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Labor Union Trends Labor unions affect the daily lives of many citizens (Mackinaw, 2001) dramatic and powerful, though often indirect and hidden ways. Everyone from blue collar factory workers, white collared accountants, soccer moms, and business owners to elementary school students, retirees, are affected every day be the organized labor movement. Fewer, Howe ever, understand the legal and historical role labor unions have played and continue to play in the economy, politics and culture. From the Teamsters to the United Auto Workers to the National Education Association, labor unions figure prominently in national and local and global politics and have a dramatic effect on everything from the price of a new care to education for children. A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages, terms and conditions of employment (Mackinaw, 2001). Historically, government has taken three approaches to labor unions: the criminal conspiracy approach, the free market (government neutral approach, and the compulsory unionism approach. For much of American history, labor relations went largely unregulated by government; they were considered private matters best settled directly between employers and employees. In the late nineteenth century, however, this “government-neutral” view of the workplace began to change. Employees acting together to address workplace issues increasingly dew the attention of the United States courts.
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