HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

1
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
2
Union Growth and Decline

• 1897 - 1905
• Increase from 3.5 - 12.3
• 1905 - 1915
• Stayed at about 10-11
• 1915 - 1921
• Increase from 11.2 - 19.6
• 1922- 1933
• Decrease from 19 - 11.8
• 1934 - WWII
• Increased from about 11.8 to 21.8

3
Union Growth and Decline(WWII and Since)

• 1945 - 29.9
• 1953 - 32
• 1955 - 35
• Steady Decline since mid 1950s

4
Unionization, Comparison of Recent Years

• 1996
• Total U.S.
• 14.5 members 16.2 repped
• By sector
• Private - 10.2 members 11.2 repped
• Public - 37.7 members 43.0 repped

• 1999
• Total U.S.
• 13.9 members 15.3 repped
• By sector
• Private - 9.4 members 10.2 repped
• Public - 37.3 members 42.1 repped

5
Historical Influences on U.S. Unionism

• Strong Management and Employers
• Law and Government Policy
• Inability of Unions to Stay Organized

6
Labor History An Overview

• Knights of Labor
• 1869 - 1890
• Fast Rise and Decline
• Industrial Workers of the World
• 1905-1920
• class consciousness

7
Modern Union Structures

• American Federation of Labor
• 1881(renamed AFL in 1886)
• Conservative
• Survival Oriented
• Craft Structure
• Congress of Industrial Organizations (1935-38)
• Industrial Unions
• 1955 Merger of AFL and CIO

8
Management Practices(Great Variation in U.S.)

• 1900- 1920s
• Overt Hostility
• Mid 1920s to early 1930s
• Welfare Capitalism and Company Unionism
• 1930s to 1950s
• resistance and adversarialism
• Since 1950s
• Bifurcated IR system, union and nonunion