{"id":32,"date":"2025-12-04T04:32:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T04:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/?p=32"},"modified":"2025-12-04T04:32:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T04:32:53","slug":"the-power-and-purpose-of-labor-unions-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/2025\/12\/04\/the-power-and-purpose-of-labor-unions-today\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power and Purpose of Labor Unions Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The readings this week helped me better understand why\u2002labor unions are so integral and how their decline affects workers, and the economy. In \u201cThe Cost of a\u2002Decline in Unions,\u201d Kristof notes that unions were once a major driver behind the increase in wages, the reduction of inequality and protecting working-class families. He contends that as union membership has declined,\u2002income inequality has grown and workers have lost bargaining power. This segues with what we learned from class about how unions increase\u2002morale, reduce turnover, and allow workers a voice in workplace decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my reporting, I discovered unions\u2002provide clear advantages for workers: higher wages, improved benefits, job security and protection from unfair treatment. They can also be used to create a safer workplace free from\u2002obligation and discrimination. But there are also downsides, like dues and slower decision-making, as well as at times\u2002tense relations with management. Kasperkevic\u2019s story about right-to-work laws taught me that unions fear these laws because they reduce their funding and influence, which in turn makes it more difficult for them\u2002to protect workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spoke with a family friend who was in a union\u2002for decades. He said the union had helped him find good\u2002health care and to fight unfair scheduling. But he also said\u2002the dues seemed expensive in months when finances were tight. His experience mirrored what I saw in the reading\u2019s unions get protection but\u2002also demand commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to what I\u2019ve found, I would join a\u2002union if I worked in an industry with a lot of safety risks, that was particularly unfair to workers or where pay was inconsistent. I used to be pro-unionization\u2002also when employees didn\u2019t have a voice and\/or if management didn’t listen. In\u2002general, unions are still an important force in promoting fairness and protecting certainly it is not excessive to say they are the only way most working Americans have to fight for future prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/strong>
Kristof, N. (2021). The Cost of a Decline in Unions.<\/em>
Kasperkevic, J. (2017). Why Unions Are So Worried About Right-to-Work Laws.<\/em>
Lecture: Labor Relations (Swift, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The readings this week helped me better understand why\u2002labor unions are so integral and how their decline affects workers, and the economy. In \u201cThe Cost of a\u2002Decline in Unions,\u201d Kristof notes that unions were once a major driver behind the increase in wages, the reduction of inequality and protecting working-class families. He contends that as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14966,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14966"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/leoshrblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}