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Essay / Law of the Jungle - 1402
IntroductionThe term "Law of the Jungle" is an expression often meaning "every man for himself", "survival of the fittest" or "anything goes". A term which also refers to the period before the Wagner Act enacted in 1935. A time when collective bargaining existed in theory but not fairly in practice between unions and employers. When practiced fairly, collective bargaining allows workers to establish a form of democracy in the workplace; thus allowing a form of rules to be respected by both the employer and the employees. Unions have given employees a platform where their voices will be heard. This article will provide an overview of the pre-Wagner Act era and influential post-1932 collective bargaining laws, as well as whether post-1932 laws should be eliminated. Pre-1932 Since the Beginning of Unions , we have witnessed dramatic ups and downs. resulting in almost total devastation on several occasions. The union's membership began with 300,000 members in 1836, but fell drastically to just 50,000 members in 1878, following the country's deep five-year economic depression. As unions weakened, employers began to turn against what remained of organized unions. They engaged in frequent lockouts, hired spies to track down union supporters, circulated the names of these supporters to their fellow employers by creating blacklists, and used large-scale strikebreakers. ladder. (Slone/Witney, 2010) In response to such employer attacks, unionists and non-union workers fought back. Secret societies were formed, the most infamous Molly Maguires were known for their murders and arson. Unfortunately, most of the time... middle of document ......e is the need to find, not an alternative to labor management relations, but ways to improve/update the existing process. Works CitedGold, M. & Verrier, R. (February 26, 2009). "Jay Leno hauled before Writers Guild trial committee". Los Angeles Times. Grablesky, J. (2007). A New Alliance in New York State: A Progress Report on the Restructuring, Capacity Building, and Programmatic Work of the Labor Movement. Retrieved September 29, 2010 from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/88/Sloane, A. and Witney, F. (2010 ). Labor relations. (Thirteenth Edition) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.Taft-Hartley Act. Distributed by the Labor Education & Research Center at the University of Oregon. Accessed September 23, 2010 from http://www.nalc1414.org/Taft-Hartly.pdf