Political Science

The 21st century is very challenging for the labor union, this is due to advancement in a number of technological changes, and the union therefore has to employ relevant methodologies to meet these challenges. Currently unions have a calling to look for the workers recognition at the workplace, the union should carry out the collective bargaining for the workers thereby redistributing the economic benefits, goods and services flowing to employees from management, the union also have the mandate to represent the employees at the management meetings and provide political umbrella (Garin  Molyneux pp. 22)

The labor unions have recorded lower density for some time now, this owed to various factors. The best effective strategy in the post industrial era where the union density is low includes emphasis on union representation function and its voice. The union should also fight for the nonmembers whose them majority comprising the service sector with the low wages. This group is more vulnerable to employer exploitation because they have low economic viability (Garin  Molyneux pp. 55-56) Nonunionized and unionized workers should both fight towards a strategy that supports the group that is most vulnerable because they are at the edge of gender discrimination, race and even class subordination.

The low unionized workers density has destroyed the collective bargaining powers option of the unions. The collective bargains for economic justice by the workers have been today rendered illegitimate because the numbers of bargainers have reduced at the work place. In fact the NLRA (The National Labor Relations Acts) is frozen through the legislative discrimination it lacks proper funding, enjoys limited credibility from the Supreme Court and further commands no respect from the workers. The unions are avoiding the labor legislations, they no longer claim rights under the unions. On the other hand the state legislation and federal law is booming on individual employee rights protection which are enforced by the government agencies or by the private lawyers getting support from the civil rights, community justice groups and the community actions. Despite all these occurrences the employee does not have good understanding of their position or the legal rights and most of them lack the required resources to push for clams. There is dire need for collective force to fight for worker rights like overtime pay, minimum wage pay, working conditions, political support is also required to get the rights and maintain them. The labor unions are definitely aware of all these and therefore are directly and actively involved in political activities to support a party that supports such legal reforms on employees. The union has been in the fore-front in lobbying for the enactment of pro-worker legislations the NLRA reforms, legislation on minimum standards and the Fair Labor Standards Acts formed in 1970.

There is a total distrust of the politicians by the union members, they believe that politicians would say everything possible to make them get the votes, thereafter they foregut the promises the made to the union, this has made the union members to believe that political endorsements are not effective (A Pew Research study Center)

The labor unions play a major role in the influence of voter turnouts in political elections they stimulate participation in politics through education sessions and voter registration exercises usually carried out at the union meetings and rallies. The methods and tactics the unions may use to encourage members voting range from mail reminding them to vote, strike of the list those who have voted, carry out door to door visits on the non voter houses. The union also takes part in sensitization on politics and economics relations. The union persuasions are significant because they know the members better than the politicians, on persuading the members research have shown that there is always some percentage of spillovers to union embers friends and families (A Pew Research study Center)

In the recent decades, many scholars have placed their argument that Democratic Party have not done much to solve the workers problems and needs and harmed further by globalization and low wages sectors and meager benefits to employees in unionized economies. The economic conservatism of the democrats is blamed on the money role in politics according to Benjamin Ginsberg politics have evolved from labor intensive to capital intensive elections basically in the media, money therefore is a controlling factor in the elections or politics (Beachler)

In 1990s workers engaged in a strong labor fight that was evidently historical, at the A.E. Staley corn processing plant in Illinois, Decatur. The company had earlier launched a serious assault on the workers at the industry, Allied Industrial Employees Local 837 reacted or rather responded by providing education to the members and mobilizing the worker members, scouting strong support from the African American societies and the religious communities, creating countrywide solidarity movement and taking part in nonviolent disobedient by the civil at the gate of the plant. Through numerous interviews by the media houses, videotapes of each and every meeting of the union,

The center for responsive politics have in their website indicated how money has influenced the outcomes of the United States elections and the money influence on the U.S public policies. Money has direct influence on the outcomes of elections the more money a political party uses the more chances they have in winning the elections ( HYPERLINK httpwww.opensecrets.org www.opensecrets.org). This can also be seen in the rise of the democrats party and the win of Barrack Obama.