The UAW and It's Effects on the City of Detroit Term Paper

The UAW and It's Effects on the City of Detroit - Term Paper Example A popular third party representation for almost any labor or industry type is referred to as the labor unions. These unions are comprised of workers from within the company and industry; their collective function is to bridge the gap between the employees and employer through communication and serve as an organized voice for all employees. A labor union’s main objective varies and depends on the employees’ needs or grievances. However, majority of these objectives are geared towards the well-being of employees -- health care benefits, good or improved working conditions, increased salary to accommodate rising costs of living, skills enhancement, contract longevity, and so on. Employers, on the other hand, establish the relationship with labor unions through certain access to facts (e.g., profit, loss, operation costs, labor costs, et cetera) to which negotiation and a coordinated decision-making is firmly grounded. This access and hearing out of employer’s side e nables the labor union to observe impartiality. On a labor union’s perspective, this may also permit them to come up with demands that are realistically feasible for employers to meet. However, this does not work all the time. There are times when labor unions inadvertently choke up the business and industry with their demands. This challenge calls for a more diverse and flexible approach from labor unions. One such labor union, alleged of choking up the auto-making industry in Detroit, Michigan, is the United Auto Workers Union or UAW. This paper attempts to explore the effects of this labor union to the core industry of Detroit City. The UAW Founded in 1935 and is considered to be â€Å"one of the largest in North America,† the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) accomplished its pioneering work of â€Å"expanding the nation’s labor movement† as well as establishing the standards of labor conditions through â€Å"generous pension, health care, and job secu rity provisions† (â€Å"United Automobile Workers,† 2011, para. 1). Evidently, the UAW was successful in bringing about improvement in the working conditions of auto-laborers in vast coverage and was expected to continue growing and carrying out its mission. However, the year 1970 had marked the start of UAW’s turbulent years ahead; the â€Å"shrinking of the North American auto industry† and â€Å"the crisis that engulfed† Detroit’s Big Three (i.e., General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) had set the â€Å"downward path† for the labor union (â€Å"United Automobile Workers,† 2011, para. 2). This series of crises had not just hurt the industry but also hurts the employees, as well. Inevitably, industries have to lower overall costs and the pressure of lowering these costs weigh down on the laborers’ wage and benefits. Consequently, companies cannot afford anymore the costs of benefits demanded by laborers and the UAW. Compani es and employees are torn between retrenchment and retaining but in the expense of lower wages and/or lesser benefits. Most laborers chose the latter and around December 2008, UAW membership among the Big Three’s, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, declined -- from 305, 000 to 139, 000 workers (â€Å"United Automobile Workers,† 2011). The Automakers’ fall Looking close, particular advancements in the auto industry had paved the way for Detroit’s demise. Price (2000) collectively called these advancements the â€Å"

Ethical Dilemma Analysis- Capstone Project Essay

Ethical Dilemma Analysis- Capstone Project - Essay Example Mountains of clothes and books fill the room, and a pervasive foul odor emanates from the house. The woman pleads with the author not to tell anyone about her condition or state of living. The ethical dilemma is, should one report this to the proper authorities or not? An ethical dilemma which could arise in my own field of study could be that a nursing home patient is having difficulty keeping his room tidy, and this is causing him to become overwhelmed in his environment. Although the patient pleads with the author to not tell anyone, should nursing home officials be alerted to this fact? These are ethical dilemmas because, on one hand, officials in authority should know about potential problems. On the other hand, the individuals have their right to privacy. This is a â€Å"right vs. right† dilemma because, on one hand, when one can harm oneself or others, authorities must know. However, the level of harm that an individual is causing may be negligible, so a patient’ s right to privacy is still a valid concern. Regarding values in this ethical dilemma, there are certain non-moral values at work here. Public health is not a moral issue—rather, if piles of garbage are going to cause a health hazard, then perhaps the woman should be reported to authorities. A moral value that is at conflict belongs to the utilitarian family, which means that calling the authorities would be beneficial for the woman as much as for the good of everyone (the public). In contra of calling authorities, Kant says, â€Å"Thus morality, and humanity as capable of it, is that which alone has dignity.†1 This woman has her dignity on the line by not having people on the outside know what her problems are. If they were to know the source of her problems is helplessness, her dignity would be shattered, as would her feeling of being independent. In support of the opinion that one should