Why labor organizing should be a civil right

To achieve reform, labor needs the political power that comes from expanding union membership; to grow, however, unions need labor law reform. Kahlenberg and Marvit lay out the case for a new approach, one that takes the issue beyond the confines of labor law by amending the Civil Rights Act so that it prohibits discrimination against workers trying to organize a union. They argue that this strategy would have two significant benefits. First, enhanced penalties under the Civil Rights Act would provide a greater deterrent against the illegal firing of employees who try to organize. Second, as a political matter, identifying the ability to form a union as a civil right frames the issue in a way that Americans can readily understand. Kahlenberg and Marvit explain the American labor movement's historical importance to social change, they provides data on the failure of current law to deter employer abuses, and they compare U.S. labor protections to those of most other developed nations. They also include a discussion of what amending the Civil Rights Act to protect labor organizing would mean as well as an outline of the connection between civil rights and labor movements and analysis of the politics of civil rights and labor law reform. From publisher description.

Year

2012

Language

English

Publisher

Century Foundation Press

Editions

1

Pages

160

ISBN

9780870785238

Data source: Wikidata