Trace the development of labor unions and describe some of the means by which workers resist working conditions they consider to be oppressive

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

U.S. labor unions came into being in the mid-nineteenth century. Unions have been
credited with gaining an eight-hour workday, a five-day workweek, health and
retirement benefits, sick leave and unemployment insurance, and workplace health
and safety standards for many employees. Most of these gains have occurred through
collective bargaining—negotiations between employers and labor union leaders on
behalf of workers.
In some cases, union leaders have called strikes to force employers to accept the
union's position on wages and benefits. Although the overall number of union
members in the United States has increased since the 1960s, primarily as a result of
the growth of the public employee unions (such as the American Federation of
Teachers), the proportion of all employees who are union members has declined.
Today, about 17 percent of all U.S. employees belong to unions or employee
associations. Historically, labor unions contributed to the employment gains of people
of color.
African Americans have higher rates of union affiliation because of extensive public
sector employment. A "spillover" effect exists between union and nonunion firms in
the area of wages and benefits. Absenteeism is one means by which workers resist
working conditions that they consider to be oppressive. Other workers use sabotage
to bring about informal work stoppages. Resistance helps people in lower-tier service
jobs survive at work. In interactions with their employers, domestic workers attempt
to maintain their personal dignity and to gain mastery of situations in which they are
defined as objects, not as human beings.