Labor Union Activism Is on the Rise, Recalling the Great Depression

March 23, 2023
Has lesson plan

Spurred by the pandemic, new groups of workers are pushing to form unions in activism not seen since the 1930s.

With the economic pain of the pandemic, new groups of American workers are pushing to form labor unions at restaurants, stores and warehouses. Experts tell us that this is the biggest surge of activism since the 1930s. At the height of the Great Depression, with as many as 13 million Americans out of work, President Franklin Roosevelt pushed New Deal reforms through Congress, including the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, which guaranteed private sector workers the right to form unions. After a landmark strike at General Motors in 1936, union membership soared, and within two years, nearly two million Americans had staged strikes over working conditions at textile and steel factories.

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For teachers
  • Read transcript
  • Producer: Amanda Harrington
  • Editor: Heru Muharrar
  • Senior Producer: Karen M. Sughrue
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For Educators

Subjects
Civics & Government U.S. History World History
Topics
Domestic Policy Economics Great Depression U.S. Presidents
Introduction

This eight-minute video explores how with the economic pain of the pandemic, new groups of American workers are pushing to form labor unions at restaurants, stores and warehouses. It’s the biggest surge of activism since the 1930s. At the height of the Great Depression, with as many as 13 million Americans out of work, President Franklin Roosevelt pushed New Deal reforms through Congress, including the 1935 National Labor Relations Act. It guaranteed private sector workers the right to form unions. This lesson asks students to examine the push for workers’ rights beginning with the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom, continuing to the Great Depression in the United States and on to contemporary efforts.

Lesson Plan 1: Advocating for Worker Rights
Advocating for Worker Rights
Advocating for Worker Rights
Individuals Who Have Stood Up for Workers' Rights
Interview a Worker
Overview
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Students compare and contrast the rise of union membership in the 1930s with the union movement of the early 2020s

Objectives
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Students will:

  • Analyze primary and secondary sources to learn about the Factory Acts, the National Labor Relations Act and United Nations resolutions on workers’ rights and trade unions.
  • Read/listen to workers discuss union membership.
  • Compare and contrast the rise of union membership in the 1930s with the union movement of the early 2020s.
Essential questions
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  • How have governments and organizations attempted to improve working conditions?
  • Why was there a rise in union membership in the U.S. during the 1930s? How is that similar to or different from a rise in union action today?
Additional resources
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Standards
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  • Common Core State Standards
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7:Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1:Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2:Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
  • National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework
    • D2.Civ.2.9-12.Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans’ participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.
    • D2.Civ.5.9-12.Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
    • D2.Civ.6.9-12.Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
    • D2.Civ.8.9-12.Evaluate social and political systems in different contexts, times, and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principles.
    • D2.Civ.12.9-12.Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
    • D2.Civ.14.9-12.Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
    • D2.Eco.9.6-8.Describe the roles of institutions such as corporations, non-profits, and labor unions in a market economy.
    • D2.His.1.9-12.Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
    • D4.7.9-12.Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning
Lesson Plan 2: Costs and Benefits of Decisions
Costs and Benefits of Decisions
Costs and Benefits of Decisions
Overview
▼

In this lesson, students will examine the influence of positive and negative incentives (benefits and costs) on decision making and learn the ways people benefit and are challenged by working together. Students will first identify positive and negative incentives (benefits and costs) that influence the decisions of the characters in the story “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type.” Then they will watch a video about workers’ efforts to organize a union at a Starbucks store to examine the influence of costs and benefits of the workers’ decision to unionize.

Objectives
▼

Students will:

  • Identify positive and negative incentives (benefits and costs) that influence our decisions.
  • Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text.
Essential questions
▼
  • How do positive and negative incentives influence decisions? 
  • What are ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together?
Additional resources
▼

 

Standards
▼

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies:

  • D2.Eco.2.3-5 Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
  • D2.Eco.2.6-8 Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole.
  • D2.Civ.6.3-5 Describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through government, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and families.
  • D2.Civ.10.6-8 Explain the relevance of personal interests and perspectives, civic virtues, and democratic principles when people address issues and problems in government and civil society.

Common Core Literacy Standards:

  • CC.5.R.L.3 Key Ideas and Details: Compare and contrast two or more characters, setting, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
  • CC.6.R.L.1 Key Ideas and Details: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • CC.7.R.L.1 Key Ideas and Details: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • CC.8.R.L.1 Key Ideas and Details: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.