Divided Unions Walker, Alexis N
2019, 2020, 2019-12-13
eBook
A comparative history of public and private sector unions from the Wagner Act of 1935 until today The 2011 battle in Wisconsin over public sector employees' collective bargaining rights occasioned ...the largest protests in the state since the Vietnam War. Protestors occupied the state capitol building for days and staged massive rallies in downtown Madison, receiving international news coverage. Despite an unprecedented effort to oppose Governor Scott Walker's bill, Act 10 was signed into law on March 11, 2011, stripping public sector employees of many of their collective bargaining rights and hobbling government unions in Wisconsin. By situating the events of 2011 within the larger history of public sector unionism, Alexis N. Walker demonstrates how the passage of Act 10 in Wisconsin was not an exceptional moment, but rather the culmination of events that began over eighty years ago with the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935.Although explicitly about government unions, Walker's book argues that the fates of public and private sector unions are inextricably linked. She contends that the exclusion of public sector employees from the foundation of private sector labor law, the Wagner Act, firmly situated private sector law at the national level, while relegating public sector employees' efforts to gain collective bargaining rights to the state and local levels. She shows how private sector unions benefited tremendously from the national-level protections in the law while, in contrast, public sector employees' efforts progressed slowly, were limited to union-friendly states, and the collective bargaining rights that they finally did obtain were highly unequal and vulnerable to retrenchment. As a result, public and private sector unions peaked at different times, preventing a large, unified labor movement. The legacy of the Wagner Act, according to Walker, is that labor remains geographically concentrated, divided by sector, and hobbled in its efforts to represent working Americans politically in today's era of rising economic inequality.
Lipid perturbations contribute to detrimental outcomes in obesity. We previously demonstrated that nervonic acid, a C24:1 ω‐9 fatty acid, predominantly acylated to sphingolipids, including ceramides, ...are selectively reduced in a mouse model of obesity. It is currently unknown if deficiency of nervonic acid‐sphingolipid metabolites contribute to complications of obesity. Mice were fed a standard diet, a high fat diet, or these diets supplemented isocalorically with nervonic acid. The primary objective was to determine if dietary nervonic acid content alters the metabolic phenotype in mice fed a high fat diet. Furthermore, we investigated if nervonic acid alters markers of impaired fatty acid oxidation in the liver. We observed that a nervonic acid‐enriched isocaloric diet reduced weight gain and adiposity in mice fed a high fat diet. The nervonic acid enrichment led to increased C24:1‐ceramides and improved several metabolic parameters including blood glucose levels, and insulin and glucose tolerance. Mechanistically, nervonic acid supplementation increased PPARα and PGC1α expression and improved the acylcarnitine profile in liver. These alterations indicate improved energy metabolism through increased β‐oxidation of fatty acids. Taken together, increasing dietary nervonic acid improves metabolic parameters in mice fed a high fat diet. Strategies that prevent deficiency of, or restore, nervonic acid may represent an effective strategy to treat obesity and obesity‐related complications.
A comparative history of public and private sector
unions from the Wagner Act of 1935 until today
The 2011 battle in Wisconsin over public sector employees'
collective bargaining rights occasioned ...the largest protests in the
state since the Vietnam War. Protestors occupied the state capitol
building for days and staged massive rallies in downtown Madison,
receiving international news coverage. Despite an unprecedented
effort to oppose Governor Scott Walker's bill, Act 10 was signed
into law on March 11, 2011, stripping public sector employees of
many of their collective bargaining rights and hobbling government
unions in Wisconsin. By situating the events of 2011 within the
larger history of public sector unionism, Alexis N. Walker
demonstrates how the passage of Act 10 in Wisconsin was not an
exceptional moment, but rather the culmination of events that began
over eighty years ago with the passage of the Wagner Act in
1935.
Although explicitly about government unions, Walker's book
argues that the fates of public and private sector unions are
inextricably linked. She contends that the exclusion of public
sector employees from the foundation of private sector labor law,
the Wagner Act, firmly situated private sector law at the national
level, while relegating public sector employees' efforts to gain
collective bargaining rights to the state and local levels. She
shows how private sector unions benefited tremendously from the
national-level protections in the law while, in contrast, public
sector employees' efforts progressed slowly, were limited to
union-friendly states, and the collective bargaining rights that
they finally did obtain were highly unequal and vulnerable to
retrenchment. As a result, public and private sector unions peaked
at different times, preventing a large, unified labor movement. The
legacy of the Wagner Act, according to Walker, is that labor
remains geographically concentrated, divided by sector, and hobbled
in its efforts to represent working Americans politically in
today's era of rising economic inequality.
Why did public sector unionization rise so dramatically and then plateau at the same time as private sector unionization underwent a precipitous decline? The exclusion of public sector employees from ...the centerpiece of private sector labor law—the 1935 Wagner Act—divided U.S. labor law and relegated public sector demand-making to the states. Consequently, public sector employees' collective bargaining rights were slow to develop and remain geographically concentrated, unequal and vulnerable. Further, divided labor law put the two movements out of alignment; private sector union density peaked nearly a decade before the first major statutes granting public sector collective bargaining rights passed. As a result of this incongruent timing and sequencing, the United States has never had a strong union movement comprised of both sectors at the height of their membership and influence.
Federal preemption by both parties has risen dramatically since the 1960s. Scholars note that Democrats and Republicans routinely employ preemption to advance partisan political goals, but we know ...very little about how each party uses this tool of federal power. Are policymakers from both parties employing preemption in similar ways, or do strategic partisan differences exist? Using an original dataset, we show that Democrats and Republicans systematically vary in their use of preemption. Democrats put forward preemption legislation that maximizes regulation by mandating a floor of protection across the states, particularly for policies that promote consumer protection and expand civil rights. In contrast, Republicans enact preemptions that cap regulation by utilizing ceilings that curtail the states' ability to regulate, particularly for business and commerce policy. Ultimately, both parties have enhanced federal power and limited state authority, but they do so in dramatically different ways and for vastly different political goals.
Scott Walker's meteoric rise from a Milwaukee county executive in 2010 to a leading contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination surprised many observers. But Walker's trajectory is part ...of a robust tradition dating back to the 1870s of conservative presidential hopefuls and presidents advancing and defining their careers through union busting. Like Governor Walker, Governor Hayes, McKinley, and Coolidge used confrontations with organized labor to thrust themselves into the national spotlight and position themselves for a presidential run. Challenging labor has also boosted the reputations of incumbent presidents for tough and decisive leadership, most recently, as Walker knew well, in the case of Ronald Reagan's response to the air traffic controllers’ strike. Presidents and presidential hopefuls have battled organized labor to demonstrate that they are presidential material, and Walker learned the lesson well: union busting pays.
Scott Walker's meteoric rise from a Milwaukee county executive in 2010 to a leading contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination surprised many observers. But Walker's trajectory is part ...of a robust tradition dating back to the 1870s of conservative presidential hopefuls and presidents advancing and defining their careers through union busting. Like Governor Walker, Governor Hayes, McKinley, and Coolidge used confrontations with organized labor to thrust themselves into the national spotlight and position themselves for a presidential run. Challenging labor has also boosted the reputations of incumbent presidents for tough and decisive leadership, most recently, as Walker knew well, in the case of Ronald Reagan's response to the air traffic controllers' strike. Presidents and presidential hopefuls have battled organized labor to demonstrate that they are presidential material, and Walker learned the lesson well: union busting pays.
Why did public sector unionization rise so dramatically and then plateau at the same time as private sector unionization underwent a precipitous decline? The exclusion of public sector employees from ...the centerpiece of private sector labor law—the 1935 Wagner Act—divided U.S. labor law and relegated public sector demand-making to the states. Consequently, public sector employees' collective bargaining rights were slow to develop and remain geographically concentrated, unequal and vulnerable. Further, divided labor law put the two movements out of alignment; private sector union density peaked nearly a decade before the first major statutes granting public sector collective bargaining rights passed. As a result of this incongruent timing and sequencing, the United States has never had a strong union movement comprised of both sectors at the height of their membership and influence.
The Wagner Act Walker, Alexis N
Divided Unions,
12/2019
Book Chapter
To understand labor’s comparative weakness and the distinct paths of public and private sector unions in the United States, we must begin with the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Also known ...as the Wagner Act, the NLRA was a cornerstone of New Deal legislation and the foundation for modern-day private sector labor law. The Wagner Act provided federal protections to private sector workers’ efforts to unionize, outlined anti-union practices employers could no longer utilize, and put in place the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to oversee union representation elections, adjudicate complaints, and interpret the Act in subsequent cases.
The
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