{"id":104,"date":"2019-07-01T21:36:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T21:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=104"},"modified":"2024-04-25T01:43:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T01:43:27","slug":"the-role-of-unions","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/chapter\/the-role-of-unions\/","title":{"raw":"The Role of Unions","rendered":"The Role of Unions"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Discuss the current relevance of unions<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAlthough organized labor\u2019s membership and political power has decreased in recent years, it would be a mistake the call the fight. Unions still have significant numbers, public support and political clout, including a highly effective get-out-the-vote operation. Case in point: Illinois unions\u2014both public and private\u2014launched an all-out assault on former Governor Bruce Rauner, who initiated what became the Janus case and was running for re-election in 2018.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Learn More<\/h3>\r\nPolitico\u2019s back-story on the union\u2019s strategy\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/06\/27\/bruce-rauner-janus-supreme-court-680624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Organized labor readies scorched-earth assault on Rauner<\/a>\u2014is good perspective on this incident.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nSo what was the end result? Rauner was defeated by Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who won 55% of the vote to Rauner\u2019s 39%.[footnote]<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2018\/results\/illinois\/governor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN Politics.<\/a> Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] Former chairman of Mrs. Clinton\u2019s presidential campaign John Podesta observed that \u201cThe key to unions\u2019 importance is their ability to change outcomes through educational efforts of their own members. They do a very good job of communicating with their own members and getting them out to vote.\u201d[footnote]Scheiber, Noam. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/01\/business\/economy\/unions-funding-political.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supreme Court Labor Decision Wasn't Just a Loss for Unions.<\/a>\" The New York Times. July 1, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n<h2>Union Membership<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-457\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/07\/26205935\/team-866663_1920-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of 5 business professionals all smiling at the camera.\" width=\"401\" height=\"267\" \/>Union membership was 14.7 million in 2018, as compared to 14.8 million in 2017.[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/archives\/union2_01192018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News Release. Union Members \u2013 2017<\/a>.\" Bureau of Labor Statistics. January 19, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] The membership rate was off slightly, declining 0.2% to 10.5% in 2018. Interestingly, the number of workers represented by a union\u2014both member and non-member\u2014was unchanged year-over-year at 16.4 million. As discussed above, the membership rate is highest in the public sector, but membership numbers are substantial in both the public and private sectors, with 7.2 million and 7.6 million employees, respectively.\r\n<h2>Public Support<\/h2>\r\nAccording to an August 2018 Gallup report, union approval is holding steady at a 15-year high.[footnote]Saad, Lydia. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/241679\/labor-union-approval-steady-year-high.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Labor Union Approval Steady at 15-Year High<\/a>.\" Gallup. August 30, 2019. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nKey outtakes: 62% of Americans approve of labor unions, up one percentage point from 2017 and up 6 percentage points from 2016. Drilling down into the data, Gallup notes that support for unions is relatively consistent across gender, age, education and geographic groups. The divergence, perhaps not unexpectedly, is in political affiliation: 80% of Democrats, 62% of Independents and 45% of Republicans approve of unions. A subtle but significant point: American\u2019s are more divided on the future of union influence. Specifically, approximately 40% of those surveyed supported greater union influence; 29% indicated a preference for less influence and 26% preferred the status quo or no change in influence. For context, the author, Gallup Senior Editor Lydia Saad observes that \u201cAmericans' preference for union power is nearly identical to what Gallup found a year ago and represents greater support for strengthening unions than was the case for most of the previous decade.\u201d[footnote]Ibid.[\/footnote]\r\n<h2>Political Clout<\/h2>\r\nUnions are among the largest donors to Democratic candidates and have the numbers and networks to turn out the vote. OpenSecret data indicates that labor sector campaign contributions, including groups and individuals, totaled $174 million in 2018, down from a high of $217 during the 2016 election cycle. According to the site, \u201calmost 90% of those contributions went to Democrats, consistent with at least two decades of labor contribution trends.\u201d[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/industries\/indus.php?cycle=2018&amp;ind=P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Labor<\/a>.\" OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] What\u2019s at stake? Research conducted by public policy non-profit The Brookings Institution\u2019s Senior Fellow Vanessa Williamson and colleagues found that in presidential elections, state-level laws that banned agency fees for public and private unions (think Right to Work states) \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/08\/opinion\/conor-lamb-unions-pennsylvania.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cost Democratic candidates 2-5 percentage points<\/a>\u201d[footnote]Feigenbaum, James, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Vanessa Williamson. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/08\/opinion\/conor-lamb-unions-pennsylvania.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Right-to-Work Laws Have Devastated Unions \u2013 and Democrats.<\/a>\" March 8, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] and were associated with \u201ca sharp drop in voter turnout and in the frequency with which people from blue-collar backgrounds get elected to office.\u201d[footnote]Williamson, Vanessa. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/fixgov\/2018\/07\/18\/scotuss-labor-decisions-bad-news-for-working-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SCOTUS' s Labor Decision: Bad News for Working People, and a Taste of What's to Come.<\/a>\" Brookings. July 18, 2018. July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] The<em> New York Times<\/em> reporters Noam Scheiber and Kenneth Vogel highlight the critical importance of this finding, noting that the average 3.5 percentage point drop in Democrat\u2019s share of the presidential vote due to \u201cright to work\u201d laws \u201cis larger than Democrats\u2019 margin of defeat in several states that could have reversed their last three presidential losses.\u201d[footnote]Scheiber, Noam and Kenneth P. Vogel. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/25\/business\/economy\/labor-court-conservatives.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Behind a Key Anti-Labor Case, a Web of Conservative Donors<\/a>.\" The New York Times. February 25, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s no surprise, then, that within weeks of the Janus decision\u2014in some cases in anticipation of it\u2014roughly a third of the 22 affected states passed laws and\/or executive orders to dilute its impact on unions. In California, the legislature passed a series of proactive bills in 2017, including AB 119, SB 112 and SB 285. For an overview of those bills, see law firm Kronik\u2019s Legal Alert: <a href=\"https:\/\/kmtg.com\/news\/legal-alerts\/the-california-legislatures-response-to-janus-v-afscme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The California Legislature\u2019s Response to Janus v. AFSCME<\/a>.[footnote]Tyra, David. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/kmtg.com\/news\/legal-alerts\/the-california-legislatures-response-to-janus-v-afscme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The California Legislature's Response to Janus v. AFSCME<\/a>.\" Kronick. July 3, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] On the day the court ruled in Janus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an Executive Order prohibiting state entities from state employees\u2019 personal contact information. In a state where roughly 70% of public employees are represented by unions, Cuomo\u2019s stated intent was \u201cto protect union members from harassment and intimidation.\u201d[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.ny.gov\/news\/video-audio-photos-rush-transcript-response-janus-decision-governor-cuomo-signs-executive-order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Video, Audio, Photos &amp; Rush Transcript: In Response to Janus Decision, Governor Cuomo Signs Executive Order to Protect Union Members from Harassment and Intimidations.<\/a>\" New York State. June 27, 2018. July 23, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nClearly, the intent was to block groups from informing public workers of their rights under Janus. In March 2019, Oregon House Democrats passed a bill, HB 2016, that \u201copponents referred to as a \u2018union wishlist.\u2019\u201d[footnote]Sickinger, Ted. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/politics\/2019\/03\/house-passes-bill-that-opponents-call-a-union-wishlist.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House Democrats Forward a Bill Opponents Call a \"Union Wishlist\".<\/a>\" The Oregonian. March 18, 2019. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] SEIU Local 503 president Steve Demarest commented that \u201cHB 2016 helps us continue in the strong tradition of a cooperative relationship between government and its employees. Representative Greg Barreto\u2019s (R) stated opinion: \u201cthis is just an obvious maneuver by the majority party to give the unions a power grab.\u201d Oregon attorney and governor Katherine Brown (D) signed HB 2016 into law June 20, 2019[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/gov.oregonlive.com\/bill\/2019\/HB2016\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House Bill 2016<\/a>.\" Oregon Live. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote]\u2014approximately a year after the Janus ruling. The common goal of the new state laws is to help public-sector unions retain and recruit new members. Some of the new state laws also allow public unions to their offer different levels of services; for example, limiting the services provided to non-members and offering additional benefits or services exclusively to dues-paying members to increase the membership value proposition.\r\n<h2>Unions and The Gig Economy<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2406\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/07\/12170406\/photo-1530685932526-48ec92998eaa-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"Decorative image.\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/>One of the sectors that is emerging as a labor-management and regulatory hotspot is the gig economy. Former Fast Company senior associate editor Sarah Kessler noted that \u201cat first glance, the idea of a gig economy labor movement seems like a contradiction in terms.\u201d[footnote]Kessler, Sarah. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3042081\/what-does-a-union-look-like-in-the-gig-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Does A Union Look Like In The Gig Economy?<\/a>\u201d Fast Company. Fast Company, May 2, 2017.[\/footnote] Task workers at companies such as Uber, Lyft and TaskRabbit aren\u2019t legally employees. These and other gig economy workers are independent contractors, which means they don\u2019t have the legal right to organize. Kessler observes that hasn\u2019t stopped them from organizing, starting app-based drivers associations, tapping unions for advice and staging strikes. However, tactics that were successful in the past don\u2019t necessarily translate. Organizing an ad hoc virtual group of people - the majority of whom you don\u2019t know or don\u2019t have contact information for - is a complex organizational challenge. Add to that the fact that gig economy workers aren\u2019t protected from engaging in \u201cconcerted activity\u201d and organization becomes a risky proposition - especially for those already living on the margins.\r\n\r\nTaking the regulatory lead, California recently passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) - referred to as the \u201cgig economy rights bill\u201d - will make it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors. Signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on 9\/18, AB 5 is estimated to affect up to a million California workers. The bill was designed to extend wage (e.g., minimum wage) and benefit (e.g., workers compensation) protections to gig economy workers. However, this is likely to be a first step rather than a fix, since federal legislation designed to prevent the exploitation of workers - The Fair Labor Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and The National Labor Relations Act - don\u2019t apply to independent contractors of the gig economy. Although Uber and Lyft are planning to litigate and sponsor a 2020 ballot measure rather than comply, CBS reports that they \u201chave offered to give employees a base hourly wage, access to benefits and a right to bargain across the industry.\u201d\r\n<h2>The Future of Unions<\/h2>\r\nWhen we consider the future of unions, one of the fundamental questions is relevance in a changing economy\u2014in particular, given technological changes such as industrial-scale automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.\r\n\r\nIn an article for <em>Forbes<\/em>, contributing writer Kavi Guppta asks a series of questions with implications for not only business, but society.[footnote]Guppta, Kavi. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kaviguppta\/2016\/10\/12\/will-labor-unions-survive-in-the-era-of-automation\/#5128ab8c3b22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will Labor Unions Survive in the Era of Automation?<\/a>\" Forbes. October 12, 2016. Accessed July 23, 2019.[\/footnote] Specifically:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can organized workers be as effective at a time when work is being handed over to machines?<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What rights do workers have when machine efficiency outworks humans?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAnd, perhaps most importantly\u2014and reminiscent of the days of early industrialization:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do workers rights even matter when there\u2019s no more work left for people to do?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nUltimately, the challenges facing unions are the same challenges that are facing businesses and nations: globalization and international competition, climate change and associated impacts on migration and immigration, an aging workforce and technological and consumer preference trends ranging from the sharing economy to robotics and AI. Guppta writes that \u201cthere is consensus that unions will continue to remain relevant only by anticipating and adapting their organizing and collective bargaining strategies to the continuously changing economy, labor market, demography, work organization, and human resource management.\u201d[footnote]Ibid.[\/footnote] Ultimately, these changing dynamics will require unions to be agents of, rather than obstacles to, innovation and change. In order to fulfill this role, unions will have to remain abreast of emerging trends and technologies\u2014and the associated economics\u2014in order to engage in constructive negotiations. But union will also, as Gupta puts it, need to \u201csuccessfully interpret and sustain the demands of their represented.\u201d Without a legal mandate\u2014and the financial and political power of agency fees\u2014unions will have to demonstrate their relevance in order to survive.","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss the current relevance of unions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although organized labor\u2019s membership and political power has decreased in recent years, it would be a mistake the call the fight. Unions still have significant numbers, public support and political clout, including a highly effective get-out-the-vote operation. Case in point: Illinois unions\u2014both public and private\u2014launched an all-out assault on former Governor Bruce Rauner, who initiated what became the Janus case and was running for re-election in 2018.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Learn More<\/h3>\n<p>Politico\u2019s back-story on the union\u2019s strategy\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/06\/27\/bruce-rauner-janus-supreme-court-680624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Organized labor readies scorched-earth assault on Rauner<\/a>\u2014is good perspective on this incident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>So what was the end result? Rauner was defeated by Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who won 55% of the vote to Rauner\u2019s 39%.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"CNN Politics. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-1\" href=\"#footnote-104-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> Former chairman of Mrs. Clinton\u2019s presidential campaign John Podesta observed that \u201cThe key to unions\u2019 importance is their ability to change outcomes through educational efforts of their own members. They do a very good job of communicating with their own members and getting them out to vote.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Scheiber, Noam. &quot;Supreme Court Labor Decision Wasn't Just a Loss for Unions.&quot; The New York Times. July 1, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-2\" href=\"#footnote-104-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Union Membership<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-457\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/07\/26205935\/team-866663_1920-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of 5 business professionals all smiling at the camera.\" width=\"401\" height=\"267\" \/>Union membership was 14.7 million in 2018, as compared to 14.8 million in 2017.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;News Release. Union Members \u2013 2017.&quot; Bureau of Labor Statistics. January 19, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-3\" href=\"#footnote-104-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> The membership rate was off slightly, declining 0.2% to 10.5% in 2018. Interestingly, the number of workers represented by a union\u2014both member and non-member\u2014was unchanged year-over-year at 16.4 million. As discussed above, the membership rate is highest in the public sector, but membership numbers are substantial in both the public and private sectors, with 7.2 million and 7.6 million employees, respectively.<\/p>\n<h2>Public Support<\/h2>\n<p>According to an August 2018 Gallup report, union approval is holding steady at a 15-year high.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Saad, Lydia. &quot;Labor Union Approval Steady at 15-Year High.&quot; Gallup. August 30, 2019. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-4\" href=\"#footnote-104-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Key outtakes: 62% of Americans approve of labor unions, up one percentage point from 2017 and up 6 percentage points from 2016. Drilling down into the data, Gallup notes that support for unions is relatively consistent across gender, age, education and geographic groups. The divergence, perhaps not unexpectedly, is in political affiliation: 80% of Democrats, 62% of Independents and 45% of Republicans approve of unions. A subtle but significant point: American\u2019s are more divided on the future of union influence. Specifically, approximately 40% of those surveyed supported greater union influence; 29% indicated a preference for less influence and 26% preferred the status quo or no change in influence. For context, the author, Gallup Senior Editor Lydia Saad observes that \u201cAmericans&#8217; preference for union power is nearly identical to what Gallup found a year ago and represents greater support for strengthening unions than was the case for most of the previous decade.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ibid.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-5\" href=\"#footnote-104-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Political Clout<\/h2>\n<p>Unions are among the largest donors to Democratic candidates and have the numbers and networks to turn out the vote. OpenSecret data indicates that labor sector campaign contributions, including groups and individuals, totaled $174 million in 2018, down from a high of $217 during the 2016 election cycle. According to the site, \u201calmost 90% of those contributions went to Democrats, consistent with at least two decades of labor contribution trends.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Labor.&quot; OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-6\" href=\"#footnote-104-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a> What\u2019s at stake? Research conducted by public policy non-profit The Brookings Institution\u2019s Senior Fellow Vanessa Williamson and colleagues found that in presidential elections, state-level laws that banned agency fees for public and private unions (think Right to Work states) \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/08\/opinion\/conor-lamb-unions-pennsylvania.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cost Democratic candidates 2-5 percentage points<\/a>\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Feigenbaum, James, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Vanessa Williamson. &quot;Right-to-Work Laws Have Devastated Unions \u2013 and Democrats.&quot; March 8, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-7\" href=\"#footnote-104-7\" aria-label=\"Footnote 7\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[7]<\/sup><\/a> and were associated with \u201ca sharp drop in voter turnout and in the frequency with which people from blue-collar backgrounds get elected to office.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Williamson, Vanessa. &quot;SCOTUS' s Labor Decision: Bad News for Working People, and a Taste of What's to Come.&quot; Brookings. July 18, 2018. July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-8\" href=\"#footnote-104-8\" aria-label=\"Footnote 8\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[8]<\/sup><\/a> The<em> New York Times<\/em> reporters Noam Scheiber and Kenneth Vogel highlight the critical importance of this finding, noting that the average 3.5 percentage point drop in Democrat\u2019s share of the presidential vote due to \u201cright to work\u201d laws \u201cis larger than Democrats\u2019 margin of defeat in several states that could have reversed their last three presidential losses.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Scheiber, Noam and Kenneth P. Vogel. &quot;Behind a Key Anti-Labor Case, a Web of Conservative Donors.&quot; The New York Times. February 25, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-9\" href=\"#footnote-104-9\" aria-label=\"Footnote 9\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no surprise, then, that within weeks of the Janus decision\u2014in some cases in anticipation of it\u2014roughly a third of the 22 affected states passed laws and\/or executive orders to dilute its impact on unions. In California, the legislature passed a series of proactive bills in 2017, including AB 119, SB 112 and SB 285. For an overview of those bills, see law firm Kronik\u2019s Legal Alert: <a href=\"https:\/\/kmtg.com\/news\/legal-alerts\/the-california-legislatures-response-to-janus-v-afscme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The California Legislature\u2019s Response to Janus v. AFSCME<\/a>.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Tyra, David. &quot;The California Legislature's Response to Janus v. AFSCME.&quot; Kronick. July 3, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-10\" href=\"#footnote-104-10\" aria-label=\"Footnote 10\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[10]<\/sup><\/a> On the day the court ruled in Janus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an Executive Order prohibiting state entities from state employees\u2019 personal contact information. In a state where roughly 70% of public employees are represented by unions, Cuomo\u2019s stated intent was \u201cto protect union members from harassment and intimidation.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Video, Audio, Photos &amp; Rush Transcript: In Response to Janus Decision, Governor Cuomo Signs Executive Order to Protect Union Members from Harassment and Intimidations.&quot; New York State. June 27, 2018. July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-11\" href=\"#footnote-104-11\" aria-label=\"Footnote 11\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Clearly, the intent was to block groups from informing public workers of their rights under Janus. In March 2019, Oregon House Democrats passed a bill, HB 2016, that \u201copponents referred to as a \u2018union wishlist.\u2019\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Sickinger, Ted. &quot;House Democrats Forward a Bill Opponents Call a &quot;Union Wishlist&quot;.&quot; The Oregonian. March 18, 2019. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-12\" href=\"#footnote-104-12\" aria-label=\"Footnote 12\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[12]<\/sup><\/a> SEIU Local 503 president Steve Demarest commented that \u201cHB 2016 helps us continue in the strong tradition of a cooperative relationship between government and its employees. Representative Greg Barreto\u2019s (R) stated opinion: \u201cthis is just an obvious maneuver by the majority party to give the unions a power grab.\u201d Oregon attorney and governor Katherine Brown (D) signed HB 2016 into law June 20, 2019<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;House Bill 2016.&quot; Oregon Live. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-13\" href=\"#footnote-104-13\" aria-label=\"Footnote 13\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[13]<\/sup><\/a>\u2014approximately a year after the Janus ruling. The common goal of the new state laws is to help public-sector unions retain and recruit new members. Some of the new state laws also allow public unions to their offer different levels of services; for example, limiting the services provided to non-members and offering additional benefits or services exclusively to dues-paying members to increase the membership value proposition.<\/p>\n<h2>Unions and The Gig Economy<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2406\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/07\/12170406\/photo-1530685932526-48ec92998eaa-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"Decorative image.\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/>One of the sectors that is emerging as a labor-management and regulatory hotspot is the gig economy. Former Fast Company senior associate editor Sarah Kessler noted that \u201cat first glance, the idea of a gig economy labor movement seems like a contradiction in terms.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Kessler, Sarah. \u201cWhat Does A Union Look Like In The Gig Economy?\u201d Fast Company. Fast Company, May 2, 2017.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-14\" href=\"#footnote-104-14\" aria-label=\"Footnote 14\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[14]<\/sup><\/a> Task workers at companies such as Uber, Lyft and TaskRabbit aren\u2019t legally employees. These and other gig economy workers are independent contractors, which means they don\u2019t have the legal right to organize. Kessler observes that hasn\u2019t stopped them from organizing, starting app-based drivers associations, tapping unions for advice and staging strikes. However, tactics that were successful in the past don\u2019t necessarily translate. Organizing an ad hoc virtual group of people &#8211; the majority of whom you don\u2019t know or don\u2019t have contact information for &#8211; is a complex organizational challenge. Add to that the fact that gig economy workers aren\u2019t protected from engaging in \u201cconcerted activity\u201d and organization becomes a risky proposition &#8211; especially for those already living on the margins.<\/p>\n<p>Taking the regulatory lead, California recently passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) &#8211; referred to as the \u201cgig economy rights bill\u201d &#8211; will make it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors. Signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on 9\/18, AB 5 is estimated to affect up to a million California workers. The bill was designed to extend wage (e.g., minimum wage) and benefit (e.g., workers compensation) protections to gig economy workers. However, this is likely to be a first step rather than a fix, since federal legislation designed to prevent the exploitation of workers &#8211; The Fair Labor Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and The National Labor Relations Act &#8211; don\u2019t apply to independent contractors of the gig economy. Although Uber and Lyft are planning to litigate and sponsor a 2020 ballot measure rather than comply, CBS reports that they \u201chave offered to give employees a base hourly wage, access to benefits and a right to bargain across the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Future of Unions<\/h2>\n<p>When we consider the future of unions, one of the fundamental questions is relevance in a changing economy\u2014in particular, given technological changes such as industrial-scale automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>In an article for <em>Forbes<\/em>, contributing writer Kavi Guppta asks a series of questions with implications for not only business, but society.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Guppta, Kavi. &quot;Will Labor Unions Survive in the Era of Automation?&quot; Forbes. October 12, 2016. Accessed July 23, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-15\" href=\"#footnote-104-15\" aria-label=\"Footnote 15\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[15]<\/sup><\/a> Specifically:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can organized workers be as effective at a time when work is being handed over to machines?<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What rights do workers have when machine efficiency outworks humans?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And, perhaps most importantly\u2014and reminiscent of the days of early industrialization:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do workers rights even matter when there\u2019s no more work left for people to do?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ultimately, the challenges facing unions are the same challenges that are facing businesses and nations: globalization and international competition, climate change and associated impacts on migration and immigration, an aging workforce and technological and consumer preference trends ranging from the sharing economy to robotics and AI. Guppta writes that \u201cthere is consensus that unions will continue to remain relevant only by anticipating and adapting their organizing and collective bargaining strategies to the continuously changing economy, labor market, demography, work organization, and human resource management.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ibid.\" id=\"return-footnote-104-16\" href=\"#footnote-104-16\" aria-label=\"Footnote 16\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[16]<\/sup><\/a> Ultimately, these changing dynamics will require unions to be agents of, rather than obstacles to, innovation and change. In order to fulfill this role, unions will have to remain abreast of emerging trends and technologies\u2014and the associated economics\u2014in order to engage in constructive negotiations. But union will also, as Gupta puts it, need to \u201csuccessfully interpret and sustain the demands of their represented.\u201d Without a legal mandate\u2014and the financial and political power of agency fees\u2014unions will have to demonstrate their relevance in order to survive.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-104\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>The Role of Unions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Nina Burokas. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li><strong>Authored by<\/strong>:  Alexander Popov. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Unsplash. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/Xbh_OGLRfUM\">https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/Xbh_OGLRfUM<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/pdm\">Public Domain: No Known Copyright<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Unsplash License<\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Specific attribution<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Untitled. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Hillyne Jonkerman. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/team-corporate-people-group-office-866663\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/team-corporate-people-group-office-866663\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Pixabay License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-104-1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/election\/2018\/results\/illinois\/governor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN Politics.<\/a> Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-2\">Scheiber, Noam. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/01\/business\/economy\/unions-funding-political.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supreme Court Labor Decision Wasn't Just a Loss for Unions.<\/a>\" The New York Times. July 1, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-3\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/archives\/union2_01192018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News Release. Union Members \u2013 2017<\/a>.\" Bureau of Labor Statistics. January 19, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-4\">Saad, Lydia. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/241679\/labor-union-approval-steady-year-high.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Labor Union Approval Steady at 15-Year High<\/a>.\" Gallup. August 30, 2019. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-5\">Ibid. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-6\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/industries\/indus.php?cycle=2018&amp;ind=P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Labor<\/a>.\" OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-7\">Feigenbaum, James, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Vanessa Williamson. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/08\/opinion\/conor-lamb-unions-pennsylvania.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Right-to-Work Laws Have Devastated Unions \u2013 and Democrats.<\/a>\" March 8, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-7\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 7\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-8\">Williamson, Vanessa. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/fixgov\/2018\/07\/18\/scotuss-labor-decisions-bad-news-for-working-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SCOTUS' s Labor Decision: Bad News for Working People, and a Taste of What's to Come.<\/a>\" Brookings. July 18, 2018. July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-8\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 8\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-9\">Scheiber, Noam and Kenneth P. Vogel. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/25\/business\/economy\/labor-court-conservatives.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Behind a Key Anti-Labor Case, a Web of Conservative Donors<\/a>.\" The New York Times. February 25, 2018. Accessed July 22, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-9\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 9\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-10\">Tyra, David. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/kmtg.com\/news\/legal-alerts\/the-california-legislatures-response-to-janus-v-afscme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The California Legislature's Response to Janus v. AFSCME<\/a>.\" Kronick. July 3, 2018. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-10\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 10\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-11\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.ny.gov\/news\/video-audio-photos-rush-transcript-response-janus-decision-governor-cuomo-signs-executive-order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Video, Audio, Photos &amp; Rush Transcript: In Response to Janus Decision, Governor Cuomo Signs Executive Order to Protect Union Members from Harassment and Intimidations.<\/a>\" New York State. June 27, 2018. July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-11\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 11\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-12\">Sickinger, Ted. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/politics\/2019\/03\/house-passes-bill-that-opponents-call-a-union-wishlist.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House Democrats Forward a Bill Opponents Call a \"Union Wishlist\".<\/a>\" The Oregonian. March 18, 2019. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-12\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 12\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-13\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/gov.oregonlive.com\/bill\/2019\/HB2016\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House Bill 2016<\/a>.\" Oregon Live. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-13\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 13\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-14\">Kessler, Sarah. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3042081\/what-does-a-union-look-like-in-the-gig-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Does A Union Look Like In The Gig Economy?<\/a>\u201d Fast Company. Fast Company, May 2, 2017. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-14\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 14\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-15\">Guppta, Kavi. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kaviguppta\/2016\/10\/12\/will-labor-unions-survive-in-the-era-of-automation\/#5128ab8c3b22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will Labor Unions Survive in the Era of Automation?<\/a>\" Forbes. October 12, 2016. Accessed July 23, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-15\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 15\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-104-16\">Ibid. <a href=\"#return-footnote-104-16\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 16\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":10,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"The Role of Unions\",\"author\":\"Nina Burokas\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Untitled\",\"author\":\"Hillyne Jonkerman\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/team-corporate-people-group-office-866663\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Pixabay License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"author\":\" Alexander Popov\",\"organization\":\"Unsplash\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/Xbh_OGLRfUM\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"pd\",\"license_terms\":\"Unsplash License\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"306d2739-fd26-4b96-a385-4d034230f056, 3cb43582-04e7-49a9-956c-879897e51822","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-104","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":74,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2830,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/104\/revisions\/2830"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/74"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/104\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}