Title: Journal Assignment
Course: Manufacturing Language Arts > Section: Learning Modules

Over the past couple of modules, we have watched a series of videos about the struggles of workers to unionize, receive fair pay, work an eight-hour day and five-day week, and have safe working conditions. From the Progressive Era of the early 1900s through the Great Depression of the 1930s, workers slowly gained all of these rights, and federal and state governments passed worker safety laws. However, starting in the 1950s, American union membership began to drop. Today, there is a lower percentage of unionized workers in the United States than there has been for a century.

In the next module, you are going to write a persuasive five-paragraph essay on whether there is still a need for unions in twenty-first century America. To prepare, begin brainstorming ideas in your journal now. Try to devise a robust list of material in around five minutes, which, as you know, is about how much time you will have to brainstorm during the GED exam.