Written by American labor unions remain to be among the best bastions of workers rights in the country. Born out of the desire to protect the plight of the workers in the early 19th century, these institutions are instrumental in protecting laborers from exploitative employers and working environments. This is because of the fact that most labor-intensive industries employ workers who have very little to no level of educational attainment. These workers then decided that they would band and stay together and protect each other through achieving critical mass. As their numbers grew, their political will and ability to make management listen became stronger. This led to discussing things through negotiations, and reaping reciprocal concessions from both parties. Today, this process is legally recognized and honored as the “Collective Bargaining Agreementâ€. This means that the employer agrees to accord rights and benefits to his workers and cannot undo them without another round in the negotiating table. Additionally, this also means that workers will be able to have job security, as it is harder for the management to fire someone especially if there is an established union protecting the worker. This is quite strategic because of the volatile nature of the economy, which has led to thousands of unemployed people around the country.
Under the law, American labor unions should also look at the different externalities before demanding something from the company. This is particularly true in cases wherein the employer has to make sure that the employees are the best that his company will have. If people who are hard workers are protected against bad employers, there is an equal need for honest employers to be protected against not being able to fire lazy employees. In cases of disagreements, a government institution will most definitely be needed in order to arbitrate and create a solution that looks after both parties.
