History of Collective Bargaining in the United States First Strike: Philadelphia printers in 1786...
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Transcript of History of Collective Bargaining in the United States First Strike: Philadelphia printers in 1786...
History of Collective Bargaining in the United States
First Strike: Philadelphia printers in 1786New York printers in 1790
First unions: 1792: Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers, Philadelphia1794 Journeymen printers, New York
Employer and Union Tactics
• Craft union approaches firm, asks for agreed pay. Strike employers who refuse.
• Uncooperative workers ostracized, labeled rats, scabs• Early strikes successful
• 1806: Philadelphia Cordwainers union broken by court injunction against strike• Srikes declared “criminal conspiracy to disrupt managerial
prerogative to set wages”• Unions lose 4 of 6 similar cases in 1820s
• Other constraints: Immigrants, slow growth, mechanization, local unions
History (continued)1842 Commonwealth v. Hunt legalizes strikes
1850 First national union: printers
1866 National Labor UnionPrimarily politicalLasts 6 years
1869 Knights of LaborEmphasizes 3rd party actionsCombination of craft, industrial unionsEmbarassed by strikes, but Wabash strike leads to
rapid growth
History (continued)Violence
1875 Molly Maguires in mining, Pennsylvania and West Virginia
1886 Haymarket Riot, Chicago: Strike for 8 hour day
1892 Homestead Steel, Pennsylvania: Lockout when workers refuse wage cuts
1894 Pullman Strike, Illinois: strike over layoffs, wage cuts
1914 Ludlow, Colorado mines, lockout when union presses for recognition
History (continued)Other constraints on unions
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act1902 United Hatters of North America strike
against Loewe and Company
Yellow dog contractsIndustrial spiesBlacklistingCompany unionsSweetheart deals
A Tale of Two Unions
1886- American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Samuel Gompers and business unionismcrafts onlyinstituted collective bargainingsupport capitalismaudited booksuse of strikes supported by national
resources
A Tale of Two Unions (continued)
1905-1920 Industrial Workers of the World
Big Bill Haywood and Revolutionary unionism
Aim: overthrow capitalism, workers control capital
Industrial unions (agriculture, mining, loggers)lax duesEmbezzlement by organizersGreat songs
A Tale of Two Unions (continued)
By 1920, IWW all but gone (1,000 members today)
AFL had 280,000 members in 18981.5 million members by 19043 million members by 192013 million today
1926 Railway Labor Act
1936 Airlines covered under RLA
Include many of the features that were later added to the NLRA, Taft Hartley
1930 Texas & New Orleans Railroad Co v. Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks
Validate unions under the Commerce clauseCongress shall have the power to regulate commerce…among the several states
Congress can make collective action “an instrument of peace rather than strife.”
1931 Davis Bacon Act
• Must pay prevailing local wage on federal projects
• Prevailing wage defined as the wage that separates the lowest 70% from the top 30%
• Several states followed suit• Des Moines Iowa Events Center
• Most federal government projects employ union members
1932 Norris La Guardia Act
• Invalidates use of Sherman Anti-Trust act in labor disputes
• Declares “Yellow Dog” contracts unenforceable
1935 National Labor Relations ActWagner Act
Ushered in the era of the most rapid union gains in U.S. history
Between 1935-1947, Union density rises from 13% to 35%1700 company unions disbanded76,000 workers fired for union activity reinstated 5,070 bargaining units certified
Other reasons?
NLRA Features
Coverage
Exclude: federal, state employees
agricultural workers
domestic servants
independent contractors
supervisors
Include: U.S. Postal Service
Large private firms
NLRA Features
Section 7: Rights of employees
Employees shall have the right to self-organize, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all such activity except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment.
NLRA Features
Section 8: Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) for the employer
8(a)(1): to interfere with activities in Sect. 7
8(a)(2): to dominate or support a union
8(a)(3): to discriminate on the basis of union interest
8(a)(4): to punish worker(s) who file a ULP charge
8(a)(5): to refuse to bargain in good faith
NLRA Features
1937 NLRB v. Jones Laughlin Steel upholds NLRA 5-4
Under Commerce clause, Proper for Congress to prohibit employers from interfering with the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively because of the catastrophic effects that strikes could have on interstate commerce.
World War II and its immediate aftermath
• Rapid union growth• Wage and price controls, no-strike pledges• UMW refuses, 2 strikes led by John L. Lewis • Pent-up wage demands
1945 GM and Ford strike
1946 Strikes in oil, lumber, textiles, electrical industry, steel, coal; railroad workers threaten to walk out
Truman responds
1947 Taft Hartley Amendments
Unfair labor practice for union8(b)(1)(A): to coerce workers to join8(b)(1)(B): to coerce employer regarding representation8(b)(2): to coerce employer to punish employees8(b)(3): to refuse to bargain in good faith8(b)(4): to coerce “hot cargo” contracts
to engage in secondary boycottsto compel firm to bargain when another union is
already recognizedto strike over a jurisdictional dispute
1947 Taft Hartley Amendments
Unfair labor practice for union
8(b)(5): to charge excessive fees
8(b)(6): to coerce employer to pay for services not performed
8(b)(7): restrictions on representational and organizational pickets
informative pickets are ok
14(b): to require workers join a union in a right-to-work state
1947 Taft Hartley Amendments
Sect 202 Establishment of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)
Sect 206: Cooling off period in national emergencies
1959 Landrum-Griffin Act
• Workers bill of rights• Democratic elections• Rules for trusteeships• Rules for financial reporting• Allows a form of closed shop for building trades
Other laws
1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act
1965 Affirmative Action
1938 Fair Labor Standards Act
1974 Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA)
1975 Occupational Safety and Health Act
1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
Union declines since 1947
• Taft Hartley?• Demographics?• Economic growth in nonunion sectors?• Economic growth in the West and South?• Federal labor legislation?
Union declines since 1947
• Taft Hartley?• Mixed, perhaps it slowed growthMixed, perhaps it slowed growth
• Demographics?• Women? Not a big effect. Bigger in some European Women? Not a big effect. Bigger in some European
countriescountries
• Education? Not a big effect due to increases in union Education? Not a big effect due to increases in union strength in the public sectorstrength in the public sector
• Age? Unionization rises with age, so aging labor force Age? Unionization rises with age, so aging labor force should help unionsshould help unions
Union declines since 1947
• Economic growth in nonunion sectors• Rapid growth in service, F.I.R.E., trade sectors that had Rapid growth in service, F.I.R.E., trade sectors that had
low union densitylow union density
• Declines in manufacturing, Declines in manufacturing,
• Also decrease in union density within sectorsAlso decrease in union density within sectors
• Economic growth in the West and South• Strong evidence supporting role of regional growthStrong evidence supporting role of regional growth
• Federal Legislation• ERISA, OSHA, Title VII, SS, WC, UI, COBRA, ….ERISA, OSHA, Title VII, SS, WC, UI, COBRA, ….