****This is just for an example of basic structure not necessarly to be used word for word*****
My partner and I stand in firm affirmation of the following resolution--Resolved: On balance, government employee labor unions have a positive impact on the United States.
We would like to offer the following Framework:
Definitions: Government Employee: Those working for the Federal Government
labor Unions: An organization of wage earners formed for the purpose of serving the members' interests with respect to wages and working conditions
Observation 1: Since the resolution contains the phrase on balance this debate must be weighed on a cost benefit analysis In order to win the pro must prove that there is a positive or null impact on the united states the con must prove that there is a negative impact ont eh united staes
Observation 2: The resolution frames the debate as only the united states so all evidence must be directly related to the United States.
Observation 3: Due to the specific phraseing of the resolution The impact must be to the united states in general not just to the government union members.
Contention 1: Unions Benefits the Economy
Subpoint A: Unions Foster Competition
Shaiken & Madland in 2008, Harley Shaiken [Professor, University of California‐Berkeley Graduate School of Education] and David Madland [Director of the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress]. “Issue Brief: Unions Are Good for the Economy and Democracy.” AmericanProgress.org. December 9, 2008. Accessed March 10, 2010.
Unions are good for the economy. They can help foster a competitive high‐wage, high‐productivity economic strategy.
• Higher wages are competitive. Critics argue that union wages are too high and make it hard for American employers to compete globally. Yet competitiveness is also linked to productivity, quality, and innovation— all of which can be enhanced with higher wages. Henry Ford found in 1914 that paying employees $5 per day—double the auto industry's prevailing wage—reduced turnover, allowing him to cut the price of the Model T and increase profits significantly. Ford commented that the $5 day was one of the finest cost‐cutting moves we ever made.
• Unionization and high worker productivity often go hand‐in‐hand. Fairness on the job and wages that reflect marketplace success contribute to more motivated workers. Given the pressures of globalization and competitiveness today, unions have been responsive to increasing productivity and embracing new innovations. In the retail world, labor costs in 2005 for partially unionized retailer Costco were 40 percent higher than Sam's Club, but Costco produced almost double the operating profit per hourly employee in the United States—$21,805 per employee versus $11,615 per employee.
Subpoint B: Unions help especially in economic downturns
MacGillis in 2009, Alec MacGillis [Staff Writer]. “Labor Union Bill Raises Broader Capitalism Issues.” The Washington Post. March 15, 2009. Accessed March 15, 2009.
The pro‐labor version of history starts during the New Deal with the Wagner Act (better known as the National Labor Relations Act), which expanded the rights of private‐sector workers to unionize. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established the minimum wage and 40‐hour workweek. "The truth is that Franklin Roosevelt passed those laws under similar circumstances, and from 1945 to 1974, we had an era where workers' wages and productivity was joined together," said Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. "It was probably the most tested economic stimulus of any public policy that has worked for us." In the telling of labor supporters, the decline in private‐sector union membership‐‐from a peak of 36 percent in the early 1950s to 7.5 percent today, a level not seen since 1900‐‐is a result not only of economic shifts but also of an increasingly pro‐employer tilt in labor policy. As they see it, the decline of unions has contributed to the g
Contention 2: Government Unions foster the political Process
Subpoint A: Historical Contributions to the political process
Shaiken in 2004, Harley Shaiken [Professor of Social and Cultural Studies at the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley]. “The High Road to a Competitive Economy: A Labor Law Strategy.” AmericanProgress.org. June 25, 2004. Accessed March 14, 2010.
The contribution of unions goes well beyond the paycheck: a strong labor movement is essential in a democratic society. As former Secretary of State George P. Schultz put it, "free societies and free trade unions go together" (Silk, 991). While this may be easiest to see in totalitarian states, the contribution of unions is as important in democratic societies. At a time of unfettered globalization and fierce competition, what other institution has at the heart of its mission speaking for the values and future of working Americans? On the job, it means winning dignity and respect; pushing employers to‐ wards the high road to competitiveness. Schultz, who began his career as an economist and labor‐management arbitrator, concurred that in "a healthy workplace, it is very important that there be some system of checks and balances" (Silk, 1991). In politics, unions provide critical pathways for their members to participate in political life. What are these path‐ ways? Three stand out: unions provide independent information about a whole host of complex public policy issues that impact average‐wage Americans from health care to pension reform; they provide voice by engaging their members in the political process itself as activists and as voters; and, finally, they have spurred legislation that has benefited all working families from Social Security in the 1930s to Medicare in the 1960s. These and other vital safety net programs are now under unprecedented attack, due in no small way to the suppression of workers' freedom to form unions and the labor movement's resulting decline. Without a strong labor movement, the voice, the interests, and the direct participation of working Americans fade from political debate and legislative action. The result overturns the balance Schultz talks about in the workplace and in the society thereby corroding democratic values in both.
Subpoint B: Unions are Democratic
Bernard in 2009, Elaine Bernard [Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard University]. “Teachers Unions Help Public Good.” California Educator. October 2009. Accessed March 13, 2010.
Why are unions good for us? Democracy has to be something more than electing rulers every two or four years; it needs involvement by citizens every day. In a democracy workers have a right – indeed a responsibility – to make their voices heard and to participate in collective decision‐making on a daily basis. So in a sense, unions are the premier democratic institution in our society.