Definitions
This was passed to help employees create unions and negotiate better pay/conditions
National Labor Relations Act (1935)
You worked 45 hours this week, but your boss only paid you for 40, saying "the extra 5 hours were just for practice". What is this illegal act called?
Wage Theft
California Minimum Wage
$16.90/hr
Working Class and Capitalist Class
How many school days left until Spring Break?
Specific state agency to help with protecting worker's pay and safety
California Department of Industrial Relations
A worker in Watsonville realizes that even though they follow the law, they can't afford a one-bedroom apartment on their current pay. What kind of pay are they actually looking for?
Living Wage
Fast Food Workers Minimum Wage
$20/hr
It’s often described as the "gap between the rich and the poor. The top 0.001%: There are about 56,000 individuals who make up this group. Collectively, they possess more wealth than the poorest 4 billion people on Earth combined.”
Income Inequality
What do we call a person who starts and runs a business?
Entrepreneur
What is it called when an organized group of workers join together to negotiate for better pay and working conditions?
Labor Union
A manager threatens to fire everyone if they vote "Yes" for a union. Which federal "labor police" agency should the workers call to report this?
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Federal Minimum Wage
$7.25/hr
What is an economic system where prices are set by supply and demand, with little government control?
Free Market
One example of Class Struggle
(3 in total from Unit #1 Lecture)
1. Low Wages vs. High Profits
2. Strikes and Protests
3. Inequality
Explain the difference between Minimum Wage and Living Wage
Minimum Wage: The lowest legal pay employers are responsible for
Living Wage: How much money per hour it takes to actually live off of
Negotiations have failed. To show the owner how much money they lose without workers, every single employee stays home and pickets the storefront. What is this action?
Strike
Watsonville Living Wage for 1 Adult/No Children
$42.98/hr
A market system where a few giant companies—like Apple and Samsung or Coke and Pepsi—control almost everything.
Oligopoly
What are the 3 Branches of Government?
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
What does OSHA stand for?
A boss walks in and says, "I don't like the color of your shoelaces today; you're fired." Because there is no union contract, this is technically legal. What is this type of employment called?
At-Will Employment
About ____ in ____ public-sector government workers (like teachers, firefighters, and postal workers) are in a union.
1 in 3 (a third) public-sector government workers
Example: A group representing the biggest banks in the country spends $100 million a year to hire former government officials to talk to current lawmakers about removing banking regulations.
Lobbying
What president in the 1980's helped widen the gap between work/productivity and actual salary/pay?
Ronald Reagan