Let's Walk

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "G.M. Workers Begin Walkout Over Contract Impasse." The article begins, "Members of the United Automobile Workers union walked off the job today at General Motors plants across the country after union leaders and company officials failed to reach an agreement in contentious talks on a new contract." The article reports, "The two sides apparently hit a stalemate over the union’s demand for job protection for its work force at G.M., which is one-fifth its size in 1990. G.M., in return, had pushed for the creation of a trust that would assume responsibility for its $55 billion liability for health care benefits for workers, retirees and their families."

Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Younger Children:

• Do your students think that there are some things that their parents should do for them? What? Why? Are there some things that children should do for parents? What? Why?
  
• Consider asking students to develop a "contract" in which they stipulate what parents should do for children and visa versa.
  
• Have your students ever been ignored by somebody? How does it feel? Why does it feel this way? Have they ever ignored somebody? Why did they do this? Is it OK to ignore somebody? In what situations might it be OK to ignore somebody?
  
• Consider asking students to develop skits in which they depict somebody ignoring somebody else for a good reason.
  
• Have your students ever made a promise to somebody? To whom did they make the promise? What did they promise? Has anybody ever promised them something? What were they promised? Was the promise kept?
  
• Consider asking students to make signs explaining why it's important to keep promises.
  
• Have your students ever worked together with somebody else? Why might people want to work together instead of separately? Did students accomplish what they wanted to accomplish when they worked cooperatively with somebody else? Why/why not? Why is it sometimes difficult to work with other people?
  
• Challenge students to work cooperatively with another student, with whom they do not usually work, to complete a class activity.
  

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Contentious; Solidarity; Liability; and, Defray.
• What is the purpose of a union? Do your students think that it's important for workers to unionize? Why/why not? Ask students to respond to the following sentence: "Intelligent business owners pay their workers large salaries to keep them happy." Encourage students to support their thoughts critically.
  
• These questions might prompt an interesting class discussion.
  
• Do your students believe that businesses should pay for health insurance for their workers? Why/why not? If your students were looking for a job would they want to work somewhere that did not provide health insurance for workers? Why/why not?
• Consider asking students to create a mock discussion between the owner of a company and a worker at a company as to whether or not the company should provide health insurance.
• How do your students think that labor strikes effect the economies? Why?
  
• Ask students to develop graphic organizers demonstrating how labor strikes effect economies.