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The Pros And Cons Of Labor Unions

745 Words3 Pages

Labor Unions were initiated in the United States in the mid-late 1800s. In 1935, The National Labor Relations Act was enacted by Congress, the act defined and defended the rights of the employment relationship. The act allowed employees the right to unionize and have the union represent them through collective bargaining. The act was seen as incompatible with democratic principles and “unionization was viewed as a means for public servants to coerce public officials into granting favorable employment terms given the workers’ control over the function of government” (Battaglio, 2017). Both private and public labor unions are similar because they both advocate on behalf of workers, however, they are governed by different laws in labor relations …show more content…

Presently, 28 U.S. states have laws or constitutional provisions that incorporate right-to-work provisions (Klaskin, 2023). "Right-to-Work" laws, provide states the authority to determine whether workers can be required to join a labor union to get or keep a job (Battaglio, 2017). Supporters have argued that these laws protect workers' freedom of association and prevent unions from forcing workers to pay dues against their will. They also allow workers to receive the benefits of union representation as well. Their adversaries claim that these laws weaken unions by reducing their funding and bargaining power, which can ultimately harm workers by leading to lower wages and fewer benefits. Additionally, these laws limit the topics of collective bargaining by forbidding discussions on union-related release time or hiring of non-union contractors. (Klaskin, 2023). Moreover, these laws empower management to modify public employees' pension benefits from defined benefits to defined contributions, relocate the management of pension funds to private entities, and obstruct socially responsible investments by the pension funds. (Klaskin,

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