Labor in Bloomington

A snapshot of the labor movement in America that focuses on the movement in the Midwestern town of Bloomington.

Transcript

1. LABOR IN BLOOMINGTON A snapshot of the labor movement in the 20th and 21st Centuries
2. OBJECTIVE • The labor movement was a significant force for improvement in the lives of American’s during the 20th century, but what is it today, and to what extent is it still necessary? • This project address these questions by using the city of Bloomington, IN as a snapshot of the labor movement in America Photo of Kirkwood Ave. viewed from the Sample Gates by Visit Bloomington, sourced from the Indy Star
3. THESIS • The Labor movement in America is no longer useful in the role that it has historically played of representing the American working class. • This is significant because it allows us to understand that the working class in America has evolved and is not primarily confronted with class conflict
4. AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT: 20TH CENTURY • The objective of the labor movement was to protect and advance the rights of American workers • Some early groups included: • Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) • Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) • American Federation of Labor
5. 20TH CENTURY ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 • Regulated on the job safety guidelines • The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 • Established first minimum wage • 40 hour work week – instituted the eight hour work day & weekends • For comparison in the late 19th Century, workers would often work as much as 100 hours per week
6. AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT: BLOOMINGTON, IN • Dr. Joseph Varga from Indiana University Bloomington, writes about a 2011 millworkers union organized strike and a local Occupy movement in the city of Bloomington. • The Occupy movement seeks to advance social and economic justice and was started in the late 2000’s in response to the ’09 financial collapse • Dr. Varga writes of the evolution of labor union’s image • By 2008, labor unions were publicly viewed as nothing more than another special interest group • Union members were viewed as middle class Americans able to afford vacations, and multiple homes and cars
7. AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT: BLOOMINGTON, IN In Bloomington Indiana labor unions are mediums for collective bargaining and protectors of working benefits Such benefits include • Family/medical leave • Health insurance • Overtime Southern Indiana workers harvesting limestone, sourced from the Indianapolis Airport Authority
8. AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT: BLOOMINGTON, IN • Labor unions today serve interests that benefit their specific constituency • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 10.3% of American workers were registered as union members in 2019 • Dr. Varga argues that union popularity in Bloomington has decreased as a result of successful anti-union political messaging. • While this argument makes sense in Southern Indiana’s more politically Right districts, this argument is more questionable as unions lose influence across the nation in red and blue regions alike
9. CONCLUSION • The labor movement has been a source of economic and social growth in America, with many great individuals who have contributed to it such as Dorothy Day • However, the labor movement as we know it today is no longer useful, and we must be able to see that there is less continuity between unions now and labor unions in the 20th Century
10. IMAGE SOURCES • The Associated Press, and MPR News Staff. “HealthPartners Union Votes in Favor of Strike.” MPR News, MPR News, 2020, 6:10PM. • Campbell, Alexia Fernández. 5 Questions about Labor Strikes That You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask. 20 Sept. 2019. • Krisher, Tom. “Progress Reported in Contract Talks between GM, Union.” Wthr.com, 13WTHR, 18 Sept. 2019. • Osterman, Zach. Bloomington Isn't Bloomington without Its Bars and Restaurants. They Need Help Now. 28 May 2020. • Davies, Tom. Big Indiana Teachers Rally Prompts Many School Closings. 7 Nov. 2019.
11. OTHER SOURCES • Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness: the Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist Dorothy Day. HarperOne, 2017. • Murolo, Priscilla, and A. B. Chitty. From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: a Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States. The New Press, 2001. • Williams, David. “Indiana Teachers' Union Leader: Virus Concerns Worsen Shortage of Teachers, Substitutes - WISH-TV: Indianapolis News: Indiana Weather: Indiana Traffic.” WISH, 1 Dec. 2020, www.wishtv.com/news/indiana-news/indiana-teachers-union-leader- virus-concerns-worsen-shortage-of-teachers-substitutes/. • Varga, Joseph. “Occupying the Picket Line: Labor and Occupy in South Central Indiana.” Journal of Working-Class Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, June 2018, pp. 81–103.