The union movement in the U.S.

    The union movement in the U.S. has existed in some form or another for more than 200 years. During that time, the nature of unions has evolved due to legal and political factors that have shaped the balance of power between unions and management. Over the past several decades though, union membership as a percent of the U.S. workforce has declined to less than 13% of the workforce and less than 8% of the private sector workforce. In the past several years though, certain unions have prospered by organizing thousands of janitors, health care workers, cleaners, and other low-paid workers. The purpose of this assignment is to help you learn more about unions and increase your understanding of the potential benefits and challenges associated with a) being a union member, and b) being an employer with a unionized workforce. Go to the website for either the Change to Win labor federation (http://www.changetowin.org ) or the AFL-CIO (www.afl-cio.org ) and identify the affiliated unions. Choose one of the affiliates and research its purpose, history, membership size and types of employees represented. Also identify names of employers with whom it has an agreement. Identify and interview someone who is a member of a union. In your interview, address at least the following questions: How long have you been a member of a union? Why did you join the union? How has being a union member affected your job, including what you are required to do and your promotion opportunities? Would you advise other workers to join the union? Why or why not? Watch the BBC report at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17121978 and conduct Internet research on instances of labor rights violations. Based on what you learned, how do you think employees of these organization(s) could benefit from having a labor union? What would be the impact on the managers and the organization(s) if their workforce became unionized? Write up a 1-2 page summary of what you learned through your research and interviews. Make sure to cite support for your assertions.