ABSTRACT

The U.S. labor unions have a long history and play a very important role in the American society. A lot of domestic and overseas scholars have explored the U.S. labor unions’ development, activities, features and influence on the American politics and world economy in the world. However, the cultural implications behind the U.S. labor unions have rarely been discussed. The spirit of law, spirit of striving and laissez-faire reflected by the U.S. labor unions are worth studying. What’s more, studying the U.S. labor unions can also provide helpful advice for Chinese labor unions.
This paper firstly explores the activities of the U.S. labor unions, mainly focusing on their expanding membership and collective bargaining. It then lists the core features of the U.S. labor unions which are abidance by laws, pursuit of rights and superiors and avoidance of government’s interference; Thirdly, it probes into the cultural implications behind the U.S. labor unions----spirit of law, spirit of striving and laissez-faire. It finally provides advice for labor unions in China through absorbing the experience of the U.S. labor unions, including strengthening lawmaking, protecting civil rights initiatively and reducing Chinese labor unions’ dependence upon the government appropriately.


Key words: U.S. labor unions; features; cultural implications

摘        要

美国工会组织经历了漫长的发展，在美国社会中扮演中非常重要的角色。国内外学者对美国工会组织的发展、活动、特征和对美国政治和世界经济的影响力都作了深入的研究。然而，美国工会组织背后的文化蕴涵却鲜有人问津。美国工会组织体现了美国文化中的法治精神、个人自强自立精神和自由放任、政府不干涉主义，这些同样值得深入研究。同时，研究美国工会组织也能为中国工会组织的发展提供建设性的意见和建议。
本论文首先介绍了美国工会组织的基本活动，主要涉及会员发展和集体谈判，并分析了美国工会的核心特征，即坚持法治、维护权利和利益，避免政府影响；然后对美国工会组织背后的文化蕴涵进行研究，主要包括法治精神、个人自强自立精神和“自由放任，政府不干涉主义”；最后为中国工会提出了建议，即加强立法、主动维权和增强工会独立性。


关键词：美国工会，特征，文化蕴涵