Introduction

The forces of supply and demand are the key to determining wage rates in our society. By learning how these and other factors affect the wages in your potential career, you can make wise choices regarding your education, skill development, and location to maximize your potential income. You will also learn about the differences in wages across different races, genders, ages, and other characteristics.

The lesson will finish with a history of the Labor Union Movement in this country. The interaction between management and labor has wound its way through a tremendous number of ups and downs. The clashes over working conditions, pay, and hours led to injuries and deaths. Despite the violence and harassment from not only businesses, but also the federal government, the persistence of the union movement gave us many of the characteristics of working today that everyone takes for granted. These workplace improvements include: the eight-hour day, the end of child labor, workman's compensation benefits for injury, pensions, unemployment insurance, and the minimum wage.

 

 

Lesson Objectives

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • trace the history of labor unions and methods of contract negotiation by labor and management.
  • recognize the role of economic institutions, including labor unions and nonprofit organizations, in market economies.
  • identify regional characteristics of the labor force of the United States, including gender, race, socioeconomic background, education, age, and regional specialization.
  • explain how supply of and demand for labor affect wages.
  • describe characteristics that are most likely to increase wage and nonwage benefits, including skill, productivity, education, occupation, and mobility.

The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: Economics objectives: 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.6.

 

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