Labor Union

C

Union Organizers

Finally, the success of union organization depends on the ability of union organizers (union representatives who help workers form unions). Organizers inform workers of their rights and of the benefits of union membership, and organizers help workers take the necessary steps to hold a certification election. They also inform the public about issues affecting labor and inform the government of any violations of workers’ rights on the part of employers.

III

Types of Unions

Traditionally, there have been two main types of labor unions in the United States: craft unions and industrial unions. A craft union organizes workers employed in the same occupation or craft, regardless of where they work. Examples include unions of electricians, carpenters, and printers. Craft unions descend from the guilds of printers and shoemakers that started the labor movement in the United States.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL), which formed in 1886, became the country’s first organization of craft unions. Samuel Gompers, leader of the cigar-makers union, served as the first president of the AFL. Under his leadership, the AFL set out a list of principles that guided the federation for many decades and that encouraged many of the national craft unions to join. The AFL gave each affiliated national craft union complete autonomy over its internal affairs and granted the national craft union exclusive jurisdiction over organizing workers employed in that craft.

The second type of union, the industrial union, organizes all workers in a particular industry, regardless of the workers’ crafts. Examples of industrial unions include the United Steelworkers of America and the United Mine Workers of America (UMW). These unions organize all workers in the steel industry and the mining industry respectively, regardless of the workers’ particular tasks. The Committee for Industrial Organization, formed within the AFL in 1935 by UMW president John L. Lewis, sought to organize workers by industry, including unskilled workers.

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The committee was expelled from the AFL in 1938 and took the name Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), becoming the first federation of industrial unions in the United States. The expulsion stemmed from the conflict between the older craft unions, which claimed organizational jurisdiction over all workers in a particular craft, and the newer industrial unions, which organized all workers in a particular industry. In 1955 the two federations merged and formed the AFL-CIO as the central organization in the American labor movement. The head of the AFL at the time, George Meany, became the first president of the new federation.

The traditional distinction between craft and industrial unions no longer provides a neat summary of the union situation in the United States because of changes in the economy and the political environment. Older craft and industrial unions mainly organized blue-collar workers in the private sector. The last decades of the 20th century saw increased organization of professional workers in unions such as the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Professional Nurses Association. Many of these unions have grown rapidly. From 1971 to 1995 the membership of the American Federation of Teachers, for example, rose from 194,000 to 613,000.

Unionism in the public sector has also grown rapidly, spurred by laws of the 1960s that extended the right to collective bargaining to government workers. From 1971 to 2000, the membership of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) grew from 458,000 to 1.3 million. However, public-sector unions face a different economic environment than private-sector unions. Limits on the demands of private-sector unions arise from the higher costs these demands potentially incur for firms. A private-sector firm may close down, lay off workers, or move out of the area to avoid higher labor costs. Public-sector “firms”—primarily, government agencies—rely on taxes to pay employees’ salaries. Although they are unlikely to shut down, the ability of a local government to pay for union demands is limited by the local tax base. However, public-sector workers may become a potent political force in some localities and increase the power of their unions.

IV

Union Organization

National unions represent workers from throughout the United States and in some cases workers in other countries, chiefly Canada. Most national unions also have local branches, known as locals, which represent workers in a city or a particular plant. Locals follow the policies of the national union. Some unions also have regional councils, which represent various locals within a region. About 50 national unions are affiliated with the AFL-CIO. In 2005 a major split occurred in the AFL-CIO when three of the largest unions—the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) with 1.8 million members, the Teamsters Union with 1.4 million members, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)—withdrew to form the Change to Win Coalition.

A

Levels of Organization

Union members in the United States typically belong to a local. The local in a craft union may represent all members of that craft who reside in a particular geographic area, usually a city or a metropolitan area. Local 32 of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers, for example, covers workers employed in those trades in Detroit, Michigan, and surrounding counties. The local in an industrial union, on the other hand, typically represents all workers employed at a particular workplace operated by a firm in that industry. Local 325 of the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW), for example, represents workers employed at the Ford plant in St. Louis, Missouri.

The AFL-CIO represents the interests of its affiliated unions before the American public, the federal government, and international forums, including the International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency that is associated with the United Nations (UN). The main objective of the AFL-CIO is to provide a single, national voice for the diverse unions under its umbrella, to engage in political lobbying for policies and legislation favorable to labor, and to support political candidates who are sympathetic to labor’s social and economic agenda. The newly formed Change to Win Coalition is primarily dedicated to organizing nonunion workers. It also calls for unions to merge into larger organizations so that they will have more clout in negotiating with multinational corporations.

B

Roles of Each Level

Each tier in the union organization plays a different role in the collective bargaining process. The AFL-CIO itself does not engage in collective bargaining with employers, although it may help influence the negotiations through its support for a striking union. The roles of the local and national union often depend on the unionized firm’s market. If the firm provides goods and services mostly to a local economy—as a construction firm typically does—then the local union plays the central role in collective bargaining, because it has more familiarity with employment conditions at the firm and with the local economic environment. The national union may provide expertise and guidance during negotiations, but local officials make the key decisions. If the unionized firm serves a national or international market, as in the case of automobile manufacture, the national union then takes the lead in the collective bargaining process.

Large employers typically have labor relations or personnel departments that deal with problems in the negotiation and day-to-day administration of labor agreements. Because officials of local unions have firsthand knowledge of working conditions at unionized firms, these officials deal directly with such departments to ensure compliance with the provisions of the agreement. Most collective bargaining agreements provide for the filing of grievances in regard to alleged violations of the agreement. Management, the union, or individual employees can file a grievance. The agreements also state that unresolved grievances may be submitted to arbitration for a final decision. See also Labor Relations.

The AFL-CIO and national unions typically engage in political lobbying. The AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education lobbies and sponsors advertising campaigns on issues of concern to the labor movement. It also funds candidates who are supportive of labor issues. National unions often play a major role in political debate over social policy issues that are of particular concern to their members. The unions provide information about the candidates’ positions on issues likely to concern the union membership. National unions also provide funding to political candidates that support the union’s goals. In 1995 and 1996 various political action committees of the labor movement contributed $48 million to federal political candidates.

The AFL-CIO also operates an Organizing Institute, created in 1989, which holds training programs for people interested in becoming union organizers. Union organizers assist workers in nonunion establishments to certify a union as their collective bargaining representative. A trained union organizer can help workers overcome employer opposition and can guide workers through the procedures of a certification election. The institute places the graduates of the program in organizing campaigns in affiliated national unions.

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