Verified Document

Union Issues Of Interest At Term Paper

However, the statistics listed on the AFL-CIO website about "Health Care Facts" are sobering. 47 million people, including 8.7 million children have no health coverage at all. Health care premiums were $1,320 on average in 2001, but skyrocketed to $3,266 in 2007. According to the graphic "Exploding Health Care Costs are Devastating Working Families," every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for a bankruptcy that is related to medical care, and other than the pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, even employers are being "crippled" by health care costs. This means lower wages for workers, as employers pass the increased expense onto workers, and hire fewer workers because of the cost of healthcare. Ultimately it is heartening to read that the AFL-CIO is mobilizing behind the move to put healthcare at the top of the national agenda, even if it has not devised the perfect solution to insure that everyone has affordable and adequate care.

Another issue the union is mobilized about is the issue of gender equality, on an international as well as a national level. More than 1.2 billion women or 40% of total women world-wide earn less money than their male counterparts (Parks 2008). Women are also more likely to be unemployed, poor and often face violence and harassment...

American women still earn 88 cents for every dollar a man is paid for the same type of employment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This wage gap costs the average full-time U.S. woman worker between $700,000 and $2 million over the course of her work life. African-American women earn only 68 cents and Latinas 57 cents for every dollar that men earn for the same type of work (Parks 2008).
The union's position on wage inequality is heartening to read, because it shows once again it has an international as well as a national focus, and it demands the improvement of the lives of not simply its dues-paying membership, but of all working people. Wage discrimination embraces everything from fair pay issues, to harassment and discrimination in the workplace, as well as traditional union issues like family leave and benefits. However, employers, regardless of creed, color, class, or gender often oppose non-discriminatory legislation because of a fear it will increase costs and a chance of being sued by irate employees. The need for such regulation to protect minority and female workers is again testimony to the need for unions, who are advocates for specifically worker-related issues, and articulate the worker's perspective nationally and internationally, as well as during specific instances of union and management negotiations.

Works Cited

Health Care Facts." AFL-CIO. 13 Mar 2008. http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/facts.cfm

Join the Fight for Health Care." AFL-CIO. 13 Mar 2008. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/1_million_petition/?qp_source=hc%5fjobseconomy

Parks, James. "International Women's Day: Women Still Trail Men in Pay After 100

Years." 7 May 2008. AFL-CIO. 13 Mar 2008. http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/07/international-womens-day-women-still-trail-men-in-pay-after-100-years

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Health Care Facts." AFL-CIO. 13 Mar 2008. http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/facts.cfm

Join the Fight for Health Care." AFL-CIO. 13 Mar 2008. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/1_million_petition/?qp_source=hc%5fjobseconomy

Parks, James. "International Women's Day: Women Still Trail Men in Pay After 100

Years." 7 May 2008. AFL-CIO. 13 Mar 2008. http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/07/international-womens-day-women-still-trail-men-in-pay-after-100-years
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Interest Groups
Words: 1506 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Interest Groups Describe the different types of interest groups (single issue groups and public interest groups) and the goals that each type pursues. Single-issue interest groups are exactly that: groups concerned with one issue, and one issue only. Although the single interest might overlap with broader issues or related interests, the main goal of a single-interest group is to promote legislation related to the target area. For example, the National Rifle Association

Union Labor Contemporary Voices Routinely
Words: 3659 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

To intimidate striking workers or escort strike breakers, workers who would replace the individuals striking, across picket lines some employers contracted private companies like the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The United States Department of Labor reports that the Coal Strike of 1902 proved to be a turning point in U.S. policy. On October 3, 1902, to address the strike in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal fields that he perceived to threaten a

Union Labor Disputes Canada Wal-Mart
Words: 6077 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

But when it just recently occurred in 2004 at a store in Jonquiere, British Columbia, the reader must appreciate that a real battle had been won. The original efforts of that particular store for example had the local labor Commission reject certification by a margin of 74 to 65. When the union announced that it won the coveted certification at Quebec, it was quite a blow to the retailer.

Interest Groups and How Their Influence on
Words: 2287 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

Interest Groups and How Their Influence on Public Policy Interest Groups and their influence on public Policy Interest groups are clusters of people that come into existent to make stresses on government. The leading interest groups that are located in the United States are financial or occupational, but a range of other clusters -- philosophical, public interest, foreign policy, government itself, and ethnic, religious, and cultural -- have memberships that cut across

Union Management and Organization
Words: 2026 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Union Management and Organization Historical and legal framework, which provides the foundations for the American system of labor / management relations The current system of American labor relations and laws has undergone significant transformation dating back to the Great Depression. During the 1930s, the relationship between employers and employees were purely casual in nature. For instance, no employee was guaranteed of long-term job security. Employees lacked bargaining powers because employment was marked

Interest Groups Seek Influence Public Policy Interest
Words: 1970 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Interest Groups Seek Influence Public Policy Interest Groups Seek Influence Making Public Policy Define an interest group, with examples An interest group can be described as an association that is formally organized that is in pursuit of influencing public policy. The wider description, scholars using it increasingly, older contrasts with it, narrower ones, which are inclusive of private associations only that their formal organization is distinct like Italy's General Confederation of industry and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now