Gumboot Dance at the Old
Mine, Trevor Makhoba (Campbell Smith Collection)
Chapter 7
Union Philosophies and Structures
(1): Union Philosophies and
Structures
Philosophies of Unions
Almost all
American unions find it necessary to confront and struggle with management,
while also working to develop areas of collaboration. Union leaders and members
understand their responsibilities in three different ways:
1.
Defend
their members’ immediate interests against their employers (“business or “bread
and butter” unionism);
2.
Defend
their members’ immediate interests and help other workers win gains under
capitalism (“reform” or “social” or “solidarity” unionism);
3.
Defend
their members’ immediate interests and unite with all workers with the goal of
eventually overthrowing capitalism (“revolutionary” or “class conscious”
unionism).
Business
unionism and reform unionism struggle for dominance; support for revolutionary
unionism is small. Reform unions have broader political interests than business
unions do, more often supporting other workers and involving their membership
in election campaigns and issues such as taxation, anti-discrimination laws,
public education, health care.
Unions can
also be classified as “service” unions and “organizing” unions. “Service”
unions rely heavily on full-time, paid, professional staff to organize new
members, file members’ grievances with management, organize strikes, lobby
government officials, organize social activities, teach classes to union
stewards, etc. Staff members “service” the membership, taking care of a member
when something bad happens. The result is that members tend to view their
monthly membership dues as payments for an insurance policy. Membership
participation in the organization is minimal. In contrast, “organizing” unions
have fewer full-time paid professional staff and encourage members’ voluntary
participation. They often hire union activists for short-term concentrated
efforts such as campaigns to organize new members.
Union Members’ Rights
People who
become union leaders have many motivations. Some are members who want to help
the union be successful for its members; some are careerists who want to use
the union to advance their own careers; other are criminals who want to turn
the union into their own private bank or are undercover agents of the employer.
The
Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 includes a “Union Member’s Bill of Rights”[i] that
guarantees union members many democratic rights within their unions. These
include rights to:
1.
Nominate
candidates, run for office, vote in elections and meetings;
2.
Secret
ballot voting on dues rates, initiation fees, and assessments;
3.
Freedom
of speech and assembly, including criticize union officials, express any
viewpoint at union meetings (subject to reasonable rules of conduct), and
distribute literature;
4.
Sue
the union without reprisal;
5.
Due
process in internal union disciplinary hearings, including:
i.
Specific,
written charges
ii.
Confront
and cross-examine accusers
iii.
A
full and fair hearing and a decision based on the evidence
Membership and the Union Advantage
Employers
have sound financial reasons to oppose unions. Unions cost employers money. In
2011, wages of the nation’s 15 million union members were 29% higher than wages
of workers without union representation, on average, according to the U.S.
Department of Labor. Women in unions earned an extra $225 per week, or
$12,000 more in one year. African-American union members earned $175 more per
week, or $9,000 per year. And, Latino (Hispanic) union members earned 48% more,
an additional $240 per week, or $13,000 per year.[ii]
Union
membership, although small, reflects the population. Thus, 12% of male
employees and 11% of female employees were union members in 2011. Whites (12%),
Blacks (14%), Hispanics (10%), and Asians (10%) were all fairly equally
represented in unions.[iii]
Unions’ Changing Organizational Structures
Historically
there have been two basic types of local union structures in the U.S., craft
and industrial. A local craft union consists of workers with one skill
(carpenters, plumbers, drivers, pilots, teachers, journalists, nurses, etc.). A
local industrial union is a union of many types of workers. For example, a
local industrial union in the auto industry includes all employees in the plant
– assembly line, maintenance, shipping, and office.
Over the
years, many craft unions have merged. This increases their bargaining power and
prevents the employer from first signing contracts with weaker unions and then
forcing stronger unions to agree to the established “pattern” contract for the
company or industry.
While
unions used to be divided between private and public sector employees, this is
also changing. As governments privatize public services (bus lines, hospitals,
etc.), public sector unions organize those (now private sector) workers. And,
as capital moves abroad and private sector unions lose members, private sector
union unions turn to organizing public sector workers.
Another
important change in union structure is the growth of “conglomerate” unions,
partly due to union mergers, and partly due to efforts to organize members
wherever they can. Sometimes, these unions mirror the conglomerate structures
of the employers they confront. The best example of a conglomerate union is the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). It has 1,900 craft and industrial
local unions with 1.4 million members in 21 industrial divisions, including
airline, bakery, laundry, building materials, construction, food processing,
warehouse, freight, manufacturing, motion pictures, newspapers, public service,
and railroad.[iv]
The major
U.S. labor federation is the AFL-CIO, with 12.1 million members in 56 national
unions.[v] Its
largest unions are the teachers (1.5 mil.) and government employees (1.4 mil.).
In 2005, several unions formed a rival union federation, Change to Win (4.5
million members).[vi] Its three
largest unions are service workers (1.9 mil.), Teamsters (1.4 mil.), and retail
food (1.3 mil.). One major union, the National Education Association (3.2 mil.)
is independent.
The AFL-CIO
is a decentralized organization, allowing autonomy to its member unions. It
endorses political candidates and funnels campaign contributions to them. While
it does not engage in collective bargaining, it encourages unions to negotiate
together. When unions strike, it offers support, and it referees disputes when
rival unions clash. One major reason the CTW unions broke away from the AFL-CIO
was dissatisfaction with AFL-CIO organizing efforts. The CTW promised to
allocate 75% of its budget to industry-wide organizing efforts and to reduce
federation spending on political action.[vii]
As of mid-2012, CTW has not endorsed candidates.
Discussion Question
What should
be the differences and similarities between a union and a political party?
[ii] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t02.htm
Table 2 Median weekly earnings of
full-time wage and salary workers by union affiliation and selected characteristics,
2010-2011 annual averages.
[iii] Ibid., Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary
workers.
[vii] www.ufcw.org/docUploads/UFCW%20OUOV%20vn5%20FINAL.pdf?CFID=1251548&CFTOKEN=70586526;
Larry Bridgesmith & John Gerth, “The Summer of Union Discontent Portend a
Season of Employer Discomfort,” Journal of Health Law, Winter 2006, Vol. 39, No
1. www.wallerlaw.com.sitemason.com/files/BsmithGerth.pdf.
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