Labor unions, also known as trade unions or simply unions, are groups of workers who come together to leverage their collective power against their employers to receive benefits like greater compensation, safer workplace environments, more nonfinancial benefits, and the like from their employers and the government that presides over the area in which they work.
In most cases, employees who work under the same employer or those who work in the same industry come together to vie for better workplace rights.
When employees come out individually against current working conditions, they’re likely to be fired from their existing positions and forced out of work, if not entirely blackballed from the industries in which they’re trained to work in, placing them and their family members on the hot seat.
When they come out in unison, employees are more likely to experience success in asking for the improvements that they seek out. This is because, without employees who are willing to go to work, employers are certain to experience major financial losses, not to mention potential hits to their public image.
Yesterday, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, the United Auto Workers labor union’s members voted in favor of a strike. The United Auto Workers labor union protects American workers who are employed by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and Ford to the tune of roughly 150,000 employees. Although the United Auto Workers labor union protects people who work for each of these three companies, the current potential strike is slated to be levied primarily against General Motors.
According to an official statement let out yesterday by the United Auto Workers labor union, upward of 96 percent of the labor union’s members voted in favor of the potential of a strike.
The reason why the 150,000-odd members of the United Auto Workers labor union could be going on strike is to levy for greater pay and better benefits before its members have new contracts negotiated for them. The contracts that currently represent the memberes of the United Auto Workers labor union are slated to expire on Sept. 14 of this year, which is less than two weeks from now.
Recently, four plants that General Motors operated were shut down, leaving roughly 2,800 people out of work domestically. University of California Professor Harley Shaiken informed the Detroit Free Press yesterday that this recent laying off of workers by GM is one of the most prominent reasons for the potential strike.
Read More: https://www.apnews.com/7a78983e2dad40169ff4adb8c4705d6f
Dil Bole Oberoi
