ade Unions in America. Trade unions moved from being virtually outlawed by the US Government to being the beneficiaries of their legal protection. Morgan Reynolds tells us, in his Power and Privilege, " the common definition of Labor Union in the American dictionaries is an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions, through the process of collective bargaining." ( 33 ) This definition is an all encompassing one that justifies the existence of unions. Assumptions must be made by unions and the union members that these items are not being provided for by the employer and therefore require an organization, the union, to fight for them. This definition describes a Good Guy / Bad Guy relationship between worker and Employer, that I believe is too simplistic. Both Union and Management act in a checks and balance relationship that is difficult to describe. We must take specific points of concern and describe the benefits trade unionism brings to the table. Union Approach Wages Trade unions are filling a need of the American worker just as much today as they did 30, 50 or 70 years ago. Unions historically have represented the workers who were from manufacturing, Blue Collar, job classifications. These workers are not being paid an equitable share of the profits that corporations are making. The disparity between the union worker and the management personnel is ever growing. The AFL-CIO News dated June 28, 1996 describes an incident where Steelworkers were locked out of a Common Wealth Gas plant for turning down a contract calling for more than 50 concessions while two weeks previously management was given 3 million dollars compensation. This occurred while the company was making a record 54 million dollar profit. ( 2 ). It follows, when considering the previous statement, inequities in pay are as prevalent in 1996 as they were in 1926. Unions are neede...
