Friday, February 1, 2013
Your Life and the Union
When I opened up this collection of documents just now to prepare the blog, at first I was kicking myself, thinking, "Unions?! This won't inform my class about society!" My instant instinct was to dismiss unions as mainly economic and political, but after thinking more carefully, it is difficult NOT to see how unions were integral to the social development of the Americas during the Depression.
So, in your thoughts--what is the connection, if any, between labor unions and social status?
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Unions teach us very much about society. It is the best way to represent the employees interest towards the employers. If someone is alone with a complain, he can't change anything, but if he is in a union,there he can bring the complain up and the Union can represent his interest in front of the employer. It is a necessary and effective way of asuring that employees are treated fair.Unions show us how poor factory worker can have just as much power, if organized, as the rich woner of the factory, even though it seems like he has a higher social status.
ReplyDeleteLabour unions are very important in the world today because they allow workers to be able to communicate effectively with other workers, and their companies. They are connected to social status because they allow the generally lower class worker to be able to interact with the higher class employer.
ReplyDeleteNot only do Unions allow for a better form of communication between fellow employees, but it also allows for employees to better communicate with employers. Unions give a bigger voice to the workers. It allows them to be able to rally effectively and professionally to make the lives of their families and themselves better. I agree with the idea that Unions are a large part of the social aspect of the working part of our lives. In many instances, without Unions, a lot more unfair payment and unfair situations would have never been avoided.
ReplyDeleteconnection between labor unions and status; for starters, I'm assuming the rich and upper class did not have much need for joining a union. They were, in all likely hood, the very bosses unions were made to protect workers from. i mean, i can't help but think of the play "newsies" when discussing unions and social status. Those who join unions often do not have the circumstances to protect themselves so they form unions in order to gain power through numbers instead of the money they do not have. So while i do not think people joining unions would be embarrassed to do so because of it being a sign of being a part of a lower class, I do think it separated the classes in a few ways but evened out by allowing the lower and middle "class" to have power over the smaller upper class.
ReplyDeleteThe increasing industrial world during the great depression began to separate society and further define class differences. One group was the wealthy, business owning capitalists and the other group was the workers oppressed by those capitalists. The reading talks about how the capitalists "have assembled to themselves tremendous power and influence and they are almost 100 per cent effective in opposing organization of workers" and follows with the important question that the oppressed workers ask, "What are we going to do about it?". So because working classes are continued to have the lowest status in society they decided that labor unions is the best solution to bring their class together to try to even out society.
ReplyDeleteI think that labour unions are a bridge between the working class and the higher class. In a world where there are no unions, the working class goes to work for some boss who they have never seen and probably never will. They work day in and day out 24/7 with no job security, no steady pay check, and no free will when it comes to sick or vacation days. I believe that unions help create a worker to boss connection, in the sense the worker knows the face of the person giving him/her the job. But i think more importantly, it gives the workers some power. when labour unions go on strike the whole industry they produce for feels it and the bosses sure as hell feel it in their wallets and when u mess with someones money, they take notice. So it gives the little guy some power over what the big guy can do to them and how much they will take. I also think that it was a cool thing to join a union. it was basically a fad back in the 30's. everyone was doing and if you didn't then you were seen as the outcast.
ReplyDeletei feel that unions help to give the labor force a voice in the upper workings of large companies if implemented correctly. Which they have a decent percentage of doing so. They affect society in that they give the average Joe a chance (although small) to have some influence with the big wigs who tower over him.
ReplyDeleteI think that labor unions could be looked at as exactly what Mikey said, a bridge. It opened a mutual communication between the lower class and upperclass. They allowed a communication between not only co workers, but also between their employers. This may not sound it, but this is infact a major deal. It allows people to better understand each other and ultimately make more money. And that is what ran this country.
ReplyDeleteDuring the depression in the Americas, while the stimulation of labor unions was essential for the economic situation, there was fear amongst the people concerning how, "there are forces at work in this country that would wipe out, if they could, the labor movement of America..." To my best understanding, the people at the head of the council were also of a high social status. They proclaim the labor unions as THEIR councils, and sought for an easily understood and welcoming environment to attract workers. To support this, one of the pictures in the article is a labor union advertisement containing a big, strong man standing by a door with a "Welcome" door mat and a caption saying, "Come on in out of the rain, boys!". The caption below this pictures explains how, "The union organizer is depicted here as being stronger and more "manly" than the workers who have not yet joined the cause."
ReplyDeleteLabor unions were and are essential to American society. They have ensured workers rights since before the Depression. During the Depression they were the best tool for the working class to communicate with the upper class, they provided the means for making sure that each side understood each other and were able to come to decent compromises.
ReplyDeleteLabor unions give us a glimpse of society. Based on the text, I can tell how society was during this time. Workers wanted rights and women still struggled to be on the same level as men. Unions also created a connection between claases in society. They created communication between employers and classes, to make society more united and to make the working class feel like they are a part of society and are just as important as the higher class. This helped give workers more "power" and a boost of self-esteem.
ReplyDeleteUnions give workers a tool that if taken away would leave them defenseless. Strikes are one of the few ways that the lower class can make their message heard. Recently in South Africa miners struck for better working conditions and wages. With a union these normally disenfranchised people have the tools to wage an equal and fair battle with the people that they depend on for their livelihood. Labor unions allow for social balance that would otherwise be tilted heavily in the upper class's favor.
ReplyDeleteLabor unions, based on the substancial rise during the Depression, showed that the people of the time wanted to be heard, and they wanted some kind of systematic change. The social situation during the time of the Depression can be told partially by labor unions, but not entirely. Labor unions finally gave the working class a voice against the previously overwhelming wealthy, factory-owning class. Collectively, they can now stage strikes, and have bargaining power to attain a better life for their poor families.
ReplyDeleteUnion seems like a lego giant made by countless pieces of little tiny people to me, as a whole they are able to rise their voice to communicate with other class, yet as an individual their rights and status could be neglected and feel helpless.Working condition and wages could be improved by striking and negotiating orgnized by the union.Also, union enabled a spreation of citienship and a sense of responsbility as a small wheel gear of this giant machine.
ReplyDelete