American Labor Merit Badge

1. List eight concerns of American workers Often forgotten Requirement

NOT A WARM-UP. Requirement 2(b) names this list by number and asks you to hand it to people who work in the field and have them rank it. Write it for a reader rather than for a tick: at least eight, each briefly described or given an example.

THIS LIST IS NOT A WARM-UP, IT IS THE BADGE'S WORKING DOCUMENT. Requirement 2(b) names it by number and asks you to hand it to people at a union or employee organization and have them tell you which of your concerns matter most to them, and why. Eight items copied out of the examples this requirement itself supplies will survive being written down, and will not survive being put in front of a shop steward. Choose eight you actually thought about, put them in your own words, and give each a real example. KEEP IT AFTERWARDS TOO. Requirement 7 asks you to pick a labor issue of widespread interest and allows one known to you from your work on this badge, which is precisely this list plus whatever requirement 2 taught you. The badge names no number there, so no arrow is drawn, but a reader who kept the list reaches requirement 7 with the answer already chosen.

2. Reach a union or employee organization Often forgotten Requirement

A local union, a central labor council or an employee organization, and you may visit an office, attend a meeting, OR contact them over the internet. That last route is part of the requirement, so no union office has to be within reach. Needs your counselor AND your parent or guardian to approve.

YOU DO NOT NEED A UNION OFFICE WITHIN REACH. Read the whole sentence: you may visit the office, or attend a meeting, OR CONTACT ONE OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS VIA THE INTERNET. The online route is part of the requirement rather than a substitution you have to negotiate, and it is easy to miss because it comes after two options that sound like travel. There are three kinds of organization to choose from as well: a local union, a central labor council, or an employee organization. Note the approvals: this requirement needs your counselor AND your parent or guardian to give approval and permission, so raise it early. Arranging the contact reliably takes longer than the contact itself.

3. Unions, what they do, and twelve concepts Often forgotten Requirement

TWELVE DEFINITIONS PRINTED AS ONE CONVERSATION, on top of explaining what unions are and what services they provide. Three of the twelve are pairs built to be confused: union and open shops, mediation and arbitration, strikes and lockouts.

THIS IS TWELVE DEFINITIONS PRINTED AS ONE CONVERSATION. On top of explaining what labor unions are, what they do and what services they provide to members, you must show you understand labor, management, collective bargaining, negotiation, union shops, open shops, grievance procedures, mediation, arbitration, work stoppages, strikes and lockouts. Three of those are pairs built to be confused, and they are where a discussion comes apart. A union shop and an open shop differ on whether joining the union is a condition of keeping the job. Mediation and arbitration differ on whether the third party's decision binds anybody. A strike and a lockout run in opposite directions, one being the employees stopping work and the other the employer shutting them out, with work stoppage as the wider word covering both. Get those three straight and the rest follow.

4. The adversarial model against cooperative bargaining Requirement

A comparison rather than two definitions, so the answer has to say what each model assumes about the other side and what each produces. Short, and it follows naturally from the vocabulary in requirement 3.

5. Study the movement: choose one of four Often forgotten Requirement

Four routes that are nothing like the same size, from an evening with a film to a whole book to two and a half centuries of timeline. Two of the four need approval BEFORE you start, and in both cases the approval is on your choice rather than on the work.

TWO OF THESE FOUR NEED PERMISSION BEFORE YOU START, AND THE FOUR ARE NOT THE SAME SIZE. The film in 5(c) needs your counselor AND your parent or guardian to approve and permit it in advance, and the biography in 5(d) needs your counselor to approve the book before you read it. In both cases the approval is on the CHOICE rather than on the work, so it cannot be granted afterwards: an unapproved book costs you the reading and an unapproved film costs you the evening. On size, the film is the quickest route by a wide margin, the biography is a whole book, and the timeline in 5(a) covers from the 1770s to the present, which is two and a half centuries and is the route people underestimate. The exhibit in 5(b) is research plus making something.

6. Globalization, and the global workforce Requirement

Three parts in one requirement: explain the term, discuss some effects of globalization on the United States workforce, and explain how the global workforce fits into this country's economic system. The third is the one that needs preparing.

7. Argue both sides of a labor issue Often forgotten Requirement

THREE JOBS, NOT ONE. Management's side first, then labor's or the employee's, then a summary of the basic rights and responsibilities of employers and employees including union and nonunion members. May be done before your counselor OR in writing.

THREE JOBS HERE, AND THE THIRD IS THE ONE THAT GETS LEFT OUT. First argue management's side of your chosen issue. Then argue labor's or the employee's side. Then summarize the basic rights and responsibilities of employers AND employees, including union members AND nonunion members, which is four categories of person and a separate piece of work from the two arguments. Two other things are worth knowing. You may do all of this before your counselor OR IN WRITING, and the written route is the easier one if arguing a position you disagree with out loud does not appeal. And the issue itself may come from the news or from your own work on this badge, which is what requirement 1's list was for.

8. The goals of seven different groups, and why they compromise Often forgotten Requirement

Owners, stockholders, customers, employees, the employees' representatives, the community and public officials. Seven sets of motives, then why agreements and compromises are made and how they affect each group in reaching its goals.

9. A career in labor relations Requirement

Learn about the opportunities, choose one that interests you, and discuss its major responsibilities and the qualifications, education and training it requires. Careers only, with no hobby alternative, and entirely desk research.

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 9. A career in labor relations.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.