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Labor unions are entities that have legal mandate to agitate for rights of workers in America. Labor unions bridge the gap between workers and their employers (Schutz, 2012, p.2). Their mandate revolves around matters that concern workers in their places of work. Unions bargain for fair wages, better working conditions, and represent workers in industrial disputes involving employers. Labor unions assist members in negotiating favorable employment contracts (Schutz, 2012, p.3).
They ensure that members get a fair deal during negotiations with their employers. Unions lobby for the welfare of workers, particularly on matters that touch on critical labor concerns of their members (Schutz, 2012, p.6). There has been a decrease in union membership in the United States. Union officials attribute this to recurrent and persistent coercion and intimidation by employers. Union membership is low in the private sector due to the fragile nature of relations between employees and their employers in the private sector (Schutz, 2012, p.11).
Most active unions are in the public employment sector professions such as teachers and law enforcement agents. Although on a lesser scale, unions are an important organ in the clamor for collective bargaining, especially in political and labor concerns (Schutz, 2012, p.16). The efforts of labor unions are critical in safeguarding the labor and industrial concerns of American workers. Through such efforts, workers achieve a safe and secure work environment, with less hazardous working conditions.
Unions achieve their mandate through intensive lobbying and training of members to sensitize them on their rights, duties, and responsibilities in the workplace (Schutz, 2012, p.22). This essay seeks to determine the relevance of labor unions in an ever-expanding labor market in the United States.
The essay will interrogate the symbiotic relationship between labor unions and the middle class in the United States. This essay will demonstrate how struggles and accomplishments of labor unions have critically influenced the development of a strong middle class. The essay will achieve this by providing clear and concrete evidence about the relationship between labor unions and a strong middle class.
Recently, there has been a decline in the opportunities for middle-class workers in the United States (Morley, 2012, p.32). There have been massive and unprecedented job cuts and unwarranted layoffs. The working conditions of workers continue to deteriorate across the American labor market. Such factors have contributed to the current situation in the middle-class population. Most members of the middle class continue to experience harsh living conditions (Morley, 2012, p.34).
Most members of the American middle class are workers in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Therefore, issues that affect workers have similar effects on the middle class. The present-day labor unions are weak and less effective compared to those of yester-years. Unions face a decline in popularity due to various legal and situational constraints that undermine their operations in the current labor market (Morley, 2012, p.41). Therefore, it is evident that the weakening of labor unions has led to the weakening of the middle class. This demonstrates how labor unions influence the sustenance and propagation of a strong middle class.
Critics of labor unions argue that they are irrelevant and inefficient in the contemporary American labor market. They claim that unions are detrimental to the basic economic prospects of this country (Morley, 2012, p.43). However, it is evident that labor unions are critical in building and sustaining a strong and progressive middle class in America. The middle class has continually declined and stagnated for many years (Morley, 2012, p.44).
This is due to the declining popularity of labor unions in the labor market. Unions empower the middle class by agitating for better working conditions, thereby improving the living conditions of the middle class. When unions are powerful, they ensure better wages for workers and have an upper hand in negotiating for the welfare of the workers (Agostino, 2012, p.19). The benefits to workers translate directly on the middle class because the middle class comprises industrial, manufacturing, and other classes of workers.
Unions encourage political participation at all levels of government (Agostino, 2012, p.21). They also help workers to influence various government policies that affect the middle class. Through the efforts of labor unions, workers benefit in areas relating to social security, family leave, and improved remuneration. All these issues are pertinent to developing and sustaining a strong middle class (Agostino, 2012, p.24).
In the last four decades, unions have witnessed a decline in their influence on matters related to the labor market. This has affected the middle class because of the numerous threats that they face in the labor market. The number of union members has declined due to legal and political factors that hinder their enrolment to labor unions (Levins, 2011, p.11).
This reality has had negative effects on the overall prospects of workers, thereby resulting in a weak middle class. Therefore, it is evident that the strength of labor unions is directly proportional to that of the middle class. For instance, membership in the private sector is 7% compared to 62% four decades ago (Levins, 2011, p.14). This has reduced the bargaining power of workers. Consequently, the middle class has suffered immeasurable setbacks that have resulted in its weakening and deterioration.
Without adequate representation in labor unions, the middle class diminishes because the rich and powerful dominate the economic and political landscape of the country (Levins, 2011, p.19). This effectively alienates the middle class from the inherent benefits of economic prosperity and advancement. Studies indicate that the amount of income that flows to the middle class reflects the prevailing situation in terms of union membership.
The middle class suffered in the last decades due to the dominance of the rich in areas of economic progression and growth (Yates, 2012, p.43). Evidence attributes this to the weakening of labor unions, thereby eroding the gains achieved in previous decades.
Indeed, it is difficult to conceptualize a strong and dominant middle class in the absence of strong and elaborate labor union movements. All countries with a strong and dominant middle class have corresponding labor unions with the strength of similar magnitude (Yates, 2012, p.44). In the United States, states with strong labor unions have a strong and dominant middle class. The ten states with the least prevalence of union members record a feeble and inconsequential middle class.
This is a clear indication that labor unions play a vital role in determining the social and economic prospects of the middle class (Yates, 2012, p.45). This research paper proves that efforts by labor unions affect positively on the prospects of the middle class. Therefore, the success of the middle class in the United States depends on the efforts, struggles, and accomplishments of labor unions, their leaders, and their members. Labor unions assist members in negotiating favorable employment contracts. They ensure that members get a fair deal during negotiations with their employers. Unions lobby for the welfare of workers, particularly on matters that touch on critical labor concerns of their members.
References
Agostino, B. (2012). The Middle Class Fights Back. Newyork: ABC-CLIO.
Levins, R. (2011). Middle Class-Union Made. Newyork: Itasca Books.
Morley, P. (2012). Labor Unions: A Pathway to a Strong Middle Class. Newyork: Taylor & Francis.
Schutz, K. (2012). The Importance of Unions in the Current Economic System. London: GRIN Verlag.
Yates, M. (2012). Why Unions Matter. London: The Monthly Press.
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