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Labor Unions
GROWTH OF THE FACTORY
In colonial America, most of the manufacturing was done by hand in a home. Labor
took place in workshops attached to the side of a home. ... They were less concerned with their
welfare than with the cost of their labor. ...
As the factory system grew, many workers began to form labor unions to protect
their interests. The first union to hold regular meetings and collect dues was
organized by Philadelphia shoemakers in 1792. ... Members of a union would
agree on the wages they thought were fair. ... They also sought to compel employers
to hire only union members. ... These decisions destroyed the
effectiveness of the nations early labor unions. ... That year
several union shoemakers in Boston were brought to trial. They were charged
with refusing to work with non-union shoemakers. ... But an appeal to a higher court resulted in a
victory for labor unions generally. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that it was
not unlawful for workers to engage peacefully in union activity. ...
UNION STRUGGLES
In the next two decades, unions campaigned for a 10-hour working day and against
child labor. ... These
successes led to big increases in union membership. ... For this reason, the majority did not join labor unions. ...
Probably the most violent confrontation between labor and employers was the
Great Railway Strike of 1877. ... Yet some workers secretly formed a Trainmens Union to oppose the
railroads. ... Legislatures in many states passed new conspiracy laws aimed at
suppressing labor. ... It gave labor an awareness of its strength and solidarity.
KNIGHTS OF LABOR
The Railway Strike led many workers to join a growing national labor
organization. It had a grand name--the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of
Labor. ...
Their union had been unable to organize effectively. ... The garment workers came to two conclusions:
Secrecy was needed to protect union members against employer spies.
Labor organizations would fail if they were divided into separate craft unions.
Instead, labor should be organized in one big union of both skilled and
unskilled workers.
Membership in the Knights of Labor was open to wage earners over 18 years of age
regardless of race, sex or skill. ...
The program of the Knights of Labor called for: an eight-hour working day, laws
establishing a minimum weekly wage, the use of arbitration rather than strikes
to settle disputes, laws to protect the health and safety of industrial workers,
equal pay for equal work, an end to child labor under 14 years of age and
government ownership of railroads, telegraphs and telephones. ... But that year workers led by Knights of Labor organizers went on
strike against two big railroad companies. ...
Within 10 years of its greatest victories, the Knights of Labor collapsed.
"BREAD AND BUTTER" UNIONISM
As the Knights declined, a new labor organization began to challenge it for
supremacy. This was the American Federation of Labor (AFL). It was formed in
1886 by Samuel Gompers, a leader of the Cigarmakers Union. ... Gompers had no use for the Knights of Labor,
which combined all workers in one big union.
The American Federation of Labor began with a core of six craft unions. ... 75 million members and was the nations dominant labor
organization.
At this time, many workers in Europe were joining revolutionary labor movements
which advocated the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a new
socialist economic system. Most American workers, however, followed the lead of
Gompers, with his highly pragmatic approach to problems of labor. ...
There was one outstanding exception to the pragmatic "bread and butter" approach
to unionism which characterized most of American labor. This was the Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW), a revolutionary labor union launched in Chicago in
1905 under the leadership of Eugene V. ... Particularly strong among
textile workers, dock workers, migratory farmers and lumberjacks, the union
reached its peak membership of 100,000 in 1912. ...
The alliance of Progressives and the AFL also campaigned for federal laws to aid
labor. ... It established a Department of Labor in the presidents Cabinet. ...
During World War I, organized labor made great advances. The federal government
created the War Labor Board to settle disputes by arbitration. ... This led to a big increase in union membership. ...
RED SCARES AND DEPRESSION
As the 1920s began, organized labor seemed stronger than ever. ... Unions believed that a scarcity of labor would keep wages high. ... A number of them, like
Goldman, rejected Bolshevism as they experienced it in the Soviet Union and
later returned to the United States. ... During the Progressive era, the public had sympathized with labor. ... Employers encouraged anti-union movements,
or created company unions that they sought to control. Courts found legal
openings in the Clayton Act and issued rulings against union activity. ...
Opposed by public opinion, business and the courts, union membership fell. ... To
help labor, Congress passed the Wagner Act. ... The law created a powerful National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB). The Board could order elections in which workers voted
for the union they wanted to represent them. (Workers could vote against joining
any union, if they wished. ...
Union leaders hailed the Wagner Act. It provided a great opportunity to increase
union membership. But the drive was delayed at first by a dispute within the
American Federation of Labor. ... Some labor leaders believed
that a single union should represent all the workers, skilled and unskilled.
Approximate Word count = 4402
Approximate Pages = 17.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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