Social Movement Unionism

Brief History of the Labor Movement:

Protectionism was the sprit of the United States when unions were initially introduced to the Economy. Unions sought to protect American workers' interests. Unions aimed to reduce competition form foreign markets, and bring forth job stability to the American workforce. It is evident then, why American unions did not seek internationalist ties, and cross borders to untie worldwide. With the ever-evolving world economy, these ideologies of the past are being challenged in order to strengthen the bargaining power of the modern American union.

Traditionally, American ideologies have been very focused on American goals and concerns. Unions sprung forth and developed in the period after WWI, where economic policies were very nationalist. The economy after WWI was devastated, and ultimately lead to the great depression, which further collapsed the world economy. In attempts to strengthen the American economy protectionist approaches advocated tariffs and quotas on imports, government policies to promote the production of domestic goods, and to "buy American." Consequently, these ideologies became indoctrinated into the union beliefs and goals, and remained through most of the 20 century.

Competition over jobs with foreign markets was the key reason that most unions did not seek an internationalist approach towards unionization. Furthermore, different countries had different forms of unions and organizations. With the Cold War fervor of the 1980's, seeking to associate with non-communist unions was a daunting task, due to the ramped control of unions by non-democratic governments. Moreover, the United State's success of going it alone, and getting the job done, made many individuals doubt the potential of international unions.