One of
the many incentives for companies to off-shore jobs was to unload their labor
unions. Heavily unionized industries may be reluctant to return manufacturing
to the US for fear of unionization.
Throughout
much of U.S. history, union membership remained relatively low, never exceeding
12.1 percent of the labor force until 1920. But things changed in the 1930s.
Union membership jumped from 7.4 percent of the labor force in 1930 to 16.6
percent in 1935. Why this abrupt change?
THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT AND ORGANIZED LABOR PRIOR TO 1933
The
Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 declared illegal “every contract, combination in
the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or
commerce.”
Unions
encouraged members to reduce output (labor) in order to improve working
conditions, receive benefits and seek higher wages.
In
labor-management disputes before 1933, U.S. federal and state courts typical
ruled that union activity constituted an illegal restraint of trade under the
Sherman Act.
Thus
courts before 1933 granted many injunctions against unions, ordering them to
cease organizational activity and strikes.
During
this time, the government favored markets as the sole factor to guide choices
made by employers and employees.
1. The
Great Depression prompted many Americans to question the belief that markets
corrected themselves after disturbances. • Public opinion shifted toward
favoring government intervention in markets. • New Deal legislation changed the
federal government’s legal stance toward organized labor.
2. The
following laws were enacted: • The Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 stopped local
courts from issuing injunctions against union-membership campaigns. • The
Wagner Act of 1935 gave unions a legal right to organize; it also established
the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB), which enforces the rights of
employees to organize and bargain collectively.
3.
Changes in the rules changed the incentives for workers. • Workers seeking
higher wages or other changes in working conditions, standards or regulations
could join a union at minimal cost after the changes mentioned above. This
explains, in part, the jump in union membership between 1930 and 1935.
UNION
MEMBERSHIP RATES,
1890-2000
Year Percentage of Labor Force Composed of Union Members
1890 1.4
1900 2.7
1910 5.6
1920 12.1
1930 7.4
1935 16.6
1940 15.9
1945 22.6
1950 22.9
1960 24.5
1970 27.8
1980 23.3
1990 16.3
2000 13.6
US Labor Unions were
established by Communists, given to the Mafia and taken back by the Communists.
They were linked to the Democrat Party until 2016.
US Labor Union
Membership peaked at 34.8% in 1954.
US Labor Law was said
to be even-handed, but Unions were able to prevent productivity improvements
that would have helped US manufacturers to remain the US. But that was not to be. Union propaganda was
aimed at creating discord in workforces.
By the 1970s, the
United Auto Workers dominated the US auto industry. Quality was poor and
foreign cars with better gas mileage started to become popular with US consumers.
The US Congress allowed foreign product dumping in the US, inflation in the US
reached 13% and entire industries were overwhelmed and closed.
By the 1980s, Japanese
and German vehicles dominated the US markets and US Labor Union membership was
in steep decline.
The classical
Mafia-style extortion practiced by labor unions that opposes increases in
productivity is not likely to attract potential members in the US as
manufacturing returns.
Do labor
unions have a future in the United States? An article by Richard B. Freeman and Kelsey
Hilbrich at Harvard says “No”.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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