Transcript U.S. Trade unions

By: Clarissa Garcia
Kevin A. Schmelzlen
Nicholas Grover
Sandra Chavez
Thomas Lee
Trade Union- an organization of workers who
have banded together to achieve common goals
in key areas such as wages and hours.
 Collective Bargaining- A system of industrial
democracy in respects to labor participation in
managerial decision making.
 AFL-CIO- The American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations which
represents over 11 million workers in various
work sectors.
 The Change to Win Federation- A federation
which spilt from the AFL-CIO in 2005 to
challenge the global economy to restore the
“American Dream.”
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The first trade union was created in 1866 and it was referred
to as the National Labor Union.
This union didn’t last long but it paved the way for future
American unions.
Following the NLU was the Knights of Labor founded in 1869.
This trade union excluded Chinese and partially included
African Americans and women.
The Knights of Labor union opposed child labor and demanded
an 8 hour work day.
In 1884 during the railroad wage cut strike membership
soared to 700,000 people.
A rapid decline soon followed on May 4, 1886 with the
Haymarket Massacre.
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded by
Samuel Gompers and by 1904 membership reached to over 1.4
million nationwide.
The AFL established the use of collective bargaining.
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H.R. 4437
-Border Protection,
Antiterrorism, and Illegal
Immigration Control Act of 2005
-Passed the House of
Representatives but not in the
Senate
-It was meant to strengthen
enforcement of the immigration
laws and enhance border
security
-The bill would have made
helping undocumented people
stay in the U.S. a crime
-This would directly affect
unions because employers would
be able to threaten
undocumented workers with
deportation, thus frightening
them into submission
-Workers would therefore be
afraid to join unions and
surrender their rights
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S. 2611
-Comprehension Immigration
Reform Act of 2006
-It is different from H.R. 4437 in
that it allows for immigrants to
become citizens
-5 years—can apply for citizenship
-2-5 years—can stay for an extra 3
years but after that time period
they must leave the U.S. and they
can apply for citizenship at border
check points
-2 years or less—must return to
their home countries
-It toughened penalties for labor
law violations by employers in
high-risk, low-wage industries that
employ migrant workers
-Had this bill passed unions
believed that immigrant workers
would have been more likely to
join a union because they wouldn’t
be threatened with deportation
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AFL-CIO
-When the Senate introduced
legislation in 2007 that would
legalize approximately 12 million
immigrants and introduce a new
guest worker program the AFLCIO came out against the bill
-The bill would affect large
numbers of manufacturing unions
and create competition in the
workforce due to the
exploitation of immigrants as a
cheaper labor source
-temporary workers who would
have the opportunity to hold
non-seasonal jobs were also seen
as a threat to American workers
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Service Employees International
Union (SEIU), Unite Here, The
Change to Win Federation
-These unions for the most part represent
workers with various occupations such as
hotel employees, restaurant employees,
laundry and textile workers.
-There has been a rise in membership in
these unions because a large number of
their members are immigrants.
-SEIU claims to have more immigrant
members than any other union at 1.8 million
-With a new 12 million potential members
these unions see it as an opportunity to gain
prominence and growth
-The Change to Win Federation is a
collection of 7 unions and over 6 million
workers who, like the SEIU, fight to create a
workable path to legalization for
undocumented immigrants.
-They also believe that the government
should ensure the safety and wages of
immigrant workers to avoid exploitation and
discrimination
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two dominant ideologies are as follows:
-To embrace the immigrants, both legal and
illegal, and incorporate them into the
workforce as a whole
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opposition, the other ideology is to
advocate a means of making the border
infrastructure tight and keep the migrant
workers out in order to preserve the stability
of the nation’s economy
 During
the midterm election in 2006, unions
spent more than $66 million to support
political candidates who they felt would
support their agendas.
 In 2007, the AFL-CIO and its allies succeeded
in getting the Senate to limit the proposed
temporary workers program to only 5 years.
 Additionally the Senate voted to half of the
total guest worker program at only 200,000
workers a year and also to phase it out after
the 5 year mark was reached.
The AFL-CIO spent $53 million and its trade union affiliates
$250 million to help Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential
election
 Obama had promised to push for and sign the Employee
Free Choice Act (EFCA) should Congress pass the measure
 The AFL-CIO and the Center for Labor Renewal (CLR) are
more focused on modern issues of globalization and
corporate exploitation and less community based so their
proposition calls for a mass immigration reform
 They are against guest-worker programs
 The Change to Win Federation believes that immigrants
should have rights and the ability to change jobs without
being tied down to one employer due to their immigrant
status.
 President Obama said the following quote:
“We need immigration reform that will secure our borders,
and punish employers who exploit immigrant labor.”
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