Included enough money, for instance, to build 2,800 free public libraries. He was

helped along - as corporations and the rich are still today – by America's tax laws.

Simply stated, it is better to give money away to charities and other nonprofit

organizations than to give it to the government in the form of taxes. Today, there are

some 200,000 foundations, large and small, throughout the U.S. which fund research

projects, support the arts, and contribute to various charitable and public causes.

Few Americans like "big business," however. Starting with Theodore

Roosevelt's administration (1901-1909), governments have broken up large

corporations and monopolies. The first to be affected by "deregulation," that is, the

removal of legal and administrative restrictions, were the big steel firms and the

railroads. This process has continued to the present with the deregulation of banks and

communications. A recent example is the airline industry. Deregulation has created

enormous competition among American airlines. As a result, there are some 400

airlines in the U.S. today, of which 100 fly on interstate or international routes.

Another example of this tendency to encourage competition by lifting restrictions is the

transformation of the publicly regulated telephone company AT&T (American

Telephone & Telegraph) into several smaller companies. Generally speaking, while the

companies are not happy, the average citizens are. More airlines are now in

competition for passengers, and several telephone companies now offer different

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services and long-distance rates. Even the United States Postal Service is now in

competition with private companies. Americans believe that "fat-cat" companies and

businesses tend to get lazy and pay less attention to their customers. They are

convinced that a choice of goods and services makes for better and cheaper ones.

Labor

Labor laws, labor relations, and unions have a somewhat different history in

the U.S. than they have had in other western industrialized countries. The main

reason is that in America, employer and employee relations were not as much a battle

between classes and sociopolitical philosophies as they were in other countries. The

American worker has usually fought for "a bigger piece of the pie," better working

conditions, and better health and retirement benefits, rather than social status, or

mobility. His boss often didn't have a much different background than he did. The

major difference between the employer and the employee was neither accent nor social

class, but money and what it could buy.

Other developments particular to American history were also important. For a

long time there was a shortage of labor, especially of skilled workers. Most

qualifications were acquired through experience on the job rather than formal

training, and the skilled craftsman was in demand. As a result, wages were usually

much higher in the United States than they were in Europe. As towns grew and the

demand for manufactured goods rapidly increased, workshop owners began hiring

more helpers to increase production. Soon workshops turned into factories and more

and more workers were needed. Because many employers were in competition for

employees, workers were often able to get better wages and working conditions than

would otherwise have been the case. This, too, delayed the organization of labor

unions. Although unions began to form before 1800, especially in the skilled trades, it

was not until 1842 that workers in large numbers organized into labor unions.

In the mid-19th century, the rapidly growing industries were able to employ the

hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers who poured into the cities, and the

situation quickly changed. Many workers had to take whatever jobs they found at

whatever wages were offered. Bad working conditions and overcrowded housing often

sparked protest and confrontation between employers and employees, workers and the

police. The most violent of these confrontations between labor and employers was the

Great Railway Strike of 1877. Striking workers in Pittsburgh blocked freight trains to

protest wage decreases. Federal troops and militiamen were called in to clear the

tracks. In the course of the battle that resulted, a number of workers were shot and

some 2,000 railroad cars were burned.

The labor movement gained its greatest momentum between 1860 and 1900,

the period in which the U.S. started moving from the towns to the cities, from the farms

to the factories. This was also the time of many political reforms. America's literature,

too, turned increasingly to "muck-raking,” that is, strongly criticizing social

conditions and pointing out the obvious sins and failing of big business and industry.

Altogether, in the ten-year period between 1880 and 1890 there were some 10,000

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strikes. Many of these strikes were violent on both sides, with the forces of

government more likely to be siding with business.

As late as the 1930s, violent strikes were not uncommon. In the automobile

industry, for example, there were many violent confrontations and sit-down strikes

before the companies accepted the fact that unions were there to stay. Major legislation

during the 1930s, however, brought many long-overdue benefits to American workers.

The Social Security Act of 1935, for instance, created a system of government-

sponsored unemployment insurance and old-age pensions, and the Fair Labor Standards

Act regulated wages and working hours. By then, the unions had become forces that

could not be ignored.

In 1886, several unions of skilled workers came together to form a central union,

the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Four years later, it had some 500,000

members, and by 1904, it had 1.75 million members. At this time, although many

workers in Europe were joining revolutionary labor movements, most American

workers were not interested in destroying the basic system, but in reforming it for their

own benefit. They were most concerned, for example, with the day-to-day welfare of

workers and their families. The AFL's approach to labor problems was so-called

"bread and butter" unionism. The union demanded higher wages and fewer working

hours; a greater share in the wealth that they helped to produce. By the end of World

War I, the federation had 5 million members. By 1955, when the AFL joined together

with the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) to form one large group of unions

representing skilled and unskilled workers, the active membership had reached 15

million.

The industrial unions were most powerful in the period immediately following

World War II. In all the major industrial areas and industries in the United States,

union membership was required. Nothing was built, made, manufactured,

transported, shipped or moved without the agreement of the unions. States that were

not fully unionized, where workers did not have to become union members to do

certain jobs, might try to attract industries with the promise of lower wages and taxes.

But a car company that wanted to assemble automobiles in the South, for instance,

could not do it if the engine factory in Detroit, Michigan went on strike. In 1947,

Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act. One of its provisions outlawed the "closed

shop" which required employers to hire only union members. It also permitted the

states to pass "right to work" laws which forbade agreements requiring workers to

automatically join a union after they were hired. Nonetheless, union membership

remained a requirement in many states and industries, if no longer by law, then by

practice. In 1985, for example, 95 percent of all General Motors employees were

union members and 90 percent of all Ford employees.

Today, some industrial firms have been attracted to locations in states where

labor unions are not so strong, where wages are often lower, and where safety and

pollution regulations are not so strict or so strictly enforced. The decline of some

industries, such as the steel industry, along with the rise in the number of white-collar,

technical, and service jobs has also harmed the traditional, blue-collar unions. Yet, at

the same time, groups such as teachers, firemen, and even policemen have formed

unions of their own.

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Twenty or thirty years ago, it would have been shocking for these civil

servants to strike for their demands. Today, Americans have learned to tolerate these

strikes, too. Schools in some areas such as Chicago have remained shut as the result of

teachers' strikes for up to three months. Parents who suddenly found their children at

home all day put great pressure on city officials to settle the strike. Firemen and

policemen have also gone on strike in many areas, sometimes "illegally," but usually

quite effectively. A now popular form for the policemen's strike is the "Blue Flu." The

policemen, in their traditional blue uniforms, all become "ill" on the same day.

Amazingly, just enough policemen needed to prevent a disaster always remain

"healthy." In 1980, there were close to 4,000 industrial disputes and a total of 33

million man-days lost due to strikes.

While there are more and more professional and technical unions, the many

other industrial unions face the same problem that other unions in the western world

do. This is what can be done about those jobs that will no longer exist in companies

adopting modern technology, or in industries which are no longer competitive.

Some unions have decided that job security is more important than pay

increases. For the first time in their histories, a few have actually accepted lower pay

to help save a company. This happened, for example, in 1980 with Chrysler.

Employees agreed to take a reduction in their wages to prevent large-scale layoffs and

help the company to become profitable again (which it did). This, however, is very

much the exception. Most unions still demand agreements which call 651 for a shorter

work week. And most agreements include "fringe" benefits such as medical and life

insurance, profit-sharing, pensions, and healthcare plans. In 1983, almost 75 percent

of Americans (men, women, and children) were covered by private or government

health insurance, 60.7 percent (over 140 million Americans) by insurance related to

employment. Many Americans were thus covered by two insurance systems. Still,

some 35 million Americans (or 15.2 percent) were not covered by any health

insurance.

In other areas of business, however, companies do not need to be forced to the

bargaining table. They are worried about losing good employees to their competitors.

This is especially a problem in many high-technology industries and businesses. Many

of these firms, therefore, try to keep highly skilled employees by offering them

benefits and working conditions without unions having to demand them. In addition to

various profit-sharing and pension plans, many large corporations offer their

employees the use of swimming pools and golf courses, or art classes, and free day-

care centers for their children. Today, the word "head hunters" does not refer to people

who track down criminals, but those independent agents who lure away a company's

best employees with offers of better working conditions and benefits.

Welfare

The images from America's past reflect how health and welfare concerns are

viewed in the United States. The first image is that of the self-reliant frontiersman.

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Armed with only an axe, a rifle, a Bible, and a strong will (and sometimes a bottle

of whiskey against "snakebite"), he goes out into the wilderness alone and survives.

He asks no man for help ("God helps them that help themselves"). The second

historical image is that of the pioneer community, the groups that circled their wagons

for protection, shared their food, me helped each other when things got rough. They

came together to build each other's houses. They had great barn-raising parties in

which everyone took part. All together helped to build the community school, hire the

teacher, find the doctor, fight the fire and pay the sheriff. When a neighbor needed

help, the help was there ("A friend in need is a friend indeed").

There is some historical truth in both images. Obviously many millions did

make it in America with more than a little help from their friends. Others had enough