Labor struggles in the 1960s (&70s)

In the late sixties, American industry began do de-unionize. While labor leaders such as George Meany accomplished things like bans on age discrimination and mine safety regulation, union membership was stagnant at best and leadership was becoming complacent with management. Essentially, union leaders were pulling in massive salaries from dues and were not fighting for any new labor rights. Unions therefore had become the bureaucracy that they had originally opposed.

Conditions had changed since the 40s and 50s, when unions had enjoyed a boom in membership and power. As the rest of the world began to rebuild from World War 2, American manufacturing began to lose its dominance in the world market. Benefits such as health insurance, pensions and wage hikes which had been enjoyed by workers and their unions during the postwar years had begun to harm American business. Effectively, American manufacturing couldn't compete with international manufacturing because of American unions; foreign business was just beginning to rebuild itself and did not have the added cost of health benefits or pensions, nor did it have to pay its workers a much as workers were paid in America.

Unlike the 40s and 50s, unions were beginning to lose their grip on the American manufacturing industry in the 60s and 70s. Trying to unionize the South, the AFL-CIO launched what they called "Operation Dixie" which failed not only because of southerners' individualistic natures, but because white southerners did not want to join the same union as blacks. Union efforts in the South were further thwarted by several state legislatures' decisions to pass "right to work" laws, whereby union membership could not be required by employers.

Much as American manufacturing moved to other countries, it also moved from North to South. Because of the pro-labor attitude of the North, and the relatively pro-business attitude of the South, it was ultimately cheaper to produce goods in the South.

The late 60s was more than just a time of change for manufacturing, the time period was also home to the civil rights movement. Young people of all races were accustomed to striking and protesting for civil rights, and it follows that the rise in organized protest would also lead to a rise in worker's rights. An example of this is a phenomenon that happened within the auto industry. The leaders of the UAW (united auto workers) worked alongside industrial management to increase wages at the cost of conditions and benefits. The workers were so frustrated that their own union leaders had turned on them that a third of all local UAW presidents were ousted from office.

Workers of all industries had one weapon that they could use against their employers: the wildcat strike. Wildcat strikes are protests that are unauthorized by union leaders and therefore are not protected by union contracts. Normally, these kinds of strikes don't happen because unions ensure that the striking workers aren't replaced and that no rights are violated, but because the union leaders were cooperating with management, workers were forced to stage unprotected strikes. The fact that workers were able to stage unorganized strikes shows not only that workers were more organized independently from unions, but that unions were in declining strength, they were no longer serving the purposes for which they were initially intended.

Today, American industry is largely without unions, with a few unions such as the prison gaurd's union dominating their respective industries. The work of unions, however, is still felt, as many jobs do not require employees to work more than 5-6 days a week, and sick leave and vacation time are often provided. Additionally, the government has contributed partially on the behalf of workers in the establishment of a national minimum wage and social security.

The de-unionization of America leaves us with an important question: "Have business and government done enough to help workers, or does America still need unions to protect workers?"

Sources:
http://www.shmoop.com/history-labor-unions/ideology.html
http://socialistworker.org/2011/08/26/workers-rebellion-of-the-1960s
http://www.aflcio.org/About/Our-History/Labor-History-Timeline