Beginning in 1866, the United States entered the realm of labor unions. Today, about 12% of American workers belong to a union.
New Deal begins the Change
The Great Depression started a conversation about workers' rights. With so many Americans without a job, and the rich elite still wealthy, the government began to rethink the role of labor unions in the economic picture.
The Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) was created in 1935. By 1945, over 12 million workers had signed up to be a part of a union.
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One main reason was the fact the government supported the workers' right to collective bargaining. Under this kind of negotiation, both the union representatives and the management sit down at the same table. The goal of "collective"
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The post-WWII demand for U.S. goods allowed factories in America to flourish, and workers to enter the Middle Class.
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However, beginning in the 1970s, globalization saw goods from other nations start to come into the United States. Suddenly, there was competition. Plant closings in the 1980s and into the 1990s began to decimate union memberships around the United States.
1975-1985
By the mid-1980s, union membership in the United States dropped by over 5 million workers. Unionized manufacturing jobs were below 25%.
The unions that did survive the manufacturing downturn were public sector unions. Professional unions, like the National Education Association (teachers), were the new norm.
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In the 1980s, unions did not receive much help from the government. The Reagan Administration did not support unions - and actually broke a nation-wide strike of air traffic controllers. By the end of the 1980s, less than 17% of workers in the United States belonged to a union (half of what it was in the 1950s).
Today
In today's United States unions have seen a massive