LABOR UNIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Three scenarios that examine the role of unions in the fast-food industry and pro sports are used to launch a discussion of present-day union influence.

Class members experience labor/management "win-win" negotiations as they attempt to forge a contract that satisfies both teams' top demands. The teacher mediates the discussion.

"A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority." The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and...

Working in groups, middle and high schoolers describe and discuss photographs depicting working conditions experienced by child laborers in the 19th century. They then write a persuasive paragraph supporting an amendment to regulate the...

Does the structure of capitalism eliminate inequality or reinforce it? That is the essential question of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century. Introduce young economists to Piketty's "Central Contradiction of Capitalism" with a...

To unionize or not to unionize? That is the question high schoolers consider in their investigation of the labor union movement of the 1920s. After a brief review of the Industrial Revolution and the importance of the textile industry in...

High schoolers examine the conditions that led to organized labor unions. In this 20th century America activity, students compare and contrast the Knights of Labor Constitution, the American Federation of Labor Constitution, and the...

A day off from work to celebrate...labor? Find out why on the first Monday of every September, Americans and Canadians celebrate Labor Day. Viewers will learn about the unique history of the first Labor Day, in which workers not only...

Students examine primary documents about the establishment of labor unions. In this organized labor instructional activity, students research the working conditions that contributed to the growth of the labor union movement. Students...

Labor Day, its parades and picnics, has become a marker for the end of summer vacation. Introduce kids to the key people and events involved in the creation of this national holiday with a video that provides a brief overview of the...