The Role of Labor

Terms in this set (36)

Payments received in return for work

Equilibrium Wage

The wage at which the quantity of workers demanded equals the quantity of workers supplied; The market price for labor

The demand for a product/resource based on its contribution to the final product

Supply of Labor

The number of workers that are willing to work for specific wages

The rates of pay for specific/works performed

Factors the Influence Wage Rates

1. Human Capital (knowledge and skill of the worker)
2. Working conditions
3. Discrimination in the workplace
4. Government actions

Unseen barriers faced by women and minorities that interfere with professional advancement

The legal minimum amount that an employer must pay for one hour of work (Currently $7.25)

Economist and Sociologist from the University of Chicago
Believed that human capital is much more than education and training
Human capital refers to all the investments that people make in themselves to improve their contributions to production

Civilian Labor Force

Made up of those who are 16 years old or older who are employed or are actively seeking work

Changes in the US Labor Force

Since the Post-World War II era, women have played an important role in the overall economy

Economic Sectors

1. Primary: Jobs relating to natural resources
2. Secondary: Jobs relating to the production of goods and services
3. Tertiary: Jobs relating to service

Practice on contracting with an outside company, usually in a foreign country, to provide goods and services (telemarketing)

Practice of foreign companies establishing operations in the US

Performing office work in a location other than the office

Contingent Employment

Work that is temporary part time (seasonal work)

Independent Contractor

Someone who sells their expertise and service to others on an contractual basis

An organization of workers that seeks to improve wages, working conditions, fringe benefits and job security

Work stoppage that attempts to convince employers to meet the demands of the union

National Trades Union

1834: First national federation. Local craft unions formed a collective organization

Knights of Labor

1869: Organized workers by industry not by trade or skill level

Industrialization: Strong resistance to unions

1886: Deaths and serious injuries occurred in Chicago
1892: 10 workers killed in Homestead PA at the Carnegie Steel Factory
1894: Strike against the Pullman car Company won widespread support of railway workers across the country; but Federal Courts ruled against the union

Introduced a different model for unions in 1886 when he started the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

American Federation of Labor

Sought higher wages, benefits and working conditions

Marry Harris Jones

1930s: Mother Jones led a march on President Roosevelt's residence to protest for the need for child labor laws

New Deal Legislation

In the 1930s, inions lost membership as millions lost their jobs
Unions gained strength
1. Norris-LaGuardia Act
2. National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)
3. Fair Labor Standard Act

Norris-LaGuardia Act

1932: Outlawed the practice of only hiring workers who agree not to join a union
Workers had the right to organize

National Labor Relation Act

(Wagner Act) 1935
Protected workers in the private sector to form unions and to use strikes and other actions

Fair Labor Standard Act

1938: Set a minimum wage, required extra pay for overtime work and made most child labor illegal

Congress of Industrial Organizations

(CIO) organized unions for industrial worker
CIO broke away from the AFl in 1938 and rejoined the AFL in 1955

Taft-Hartley Act

1947: Amended the Wagner Act and limited union activities
Government under this law had more power to intervene if a strike might threaten national security

Right to Work Laws

States attempting to reduce union influence

Business where employers may only hire union worlers

Businesses in which workers have a set amount of time to join a union after being hired

Collective Bargaining

The way that businesses and unions negotiate wages and working conditions

Binding Arbitration

Process in which an impartial third party resolves disputes between management and unions

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