perform manual or physical labor, often for an hourly wage). Since the latter half of the twentieth century, however, more women and “white-collar” workers (people who perform less physically exacting labor, often for a salary rather than an hourly wage) have joined unions. As of 2006, about 12 percent of all workers in the United States belonged to a union.

Labor unions negotiate the terms of their employment through a method called collective bargaining. In this process a representative of the union negotiates with a representative of the employer. The two sides in these negotiations are often referred to as “labor” (the union) and “management” (the employer). By means of collective bargaining, labor attempts to set favorable terms of employment, which include a fair wage, a reasonable amount of hours of work required per week, health insurance, safe working conditions, and an official process for filing grievances or complaints concerning working conditions.

When labor and management agree to a set of working conditions, they sign an official document called a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). When labor and management cannot settle on the terms of the CBA, a work stoppage often occurs. Sometimes workers refuse to report for work until their demands are met. Such an event is called a strike. Other times owners close down operations and do not grant workers the opportunity to do their jobs. This is a called a lockout. When either of these events occurs, negotiations often turn bitter and one side is forced to give in because it cannot bear the financial losses of a work stoppage. No matter how the agreement is achieved, the terms of the CBA apply to all members of the union. In order to receive the benefits of union membership, members are required to pay union dues (a small portion of a worker’s wages that pays for costs associated with the organization and governing of the union).

When Did It Begin?

Labor unions first appeared in the late 1700s, shortly after the start of the Industrial Revolution. Large-scale industrialization during the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States brought intolerable working conditions: most notably low wages, long hours, and dangerous work environments. Workers, many of whom were women and children, were often required to work from dawn until dusk for only pennies a day. Employees learned that they had to unite to force management to meet their demands.

In the United States, two types of labor unions evolved: craft unions and industrial unions. Craft unions consisted of workers who practiced a specific trade. In 1792 Philadelphia shoemakers organized what many historians believe was the nation’s first craft union. Boston carpenters formed a craft union in 1793, as did New York City printers in 1794. An industrial union, on the other hand, consists of a group of employees in the same industry, regardless of the task they perform in that industry. For example, members of the United Steel Workers Union all work in the steel industry, but not all of the members of the union have the same job.

During the late 1830s, industrial unions were nearly eliminated in the United States when the nation suffered an economic crisis, but unions rebounded just prior to the Civil War and grew steadily thereafter through the mid-1950s. The greatest period of growth for American labor unions came between 1933 and 1944. During this time, union membership quadrupled because of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation, which supported the organizing power of unions, and because of an economic boost that resulted from the impending World War II.

More Detailed Information

The strike is a labor union’s greatest weapon when management remains unwilling to meet the union’s demands. Although strikes can be effective, they can also cost workers a considerable amount of money in lost wages. Thus, most labor unions use strikes as a last resort after all other measures to reach an agreement have been exhausted. When they do strike, workers gather outside their place of employment and form what is called a picket line. Walking back and forth outside of the job site, strikers typically carry signs protesting their working conditions and describing their demands. Any worker who “crosses the picket line,” or reports to work before the strike has been formally resolved, is called a scab.

Workers do not often strike over just one issue. In most strikes, a union prioritizes one or two issues above all other demands. Strikes are therefore identified according to the union’s primary demand. In an “economic strike,” workers demand higher wages, fewer work hours, or better benefits, such as health care or holiday pay. In an “organization strike,” the union seeks official recognition of its status as a labor union from its employers. A “grievance strike” occurs when the labor union finds that management has failed to live up to the terms of an existing CBA. Other types of strikes include the “wildcat strike” and the “sympathy strike.” Wildcat strikes are unauthorized by the union. They happen when a faction of disgruntled laborers organizes a work stoppage without the consent of union leadership. Sympathy strikes happen when one group of workers stops reporting for duty on behalf of another group of workers.

Philadelphia, which is likely the birthplace of the nation’s first craft union, is also believed to be the location of the first labor strike in the United States. In 1786 a group of printers who were not joined in an official labor union waged a strike. In May 1786 a skilled print craftsman in Philadelphia made $5.83 per week. On the final day of the month, 26 of the printers vowed not to work another day until they were paid $6.00 per month. The strike worked. Not all strikes staged in Philadelphia were as successful, however. For example, when an association of shoemakers called Philadelphia’s Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (the word cordwainer comes from cordovan, which is a soft leather used to make many types of shoes) went on strike for higher wages in 1806, the Philadelphia Mayor’s Court ruled that unions were criminal conspiracies whose aim was to wrongfully injure owners and their businesses. Most states ruled similarly, with one notable exception being the Massachusetts Supreme Court, which stated that labor strikes were not by definition criminal conspiracies.

Some of the most highly publicized strikes in recent history have been staged by professional athletes. For example, major league baseball players went on strike on August 12, 1994, and the dispute was not settled until April 2, 1995. During the strike, all of the playoffs, including the World Series, were cancelled. Up to this point, no professional sports league had cancelled its playoffs because of a work stoppage. Ten years after the baseball strike, the National Hockey League (NHL) lost the entire 2004–05 season and the playoffs due to a lockout staged by the owners.

Recent Trends

Union membership in the United States has steadily declined since the mid-1970s, due in part to a decline in American manufacturing. Consequently, unions have looked to the service industry to acquire new members. In the late-1990s health-care professionals began joining the Service Employees International Union in unprecedented numbers. After an increase of more than 265,000 new members in 1999, which was the largest growth in 20 years, union membership in the United States began declining once again in first years of the twenty-first century. In 2002 unions lost a total of 280,000 members, slipping to 16.1 million members nationwide.

Though their membership numbers are down, unions remain a considerable force in the United States, especially those associated with the transportation industry. In 1997 union employees at UPS (United Parcel Service) staged what would become the largest strike in the United States in 20 years. UPS acquiesced to nearly all of the union’s demands. The company lost an average of $30 million per day during the two-week strike. In 2002 dockworkers at ports throughout the United States went on strike for 10 days, costing shipping companies between $400 and $600 million in losses. In 2003 Broadway musicians in New York City went on strike, causing the theater industry to cancel 18 musicals. During the strike, theaters lost more than $10 million in revenues, and nearby restaurants lost over $50 million in sales, according to some estimates.