(Brief) History of Worker Rights (Brief) History of Worker Rights Struggles in the United States: Struggles in the United States:

1930s- 20121930s- 2012

Dr. Gary HytrekDr. Gary HytrekDepartment of SociologyDepartment of Sociology

California State University, Long BeachCalifornia State University, Long Beach

National Industrial Recovery Act

The NIRA (1933):

The purpose of the NIRA was to put people back to work, raise the purchasing power of labor and elevate labor standards. Most importantly it was to create a unified American front in the domestic war against the Great Depression.

Eleanor Roosevelt hanging an NRA sign: "We Do Our Part"

Government Regulation of Labor Government Regulation of Labor RelationsRelations

NLRA: Evolved out of the National Industrial Recovery (1933)

The NRA had a two-year renewal charter that was set to expire in June 1935 if not renewed.

In 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared that the NRA law was unconstitutional, ruling that it infringed the separation of powers under the United States Constitution.

Wagner Act (1935): The Result was the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935.

The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) of 1935

Before the law, employers had liberty to spy upon, question, punish, blacklist, and fire union members.

Even with the NRA, which granted labor the right to organize, employers dogmatically resisted those attempts..

NLRA addressed these isses.

Welcomed as the Magna Carta of American labor.

The Wagner Act Basics

Protects employee rights to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their choice.

Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) , an independent Board to govern business – labor relations in the U.S. as set by law

Called for secret ballot elections of union representatives.

Prevents and remedies unfair labor practices.

Coverage:

Coverage all workers except:

federal, state employees

agricultural workers

domestic servants

independent contractors

supervisors

Include:

U.S. Postal Service

Large private firms

Workers’ Rights

Section 7 of the Act guarantees these rights:

To self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through freely chosen representatives.

To engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

To refrain from any or all of such activities except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment.

Unfair Labor Practices:

Section 8: Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) for the employer

to interfere with activities in Sect. 7

to dominate or support a union

to discriminate on the basis of union interest

to punish worker(s) who file a ULP charge

to refuse to bargain in good faith

Legal Challenges

1937: NLRB v. Jones Laughlin Steel upholds NLRA 5-4

Under Commerce clause, Proper for Congress to prohibit employers from interfering with the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively because of the catastrophic effects that strikes could have on interstate commerce.

Immediate Outcomes

NLRB: Ushered in the era of the most rapid union gains in U.S. history

Between 1935-1952, Union density rises from 13% to 35%; from 3.2 million to 10 million in 1942 to 16 million in 1952Over 1700 company unions disbandedOver 76,000 workers fired for union activity reinstated

Over 5,070 bargaining units certified

World War II and the immediate aftermath

Rapid union growth: Union Membership doubled from 7.2 million in 1940 to 14.5 million at war's end.

Wage and price controls, no-strike pledges during the War Pent-up wage demands Unresolved working conditions issues Working conditions and the no-strike pledge that most

labor unions took during WWII caused a build-up of labor disputes that exploded once the war had ended.

1946 Strikes: No year, before or since, saw so many strikes, and

such a large percentage of people on strike, or so many industries effected by strikes, as 1946.

1945: GM and Ford strike

1946: Strikes in oil, lumber, textiles, electrical industry,

steel, coal; railroad workers threaten to walk out

In total, 4.3 million workers participated in the strikes. According to Jeremy Brecher, they were "the closest thing to a national general strike of industry in the twentieth century.

Picketers (and dog) in jail during Rochester General Strike

Sugar Workers demonstrate a Olaa Plantation in Hawaii—one of Hawaii’s biggest employers

Mounted police clear strikers from the street at Westinghouse strike

Movie time news:

Blowback:

The GOP gained 55 seats in the 1946 mid-term elections and regained control of the House for the first time since Hoover was president.

  The Republican dominated House passed the Taft-Hartley Act in

1947

Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode Truman's veto on June 23. The law became known as the "slave-labor bill" in union circles

The 1947 Taft Hartley Amendments

Prohibited jurisdictional strikes, secondary boycotts and "common situs" picketing*, closed shops, and monetary donations by unions to federal political campaigns.

Unfair labor practice for union included

to charge excessive fees

restrictions on representational and organizational pickets informative pickets are ok

to require workers join a union in a right-to-work state

* The picketing of an entire construction site by a trade union having a grievance with only a single subcontractor working there.

Other laws

1938 Fair Labor Standards Act

1959 Landrum-Griffin Act

1963 The Equal Pay Act

1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

1965 Affirmative Action

1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act

1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act

1974 Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA)

1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

1990 Americans with Disabilities Act

Workers’ Rights in the Post 1960 Period

Union Decline since the 1950s: Context

Declining unionization: Private & Public Union Coverage in the United States, 1973-2009*

* COVERAGE WAS 12.6% IN 2012.

As Union Membership Decreases, Middle Class Incomes Shrink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eccQc9M1mc&feature=player_embedded

Source: David Madland, Karla Walter, and Nick Bunker. 2011. “Unions Make the Middle Class: Without Unions, the Middle Class Withers. Center of American Progress Action Fund. (April)

The minimum wage has varied from a maximum of 90% of the poverty level in 1968 and has averaged two thirds of the poverty level since 1959, when the poverty level was established. The lowest percentage was 2006, just before Congress raised it for the first time in a decade; the longest period without an adjustment in the minimum wage.

Minimum Wage and the Poverty Line

The divergence in income growth is especially noticeable since 1979 and corresponds with a decline in union influence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QSYOedwIjMU

Source: Ross Eisenbrey and Colin Gordon 2012. “Union Decline and Rising Inequality.” Economic Policy Institute. (June 6).

Union And Shared Prosperity in the US.

Factors for the Decline:

Economic growth in nonunion sectors Rapid growth in service, F.I.R.E., trade sectors that had

low union density Declines in manufacturing,

Economic growth in the West and South (right-to-work states)

Union Strategy Many Unions transformed into “servicing

bureaucracies”… Emphasis on narrow “bread and butter” issues

At the Workplace Level: Human Relations offices institutionalized workers rights as

individual rights Employer use of intimidation, firings, legal foot-dragging,

consultants, sub-contracting, offshoring…

At the Federal Level: Continued resistance to ratifying ILO Conventions 87 &

98 Pro-business appointees to the NLRB

Federal Legislation ERISA, OSHA, Title VII, SS, WC, UI, COBRA, …., …. Neoliberal Policies shifting power to capital

Culture: The emphasis on individual rights and the emphasis on freedom

from bodily harm We could also include labor as anti-American (against the basic

“American values of individualism, meritocracy); solely concerned with narrow union issues of wages or with expanding membership to increase dues;

Politics: Following Reagan the role of the state has shifted from

protecting collective rights to emphasizing individual and negative rights

Framing: Business vs Labor: Business as creators of the consumer

economy; labor as the impediment by adding costs, resulting in poor-quality goods or delaying instance gratification of consumer of goods and services ( via strikes and inefficiencies).

Workers as resources not rights-bearing subjects

Living Wage Movement: Lessons for Workers’ Rights

One reaction is the Living Wage Movement intended to rebuild the reputation and power of labor & reduce income inequality by directly addressing these concerns.

Living Wage Practical Definition

What is a “Living Wage”? A wage sufficient to maintain a decent standard

of living (adequate food, shelter, and other necessities). With a living wage, a worker should be able to support him-or herself and their family without resorting to welfare or other public assistance. Living wage varies based on the area-specific cost of living.

Living Wage: Philosophical Definition:

Basic and narrow: That those working full time year-round should be paid enough to support a family at least at the poverty line.

Broad: Those working full time year-round should be paid enough to provide a level of affluence to allow the life of a civilized life according to the standards prevailing in the society.

This broader conceptualization is based on the fundamental human right to have the ability—or capabilities—to support a family, to maintain self-respect, and to have the means and the leisure to participate in the civic life of the community.

Living Wage Idea: Grew out of the political difficulties to increase the minimum

wage—we should keep in mind that the minimum wage reflects the distribution of power.

Intended to combat the local jobs at any costs development strategies by reframing the issue as a one in which a growing number of workers are unable to support their families. 

Designed to create a larger local movement by winning limited victories through specifically targeted places—e.g., Ex: LAX Hotel Workers; LA City; Santa Monica. These limited victories will be used to build a broader coalition and address other community needs.

Living Wage Movement

Why Is it a Movement: Ongoing Process: It isn’t simply about raising wages,

but about creating a voice for the community in the public discourse.

Broad Repertoire: Campaigns employ a variety of means to achieve their goals, direct action, new coalitions, rallies, marches and etc.

Broad local Demands: Demands reflect the needs and concerns of the broader community, not just labor, or just faith-based issues and built upon existing orgs and network

Process: Passed through city council or via ballot initiative.

Imposes a wage floor that is higher than federal and state minimum wages for specific category of workers—city or county employees or employees of any company doing business with or within that city or county, & etc;

Often explicitly pegged to the wage level needed for a family of 3 or 4, with one full-time, year-round worker to reach the federal poverty line— though ordinances that have passed range from $6.25 to $14.00 an hour, with some newer campaigns pushing for higher wages.

Coverage is typically narrow; specifically targets a limited

number of workers.

Brief History: Arrived on the scene in the late 1980s but is really a new

formulation of an old concept. The term was used extensively in the early 20th century debates over the minimum wage, but the concept of a living wage has no necessary relationship to the minimum wage. The current usage is an attempt to move us beyond the old debates over minimum wages.

History Cont:

1988: Des Moines: City Council set a $7.00/hr. minimum compensation policy for City-funded urban renewal and loan projects—Des Moines was the first, but Baltimore was the first city to use the language Living Wage; Des Moines used Min. Compensation Policy.

1997: LA passed its Living Wage ordinances in 1997 through the city council: $7.25/hour, 45% above the existing statewide minimum wage of $5.00—today its $10.42/hour, with health benefits, or $11.67/hour without (adjusted annually).

2007: Over 140 living wage ordinances in place throughout the country (implemented through city councils and by proposition).

2012: Long Beach: $13/hour, tip protection, 5 PTO, COLA

Living Wage Versus Minimum Wage:

Focus: Local City or County versus. National.

Workers: Limited number of workers versus all U.S. workers—

except some categories: ag workers,

Coverage: wages—pegged to inflation, including benefits;

prohibit harassing workers who chose to organize, local hiring preferences and etc. versus only wages.

Symbolic victories?

Are these symbolic victories with no real meaning?

Three points are important: Coverage: Even if an ordinance only covers city

workers, the number is often quite large, as Luce points out.

Perceptions: Even symbolic victories are important in putting the idea of fairness, what are we getting for our public investment and etc. on the table for discussion. And serving as a basis for other campaigns: asking why other workers aren’t covered. The re-framing issue.

Standards: Sets higher workplace standards

Standards:Standards: Legislation that raises wages of the lowest workers puts

pressure on wage levels above these workers—the rippling effects.

Additionally, low-wage workers are highly vulnerable to employer pressure, and living wage ordinances can explicitly address the issue of freedom of association.

These victories begin to raise the bar for other companies and industries creating a “wedge” for other broader campaigns.

Counter the existing strategy—the race to the bottom strategy that is part of the present form of globalization.

Coalitions: Generates bonding and bridging social capital through

coalition building New coalitions bring hard to reach workers into the

struggle; generates publicity about the issues and pursue campaigns beyond wages to other quality of life issues.

The campaigns create legal, economic, and political environments in which workers and communities can fight the power of money.

(Re)Builds Community by enhance community power and democracy because of the need for monitoring and enforcement.

Summary:

Living-wage campaigns are innovative in four important respects. Target communities thereby establishing a basis for broader appeals (such as questioning jobs-at-any-cost strategies).

Forge alliances based on multi issue campaigns which differs from previous actions where groups tended to focus on concerns unique to each one; consequently they acted alone on specific issues or in smaller coalitions.

Truly local community efforts that focus on the community rather than industry—embodied in community-based ordinances as the most common. By mobilizing the community these networks and coalitions can serve as the basis for other community campaigns focused and combat the individualizing effects of globalization.

Educate the community about unions and unions about the community.