Labor Unions are important

Unions are important because most corporations focus on creating profits at the expense of employees.
The nature of work in America is changing. Employers are trying to shed responsibility for providing health insurance, good pension coverage, reasonable work hours and job safety protections. Instead, companies are making workers' jobs and incomes less secure through downsizing, part-timing, contracting out, and sending jobs off-shore.
More than ever, working people need the collective voice and bargaining power unions provide to keep employers from making the workplace look as it did in the early nineteenth century.
Without collective representation, the threat of sweatshop conditions, unlivable wages and 70-hour work weeks may become a part of working America’s future as well as its past.
Today and in the future, labor unions will continue to play an important role our country’s work force and the quality of life for working families. If you are not a union member, you can learn about the benefits of fighting for the middle class in America.
America’s working families need the representation, collective power, pride in work and fair treatment they in the workplace that they deserve.
Union members – workers like you -- benefit from the union’s collective bargaining power to negotiate with employers on their behalf. This basic right gives you as a union member more power than if you tried to negotiate as an individual. There is strength in numbers.

More benefits of union membership

• Union employees make an average of 30% more than non-union workers.
• 92% of union workers have job-related health coverage versus 68% of non-union workers.
• Union workers are more likely to have guaranteed pensions than non-union employees.

Unions help protect employees from unjust dismissal through collective bargaining agreements (CBA). Because of this, most union employees cannot be fired without “just cause.” This is unlike many nonunion workers who are considered “at-will” employees and can be fired at any time for almost any reason.
Union members also benefit from having the collective power to go on strike. A strike is when a group of workers stops working either in protest of labor conditions or as a bargaining tool during labor/management negotiations.

The origin of labor unions dates back to the eighteenth century and the industrial revolution in Europe. During this time there was a huge surge of new workers into the workplace that needed representation.
In the United States history of unions, early workers and trade unions played an important part in the role for independence. Although their physical efforts for the cause of independence were ineffective, the ideas they introduced, such as protection for workers, became part of our American culture.

Labor union history in the U.S. began in the 19th Century

The history of unions in the United States exploded in the nineteenth century with the founding of the National Labor Union (NLU) in 1866. Unlike today’s unions, the NLU was not exclusive to a particular type of worker. And although the NLU crumbled without making significant gains in establishing workers' rights, its founding set an important precedent in our country.
Soon after, the Knights of Labor emerged in 1869. This group’s membership peaked at about 700,000 and its efforts were focused on addressing key issues such opposition to child labor and demands for an eight-hour day.

In the history of America’s trade and labor unions, the most famous union remains the American Federation of Labor (AFL), founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers. At its pinnacle, the AFL had approximately 1.4 million members. The AFL is credited with successfully negotiating wage increases for its members and enhancing workplace safety for all workers.
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) under John L. Lewis and the larger AFL federation underwent a huge expansion during World War II. The AFL-CIO merger occurred in 1955.
Union membership and power peaked around 1970. At that time, private sector union membership began a steady decline that continues today. However, membership in public sector unions continues to grow consistently. According to a 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistic report, union membership is over 14 million in the United States and in the public sector has grown to over 37%.