… as free men and they took their skills to the labor force. “Slavery was uniquely American”, stated Gerald Hunt in his article Labor Union Response to Diversity. Slavery existed in other countries, but was very unique here in the United States. African-Americans inclusion in the free labor force increased the economic output in America. It added another consumer to the loop of production.
Even though the African-American and other minorities added value to the economy they were not always treated as valuable additions to the economy as briefly shown in the example of Jackie Robinson’s inclusion to professional baseball. In Hunt’s article he discussed the inclusion of the minorities in , but their unequal treatment. African-Americans generally worked longer more arduous days and were not compensated accordingly. The males tended to enter in the manufacturing sector and the women into low paying unionized jobs in the service sector. Many strides had been taken to include African-Americans into the labor unions, but not with much benefit to them.
They would do the same or even more work and receive less pay and benefit. That is why there have been many different laws enacted today that eliminate these discrepancies. One of these acts was the Wagner Act. The Wagner Act states that management can’t discriminate in regards to hiring or tenure of employees seeking to join or not join a labor organization. This act enables all, not just African-Americans, to join labor unions with out the repercussions of unfair labor practices. Another movement that has helped the minorities’ plight to gain equal representation is Affirmative Action.
Affirmative Action states that employers or groups must not disqualify people on basis of race or gender. This movement tries to make a level playing field for all. Although AA (Affirmative Action) tries to bring equality amongst the work force, it has an adverse affect at times because it is seen as reverse discrimination. The force that empowers labor unions is their solidarity and their unique skills and abilities.
AA undermines that unity to an extent even though its intent is to diversify unions and the work place. All men in the labor war did not start off with the same advantages, but we have taken determinate steps to bring us to a more diversified labor force. As discussed earlier in the paper unity and solidarity are key to the success of labor unions. Many times workers had prejudices against their coworkers of different background and race. This was a stumbling block on their path to solidarity and unity and diminished their bargaining power. While this was a problem amongst the workers, another big problem was entrenched with the employers or management.
In Alexander Saxton’s article the management of the coalfields did not think the miner’s labor union had much power because of its diversity. In many cases management did not want to deal with African-Americans of different minorities. To avoid having to interact with the different minorities they would cause strife amongst the workers causing a lack of unity. These acts to pull the unions apart were generally the case in smaller places of employment.
Bigger businesses did not have as big an issue with having colored people in their work force because they needed workers more than the smaller firms to remain economically viable. Smaller firms were more exclusive and paid lower wages to the colored workers to force them out of the work place into other sectors. This trend worked and many of the African-Americans entered the larger firms and garnished larger wages for their work. In an article by Carrington, McCue, and Pierce in The Journal of Human Resources they stated many things might have caused this trend. They believe those smaller firms’ attitudes towards African-Americans, Affirmative Action, and Title 7 had affects, but the rapidly increasing quality of education between 1960 and 1970 of black schooling may have been the largest factor. It is hard to pin point the exact cause, but larger firms truly needed more workers and they did not care too much about their background if they were qualified hard workers.
Smaller firms can be more selective in who they hire. They try to hire the most qualified individuals because of lack of funds and they need to be economically efficient. In today’s society smaller firms are losing out to bigger firms for this reason. Now that the smaller firms are struggling to compete they are looking for reprieves in many ways such as the African-Americans were looking for all along. Bigger firms have more resources to pay individuals and need more employees. This allows them to hire a more diverse work force.
As discussed earlier laws have been passed to help bridge the gap between the races. The biggest gap that is going to help bring more equity in labor unions and the work force of America is education. In the article in the Journal of Human Resources Carrington, McCue, and Pierce said improvements in black schooling was the cause for the closing of the gap in wages between blacks and whites. This argument has much merit to it.
In the coal fields of Alabama the black workers were not as educated as their white counter parts. Education is a very important part of success. When African-Americans were made slaves here in America they were not allowed to learn how to read or write. Reading and writing opens many doors and expands people’s outlooks on life. This is why slaves were not allowed to be taught for fear of them leaving. The key to eliminating the gap in wage and equity is education.
When African-Americans were first excluded from labor unions they could not do anything about it because they were not educated enough to know their rights. As was the case when they were included and received less pay and benefits for equal work. Many of the laws that were passed in regards to labor issues were also made to include education. Many minorities are born into less than advantageous circumstances because of the gap in wage differential and education. Many of these laws and movements are for laborers and kids going into college. Admirable as they may be, they occur too late in the ballgame to have a profound affect.
It was once stated, “If you give a man a fish you feed him for now, but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a life time.” The point being if you teach these kids from a young age they have a better chance for success than if you give them these advantages later in life. In the Journal of Human Resources they stated improvements in black schooling have helped them in the labor force. The fact is the improvements they were talking about were in colleges. If we were to put more emphasis on elementary students I believe the gap would close even more. Having more African-Americans as union bosses would help bridge the gap in pay equity and benefits.
Affirmative Action is not the answer to getting more equity and African-American as union bosses, education is. We have made many strides in America over the years. We have endured many hardships and disasters. We are now the most industrious country in the world. We have become such through much hard work and cooperation. Labor in the United States has made a great step since the days of the labor unions in the Alabama coalfields.
Today our labor unions are very diversified because of many laws, movements, and hard work. When slaves arrived in the U. S. no one would have imagined the positions they would hold today. African-Americans have gone from servitude to productive parts of society with many freedoms and rights.
Martin Luther King’s dream has become more of a reality. Big and small companies alike are starting look more at the labor union as a whole and not the individuals that make up the union. As stated earlier labor unions were formed to protect the rights of individuals and to keep businesses from taking advantage of their employees. Blacks now have many of the same rights because they stuck through the hard times to gain their reward.
There are many people to thank for the state and make up of labor unions in America today. The next big hurdle, now that we are starting to front are problems with labor unions here in the U. S. , is international labor unions.
Maybe 80 to 90 years from now the same will be said about international labor unions as was said about interracial labor unions. America and the world are an ever-changing place. The make up of labor unions has taken many steps from all white or black to interracial to possibly international in the future. Thanks to the studies and the history of labor union diversity we can better handle the possibilities of an international labor union. Some may say change is bad, but I believe that the changes of the work force and labor unions are better for our economy and our society.