13. End of the period Flashcards
falling membership which begun in 1960s continued up to
1992
rights that had been won
largely remained
power and importance of unions reduced compared to
1960s and period of the New Deal
Organised Labour certainly in a stronger position than in
1865
what was the decline in union membership a reflection of (3 things)
- continuing change in the structure of the American workforce and economy
- events such as the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike in 1981
- change in attitude towards unions among government and public
why did the number of strikes and number of workers taking part in strikes decrease?
lack of public sympathy for PATCO
why were there divisions within the union movement (weakening the movement)
unwilling to support PATCO air traffic controllers whom they perceived as well paid
what did the decline in factories and businesses mean
more difficult to organise workers and this impacted on union recruitment
what was the decline in membership encouraged by
continued provision of employers of generous welfare packages = many workers no worse off than in the earlier periods but saw little to be gained from union membership.
increasing number of female and white collar workers who were
less interested in joining unions = union membership declines
the period witnessed the growth of
non-unionised firms
what did non unionised firms mean
employers able to ignore law and deny workers their rights
increasing trend when employers discovered they could get away with it
NLRB less willing to defend union rights =
employers interests taking precedence over those of the workers
employer now in a stronger position than during the period of
new deal
WW2
by 1992 workers had the right to
3 things
- join union (although there were non-union firms)
- collective bargaining (but threat of unemployment weakened their position)
- strike (although some gov workers forbidden and some firms where employees had signed no-strike clauses)
