Labor Strikes the Positive and Term Paper

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One example is when Teamsters president Ron Carey, during the UPS strike, was scheduled to stand for reelection against James P. Hoffa (Baird pp). Shortly before the UPS strike, questions were being raised by government officials regarding alleged illicit campaign donations to Carey's campaign in exchange for Teamster donations in the congressional and presidential elections of 1996 (Baird pp). Many believe that the strike diverted attention from Carey's legal problems and helped to solidify the political support and create the illusion that he was securing significant gains for the rank-and-file (Baird pp). Union officials routinely claim that the strike-threat system makes unionized workers much better off than nonunion workers, however the data from EPF disputes such claims (Baird pp).

Yet labor strikes have played an important role in the economic, political and social life throughout its history (Labor pp). From strikes by shoemakers, printers, bakers, and other artisans in the era of the Revolution through the bitter airline strikes two centuries later, workers repeatedly tried to defend or improve their living and working conditions by collectively refusing to work until specific demands were met (Labor pp). Although wage disputes are usually the most common cause of strikes, workers have walked off jobs for reasons including efforts to win union recognition, shorten the workday, gain or defend control over the work process, improve working conditions, and protest the disciplining of unionists (Labor pp). In the early twentieth century, to avoid or settle strikes, many unions turned to private mediation groups (Labor). Most public-sector strikes involve local government employees, such as teachers or transit workers, however, the largest public employee walkout was a 1970 wildcat strike of 180,000 postal workers (Labor pp).

In September 2004, approximately 10,000 hotel workers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

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seeking "employer-paid health benefits, fair workloads, improved wages, improved pensions and immigrant rights and are poised to walk out if negotiations with hotel owners fail to produce a fair contract" (Thousands pp).

According to the union, the hotel chains have strong bargaining power because a handful of corporations own the majority of the hotel rooms in major cities (Thousands pp).

Another 17,000 hotel and casino workers also stood poised to strike or continue talks with eleven hotels and casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey (Thousands pp). The major issue between the workers, represented by Local 54, and the casinos is the increasing moves by hotels to hire nonunion subcontractors (Thousands pp).

Certainly strikes have been historically important for the labor market, particularly in areas such as wages, work hours and overtime, health care, work condition and safety, as well as gender and racial integration. However, it seems to be a matter of choosing battles as to whether the employees genuinely benefit, especially in the long-term, from labor strikes. Moreover, unions have increasingly become more politically active during the decades and therefore, motivations for strikes might well deserve to be viewed objectively from all areas of concern. Therefore, workers striking for better working conditions might benefit in the long-term better than workers striking for monetary increases.

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