Crippling unemployment, low wages, and labor uncertainty characterized workers’ lives during the torturous years of the Great Depression. Although President Franklin. D Roosevelt’s New Deal created jobs and relief programs for millions of Americans, by 1940, the...
In the mid-1930s, waking up to work at Flint, Michigan’s car factories meant crawling out of bed and into a nightmare. General Motors (GM) held sway over the town of Flint: Safety regulations were laughable as each day workers sparred with the possibility of injury...
During the Roaring Twenties, the U.S. enjoyed a rare time of “full employment.” Union membership increased to 5 million people. By 1933, the upward trend for organized labor reversed. And, union membership fell to 3 million. Further, one out of three...
Stephen Koppekin is the founder and CEO of Koppekin Consulting, Inc. An experienced former executive who spent decades overseeing industrial relations and workplace safety for major businesses in the entertainment industry, Stephen started his own independent consulting business shortly after retiring. He uses 43 years of experience in labor and employment, during which time he worked at two major entertainment corporations and in government agency National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), to support a diverse client set.
