Understanding the American Labor Force Dynamics

1. Chapter 12 The American Labor Force

2. Civilian Labor Force • Total number of people 16 years old or older who are either employed or actively seeking work • Excludes disabled people, prisons, mental institutions, armed forces, homemakers, or just not seeking work

3. Types of workers • Blue-Collar Workers - Video • Craft, manufacturing, nonfarm laborers • White-Collar Workers • Office workers, businessmen, salespeople, highly trained • Service Workers • Cooks, health-care aides, repair people, mechanic, barbers, McDonalds

4. Categorized by skill level • Unskilled Workers • Little training, little education, disposable. • Waiters, custodial work, assembly-line • Semiskilled Workers • Require some training, often technology • Nurses aide, secretaries • Skilled Workers • Learned trade or craft • Police officer, electricians, plumber • Professionals • College degrees + • Teachers, architects, accountants, white-collar workers

5. Supply and demand • Factors that affect wages: • Skill • Type of Job • Location • Minimum Wage Law • Advantages or Disadvantages? • My book pg 313 - Video

6. Labor unions • Association of workers organized to improve wages and working conditions for its members - Video

7. Labor Unions • Strikes – deliberate work stoppage by workers to force an employer to give in to their demands

8. Types of Unions • Craft Union – union made up of skilled workers in a specific trade or industry • Industrial Union – union made up of all the workers in an industry regardless of job or skill level

9. Local Union • Members of a union in a particular factory, company, or geographic area • MSTA – Missouri School Teachers Association

10. Shops • Closed Shop – company in which ONLY union members can be hired • Union Shop – company that requires new employees to join a union after a specific period of time (usually 6 months) • Agency Shop – Company in which employees are not required to join the union, but must pay union dues

11. Right-to-work laws • State laws forbidding unions from forcing workers to join and pay union dues • Lets look up some Missouri Right-to-Work Laws

12. How do unions work? • Members pay to be a part of union, union works to get fair pay, benefits, hours, retirement, conditions, they do this by… • Collective bargaining – process by which unions and employers negotiate the conditions of employment • Mediation – a neutral person to help reach an agreement • Arbitration – union and management submit the issues they cannot agree on to a third party for a final decision

13. COLA • Cost of Living Adjustment – provision calling for a wage increase each year if the general level of prices rise

14. If union member do not get what they want… • Strike • Picketing – action of strikers who walk in front of a workplace carrying signs that state their disagreement with the company

15. If union member do not get what they want… • Boycott – economic pressure exerted by unions urging the public not to purchase the goods or services produced by a company

16. If management does not want to give in… • Lockout – situation that occurs when management prevents workers from returning to work until they agree to a new contract • Injunction – court order preventing some activity

17. Cesar Chavez