Sunday, June 9, 2019

US Labor Union Problem


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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