Final answer:
Collective bargaining gave workers a greater chance of success by pooling their negotiating power, allowing them to secure better wages, benefits, and working conditions than they could individually. Unions facilitated collective action and put forth political efforts to improve labor laws, but paradoxically, advanced labor legislation could reduce the need for union representation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Why Did Collective Bargaining Give Workers a Greater Chance of Success?
Collective bargaining gave workers a greater chance of success by leveraging the power of unity. When workers band together to negotiate terms, they create a stronger front against management who may otherwise take advantage of individual workers. This process ensures that all voices are heard and that working conditions, wages, and benefits can be negotiated more effectively and fairly.
Through collective action, unions could also employ tactics like strikes to apply pressure, thus earning better contract terms. Businesses, on the other hand, attempted to dismantle this unity by lobbying against collective bargaining during the 1920s, arguing for individual worker freedom – a stance contested by labor leaders as a way to weaken the collective power of unions.
The benefits of collective bargaining are often enjoyed by all workers, including those who are non-members of the unions, leading to some receiving these benefits without contributing to the cause. As laws have improved workplace standards, the irony is observed where such improvements ultimately reduced the perceived need for unions, despite their pivotal role in making those legal gains.
Lastly, union workers might be more productive than nonunion workers because higher wages provide an incentive for productivity and unions often tend to offer job training that contributes to workers' skillsets.