Module Overview
"Don't Screw with Local 2", 1980. Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.
A union is a group of workers who join together to advocate for their common interests on issues such as wages, working conditions, insurance, leave, pension, and job security. Union members bargain collectively to create a stronger voice in negotiations with their employers.
Unions are membership-driven, democratic organizations governed by laws that require financial transparency and integrity, fair elections, and fair representation of all workers.
Unions form across a wide range of occupations, including blue collar jobs such as electricians, white collar jobs such as teachers, and service worker jobs such as fast food.
About this Module
This module provides an overview of what unions are, how to organize a union, what a collective bargaining agreement is, and how workers use strikes to change their working conditions. Using both contemporary examples and historic primary source materials, the module illustrates union activities in many different fields, including:
- Illustrators
- Longshore workers
- Sex workers
- Garment workers
- Farm workers
- Baristas
- Warehouse workers
- Waitresses
- Teachers
- Hotel workers
- Cannery workers
There are guiding questions provided with the primary sources, which can be supplemented with related assignments.
The module was created by SFSU Labor Archives and Research Center Links to an external site. Director Tanya Hollis in collaboration with Cabrillo College Librarians Links to an external site. Michelle Morton and Aloha Sargent in 2024.
Learning Outcomes
Through this module, students will be able to:
- Describe the purpose and features of unions, including forming a union, contracts, and strikes
- Identify different types of unions
- Analyze primary source documents related to union formation and labor history
- Evaluate the role of community and political pressure in union activities
Overview of Topics and Sources
This module is broken down into 6 topics. Each topic includes an introductory page and a set of primary sources with guiding questions for each source.
Who Needs a Union? |
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Types of Unions |
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How to Form a Union |
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Bargaining & Negotiating Contracts |
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Going on Strike |
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Community Involvement & Political Pressure |
These Primary Source Analysis Worksheets can be utilized to help students analyze sources: