Union Management and Organization
Union Management and Organization
Labor Relations 405
November 3, 2012
Union Management and Organization
In the 1950’s the typical employee in America was a white male with no more than a high school degree. One out of three women was part of the civilian labor force and minorities made up only ten percent of the workforce. Most of the employees were blue-collar workers. The typical occupations were manufacturing, construction, mining, and unskilled labor positions. There were only twelve percent of employees working in the service sector of the workforce and professional employees made up another 18 percent of in the mid-point of the twentieth century. During the 1950’s there was subject to very little government regulations. Absent union representation employers were free to hire and fire employees at their sole discretion. Employers were able to set the terms and conditions of employment subject only to the minimum imposed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA in 1938 required employers to pay covered employees the equivalent of the mandated minimum hourly wage plus overtime compensation at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for time worked in excess of forty hours per week. This Act is still required today. An example of lack of legal regulation is when the Armed Forces following the conclusion of the Second World War, increased from 800,000 men to nine million during the war. This created a shortage in the civilian workforce which then women started to gain employment. As the GI’s returned after the war; employers terminated the women and replaced them with the men who came back. Employer preference was perfectly lawful in the 1950’s. Civil Rights statues prohibiting the discrimination treatment of women and minorities in employment did not yet exist. The existence of the employment relationship was almost entirely a matter of employer discretion, not government regulation. In the 1950’s the workforce
Labor Relations 405
November 3, 2012
Union Management and Organization
In the 1950’s the typical employee in America was a white male with no more than a high school degree. One out of three women was part of the civilian labor force and minorities made up only ten percent of the workforce. Most of the employees were blue-collar workers. The typical occupations were manufacturing, construction, mining, and unskilled labor positions. There were only twelve percent of employees working in the service sector of the workforce and professional employees made up another 18 percent of in the mid-point of the twentieth century. During the 1950’s there was subject to very little government regulations. Absent union representation employers were free to hire and fire employees at their sole discretion. Employers were able to set the terms and conditions of employment subject only to the minimum imposed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA in 1938 required employers to pay covered employees the equivalent of the mandated minimum hourly wage plus overtime compensation at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for time worked in excess of forty hours per week. This Act is still required today. An example of lack of legal regulation is when the Armed Forces following the conclusion of the Second World War, increased from 800,000 men to nine million during the war. This created a shortage in the civilian workforce which then women started to gain employment. As the GI’s returned after the war; employers terminated the women and replaced them with the men who came back. Employer preference was perfectly lawful in the 1950’s. Civil Rights statues prohibiting the discrimination treatment of women and minorities in employment did not yet exist. The existence of the employment relationship was almost entirely a matter of employer discretion, not government regulation. In the 1950’s the workforce
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