Political Science

A perspective comparing the labor union in the 21st century has shown that all worlds best for the workers is basically coordinated bargaining at countrys level or national level and relevant rank engagement in the lower local levels. Though the fruits from the coordinated bargaining and national are not being realistic in the United States foreseeable future, the labor movement should once again become a social movement. In general for an organized labor to take on the critical roles effectively as the countervailing and strategic powers in the American political arena there must be put in place a number of facts internal democratization, intensified and improved organizing within the unions, increased lobbying and electoral clout not forgetting the social movement labor unions mobilizing with others (Beachler pp. 120 ) The reduction in the number of participants in the labor union has drastically reduced, the unions therefore have the mandate to solicit for more members at the global market to impart their influence. In the 21st century the union should gain benefits from representing the workers where necessary, bargain for them especially in the legal space and political spaces and get recognition for the workers. (Beachler pp. 210)

    The AFL-CIO (America Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrialization Organizations) and the Change to Win Federation have absorbed almost all the United States labor unions in this century. This is because the two organizations advocate legislation and the policies which favor the employee both in US and Canada they also partly take active political roles favoring the Democratic Party. The global trade issues are especially checked on by the AFC-CIO.

    One factor causing the collapse of the unions is the high cost of the labor agreements, health and the pension plans. NLRA (National Labor Relations Board) regulates the unions in the private sectors while the public sectors are regulated by the federal and the state regulations.

    A university research in the early 1980s revealed that the workers lacked knowledge on the significant labor legislation issues and other important contemporary issues at the work place. Some bodies and educational institutions have been put in place to combat the illiteracy in such labor issues, the Harvard Trade Union Program founded in the year 1942 by professor john Dunlop at the Harvard University is a labor program dealing in employee training on such labor issues. This body is also a part of Harvard Law School Program called Labor and Work life Program dealing in a number employment and labor issues from the union investments funds on pension to the cause effects of the nanotechnology on the workplace and on the labor markets. More of such institutions should be established as the currently available labor educational facilities are not enough to educate all the available labor in the market. As long as the labor remains unaware of their rights and their day today contemporary workplace issues, the union will always remain paralyzed in solving these labor problems effectively.

    The current world is under globalization, there are a number of challenges the labor unions face that comes with the globalization. Globalization is believed to have led to the decline in the labor union density which demands on other factors like workplace access and the bargain centralization. Despite the challenges posing to the unions due to globalization, (i.e. the actual effect of integration of market in the density of the union workers) the unions have invested in a number of strategies to reduce the globalization agenda limits and take to international context the labor regulations. An eminent example is the Labor group oppositions to free the initiatives of trade like the DR-CAFTA (Dominica Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement) and the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). The unions opposed the NAFTA in the 1990s, this contributed to the unions reduced influence on the labor standards debate they fuelled the NAFTAs rejection at the Congress. (Beachler pp. 33, 200)

    To combat globalization effects, the unions have sorted to penetrate the world borders, the unions organize basically across the borders which has been promoted by change in technology. Garin  Molyneux pp. 230) Though their global solidarity effect is to their international interests, it is not wise that globalized union strategies meet and solve the challenges from the globalized production, it is evident that international labor is weak. Local labor union strategies can effectively interrupt and solve the global production in better ways that were not possible before advent of integration of widespread market. Therefore the best strategy to meet the globalization in this case is to reduce or abolish unions from organizationally connecting with other unions around the world to change the transnational corporation behavior.

    The labor union membership and inclusion in politics called preconditions in the name of employee participation for emancipation. The union elections are always a routine though they are never contested. The best salient explanation to unions political stimulation is educational activities and recruitment of voters. During the membership meetings and the labor rallies the unions conducts drive for voters registration. At the labor regional levels the unions pull resources to operate canvas precincts, telephone banks neighborhoods and leaflet worksites and getting out the vote through organizing ride-sharing services. A major aims of information campaigns is differentiating the contesting candidates along issues. The informational barrage increases before the elections with voter records dissemination, biographies and the position of candidate.  The voting theories reveal that it is more likely that citizens vote when they perceive important differing facts between candidates or the available political parties. Above that the unions become handy in persuasion because they are more familiar with the members. Though these activities affect members and former union members, this persuasion may significantly spill over to friends, relatives and the kinships. To study the relationship existing between voter turnout and law one used model includes indicators of the state level on right to work factoring out state level determinants remaining like the state policy like voter eligibility and voting methods the state uses to tabulate the outcomes of the votes.

    Labor relations to industrial shows union affiliation lower rates. Scholars have indicated that organized labor only plays a minor role in the robust political field and democracy. This reluctance in connection of the democracy in economics applauded by scholars in the industrial relations field to political democracy may come from the allusion that unions bring their own rules for suppressing dissident members while protecting the governing group (Beachler pp. 113-116) According to Lipset, there is a close resemblance of labor unions to one-party states more than is done democratic organizations together turnover in office and legitimate oppositions. Most of the employees never elect into the union membership but hired into the settings of the unionization where they have no choice but to conform to the conditions and terms negotiated by the union leaders. These are therefore rather manipulation instead of worker empowerment flawed operations in the unions, imposed coercions marginalization to political democratization system. (Beachler pp. 103)