Oral History Report for Labor Policy and Law

Oral History Report for Labor Policy and Law

Maureen Loughran was the person that I interviewed for my oral history report for labor policy and law. Unfortunately Maureen had a busy schedule and I was not able to meet her in person. I contacted her by email and I interviewed her over the phone. Maureen works for the California Faculty Association as a field representative. She explained in her words a field representative was a comparable position to a business manager. Maureen was born and raised in Berkley, California. She does not come from a family that was affiliated with unions because her family was not involved any union activities as she was growing up. It was not until 1999 when Maureen was taking a Labor and law course that changed her opinion on labor. She explained that the class she took on labor laws in college was what really influenced her to become a part of the union. In addition, during one of her sessions during that class a group of recruiters from the ASOCIO union association came into her classroom to recruit people for that union. The ASOCIO recruiters really influenced Maureen to take part in this field. In addition, learning the human behavior in her sociology classes along with her women studies classes made her think about justice in the work field.

Today, Maureen works for the California faculty union and the two schools she represents are California States University East Bay and San Jose States University. The union she now represents is the teachers and their values in education system. For example, the current issue that she is working on is the budget cuts that will be decided on this summer. This issue will not only influence our faculty and students over all it will have a negative effect on the economy. The students are the future for our economy and with the budget cuts less people can afford attending college. In order to have a better economy the American society needs more doctors and engineers in the future. In addition, with the budget cuts it going to affect the professors because fewer sessions are going to be held and professors are not going to get a raise. As a result, we will have unsatisfied professors, along with frustrated students.

Unions are very important in our society however, not everyone in our society knows the true value of unions and labor laws. Maureen is one of those individuals who realize the importance of labor laws and unions and she values them. Maureen is motivated to bring a change in the American work field by entitling everyone to justice and equality in the American work field. Attending college made her realize how important it is to have equality in the work field. She believes everyone should have an equal position in the work field and she joined a union to help enforce that. Maureen expressed how being involved in a union helps to oppose greed that exists in the work field; and it brings economic justice. I thought this was an interesting fact, or statement Maureen made because I had never really looked at it from this point of view. A union consists of many people who unionize together for a common cause. They work together and they work towards a goal that will benefit them all. Maureen is in a union and she usually stands up for many people and their rights. She doesn’t just represent herself, and she isn’t just fighting for her own benefits. She goes through many struggles and difficulties in order to help many other people out. When one’s main focus is to help others or to help everybody then he/she is not greedy. Everyone works because we need a source of income in this world and it is really easy for people to become greedy or just money oriented. In the