Monday meeting notes with USW

My notes say that USW is the largest industrial union in N. America, but I remember in discussion someone said it was the second largest, so I'm not sure.

It has 850,000 members.

Acronyms:

UAW=United AutoWorkers

USW=United Steel Workers

UFCW= Union of Food and Commercial Workers

NLRB= National Labor Relations Board, a federal board focused on labor and union issues. Appointees are made by President, with a 5 yr term. Obama named Wilman Leidman the Head of the NLRB

ESOP= Employee Stock Ownership Program

EFCA= Employee Free Choice Act, passed the House of Reps in March, and is legislation that will make it easier for those workers who want a union to get a union

FMCS= Federal Mediation Communication (or Conciliation?) Services

• a group of neutral bargainers that work for the federal government to help settle labor disputes through collective bargaining

• in settling labor disputes, FMCS provides a panel of mediators. The company and union can both strike names from the panel in choosing a mediator, and can even strike the whole panel if they are not satisfied with their options. They eventually agree on a mediator, and arbitration begins.

• arbitration progresses like a court case, hearing both sides. The decision of an arbitration is final and binding, and the choice of mediator affects the outcome of the case. This part of the process is pretty corrupt, in that mediators apparently often flip a coin or choose randomly the winner of the argument, due to the fact that any consistent outcomes (always siding with the union, or always siding with the company) will result in their name getting scratched and loss of a job.

• an alternative to arbitration and collective bargaining is a process called interest based bargaining, during which all issues are on the table, everyone involved is in equal power position. This type of bargaining is often the downfall of the union involved, because this process takes away the united voice of the union, reduces everyone to individuals, and eliminates the collectivity that makes a union so strong.

a union strike is the LAST ALTERNATIVE

There are two types of union strikers:

ULP strikers=unfair labor practitioner

economic strikers= can be permanently replaced during a strike, despite the outcome of the agreement between the union and company. (policy since the Reagan era)

"VOTE YOUR JOB AND LOBBY YOUR HOBBY"

Civil servants can't strike, but instead "organize for agreement." North Carolina has the worst labor laws to protect public service workers.

workers have a 1 in 5 chance of being fired in the attempt to unionize a workplace.

Benefits of Unions: pensions, health care

Despite these benefits, only 12.1% of the workforce is unionized, down from 34% in the 1980s