Labour and Workers Movements
The labour movement in the United States grew out of the need to protect the common interest of workers. For those in the industrial sector, organized labour unions fought for better wages, reasonable hours and safer working conditions. The labour movement led efforts to stop child labour, give health benefits and provide aid to workers who were injured or retired.
Labour Unions
A labour union is an organization formed by workers in a particular trade, industry, or company to improve pay, benefits, and working conditions. Officially known as a “labour organization,” and also called a “trade union” or a “workers union,” a labour union selects representatives to negotiate with employers in a process known as collective bargaining. When successful, the bargaining results in an agreement that stipulates working conditions for a while.
Origins
The origins of the labour movement lay in the formative years of the American nation when a free wage-labour market emerged in the artisan trades late in the colonial period. The earliest recorded strike occurred in 1768 when New York journeymen tailors protested a wage reduction. From that time on, local craft unions proliferated in the cities, publishing lists of “prices” for their work, defending their trades against diluted and cheap labour and, increasingly, demanding a shorter workday in the face of the Industrial Revolution.
It took the Great Depression to knock the labour movement off the dead center. The discontent of industrial workers, combined with New Deal collective bargaining legislation, at last, brought the great mass-production industries within striking distance. By the end of World War II, more than 12 million workers belonged to unions and collective bargaining had taken hold throughout the industrial economy.
Workers’ Rights in the Future
The pandemic has highlighted inequality and although the worst impacts on jobs and human rights have been in the developing world. Many workers in developed nations have been left without sick pay or basic healthcare. Only a fifth of developed nations provide paid sick leave for some workers and half of the G20's richest nations provide no free public healthcare. Even where sick leave is paid, workers in the informal or gig economy are not covered. End the “profit at all costs mentality”. Workers, employers, civil society and governments should be urged to come together to build an economic future that puts people first and respects the planet.
Comentarios