Idaho Social Studies 9-12.US2.28

Social StudiesGrades 9–12United States History II

The Standard

Analyze the American Labor Movement during the post-war period.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Affluence, Cold War, and Social Revolutions 1945-1974

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain why workers organized and struck after World War II, even as the economy grew. They trace how bargaining, federal law, and changing industries affected union power and workers' pay.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain why workers struck in 1946 and name a union tactic restricted by Taft-Hartley, such as secondary boycotts. They can use the AFL-CIO merger and the Memphis sanitation strike to show how union goals changed.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume postwar prosperity meant workers had no reason to strike. They may also think Taft-Hartley banned unions or that all workers benefited equally from union contracts.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Why did workers strike in 1946 despite postwar prosperity? Name one Taft-Hartley restriction and explain how it affected unions.

Lesson moves

Have pairs place fact cards on a timeline: 1946 strikes, Taft-Hartley, the AFL-CIO merger, and the Memphis sanitation strike.
Ask students to write two sentences each explaining why a worker might support a 1946 strike and an employer might support Taft-Hartley.
Run a true-or-false round with 'Taft-Hartley banned unions' and 'The Memphis strike linked pay to civil rights'; require written corrections.
Hand out sample union contract and nonunion handbook pages; students underline the steps for challenging a wrong paycheck in each.

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