Homestead Lockout and Strike Essay

Years after the strike at Hormel meat packing plant had divided the town of Austin, some parts of the community are still angry (Galbally, 2004). The fact that union members was left to largely defend for themselves after the UFCW removed the Local P-9 leaders, demonstrated that a local can`t strike against a company by itself (Warren,

Labor union were crucial in the late 1800’s when the workers were working long hours, doing hard work, without any extra pay. Job security (could be fired at any given time) and safety precautions did not exist in this era, jobs in this day was typically a threat to the workers due to the bad working conditions. When the union was formed in 1866 it was not easy, but if the workers understood how it would benefit them it would have been a greater successes. Due to lack of education, the communication between the union and the works was broken. Some of the religious beliefs created a hardship on getting the union passed. One of the unions called the AFL (American Federation of Labor) was created in 1881 that would try to fight for workers’ rights.

In May of 1877 the Pennsylvania line announced another wage reduction of 10% to the worker's along with speed-ups (double the work). At this point the workers accepted it. Then in July of 1877 the Baltimore & Ohio line announced a 10% cut in pay. The workers questioned management, ‘how could they survive on these wages and terms?' But the owners did not listen, instead they took the position ‘quit if you don't like it'.

Because of the rising change of social and industry they kind of caused friction towards political views. Miners and steelworkers were the first workers to use the strike ad a bargaining tool against their business owners.

The lack of unions that actually took part in the strike also contributed to its failure to both have an impact and to live up to its name as being a ‘General Strike’. The printers, gas and electricity, transport and railway workers were only some of a limited number of unions that went on strike. This meant that the strike could not have its effect that it was meant to. The fact that the general public didn’t give their support to the strike meant that there was a feeling around the country that what the strikers were doing was pointless. Indeed the way in which the TUC didn’t want to be

Labor unions have existed in one way or another since the birth of our country in 1776. They were created in an effort to protect the working population from abuses such as sweatshops and unsafe working conditions. From the start of our Nation there were a few unions organized unions in a scattered fashion, but many were disbanded after they had achieved their goals, such as when the printers and shoemakers briefly unionized in Philadelphia and New York City in 1778 to conduct the first recorded strike for higher wages. Three years later in 1971 the first successful strike happened, when Philadelphia carpenters campaigned for a ten-hour workday. This caused the need for skilled and unskilled laborers to skyrocket during the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War and also got the ball rolling with Labor unions. At this point in our Country, there had been nothing done yet for workers’ rights, conditions, pay, and so on. People at this time saw that they could come together and do something to make their lives better for themselves and their families. Many of these dates were important in shaping our country’s labor policies into what they are today. In 1847 New Hampshire enacts as the first state to enforce a 10-hour workday law. In 1909 the International Ladies’ Garment workers’ Union calls a strike in New York, demanding a 20-percent raise and a 52-hour workweek. Within two days, more than 20,000 workers from 500 factories walk off the job. This largely successful uprising

Labor Unions have had an effect of American history as well as world-wide history from the time they became popular. Following WWII Americans were predominantly pro-labor, however, as time went on union’s credibility fell short of perfect. Union strikes proved to be bothersome to both the general public and company. Unions were also suppressing to employees through fraud and lack of worker rights (in earlier years, before Acts were passed). Although Union labor had its shortcomings, this type of labor is noted to be the most productive and economically beneficial. With both sides shown, I feel Unions will again thrive in the future with a few key adjustments made.

Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).

Carnegie was quoted as saying that Frick was a master at management. Indeed, when competition in the field came up, Frick started a rumor mill that put their competitors out of business within a year, allowing Carnegie to acquire their mill. However, this ruthlessness was later directed against Carnegie himself. Following the increasingly violent workers strikes in 1886, Carnegie let his opinion on the matter be heard through essays that reaffirmed how important he felt labor was and encouraging the formation of union organizations for the various workers. Several industry leaders were unhappy with this as they saw it as a way in which they would lose control of their own company’s running. Frick was one of these leaders. Thus began the tension between the two. Furthermore, Carnegie painted himself as a benevolent employer that understood union plights, while covertly bringing his workers to heel through empty promises, while leaving Frick out to be seen as the ruthless stingy partner in the business. Frick, who had always had a hard stance against strikes and unions, was forced to work with them against his will by Carnegie’s majority shares in Frick’s company. Furthermore, Carnegie pretended to allow unions, then slowly, in the years following his essays supporting them, convinced and cajoled them out of existence within his own company besides

Another issue in negotiations was full-time versus part-time positions. UPS employees argued that too many workers were working 35-45 hours a week, often at two different jobs, for part-time pay. Having about two-thirds of all teamsters being part-time this was a central issue. They wanted these part-time positions to be converted into full-time positions. UPS claimed that it did not want to guarantee full-time positions because of fluctuations in work and wants flexibility for competitive reasons (UPS vs Teamsters). Along with full-time positions and the pension arguments, strikers wanted limits on giving work to subcontractors, and health and safety improvements.

I remember, my first time experiencing a strike at the university, for all intents and purposes I was calm, contrary to the majority of my classmates and student body, rather the word would be curious, I just could not understand the need of a strike. True, there were things the university had to improve like bad, dirty bathroom facilities that most of the time did not

The Winnipeg general strike was the largest strike in Canadian history; it officially began May 15th 1919, during the strike solders returned after World War 1 leaving immigrants and woman with poor jobs and terrible working conditions with low wedges. Workers were put in jail, some were deported and thousands lost their jobs and at least seven strike leaders were convicted of a conspiracy to overthrow the government and were jailed for up to 2 years. This event has shaped Canadian identity by the ability to have unions and strikes, higher wages and optional hours. The Winnipeg general strike became the platform for future labour reforms, without the Winnipeg general strike there would be no such thing as minimum wage. Some causes of the Winnipeg

A major topic that comes up with unions is getting better wages for the employees. This is one of the main reasons that unions came to be. Workers of all fields were tired of being paid unfairly by big companies. They realized that they needed a way to organize themselves to fight for better pay. Unions helped aid in this fight. According to History.com, “ The formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) in Philadelphia in 1794 marks the beginning of sustained trade union organization among American workers.” This was the first time workers tried to organize themselves to get more money for what they did. A key way that unions used workers to make businesses meet their demands was organized strikes. With these organized strikes, the big companies had to comply with some of the demands to raise the employee 's wage, or it would cost them more money in the long run. Strikes are a very powerful tool that unions have used often in the past. Unions orchestrated the strikes in the past pretty well, and the majority of strikes accomplished the goal they were trying to complete. Unions have always fought with companies to give the workers the pay they deserve.

adamantly opposed any recognition of the union. Thus, the union members decided to strike over wages, safety

First of all, many national debates get involved this strike. In the surface, the CTU declared that this strike is a labor dispute over job security, in which way laid-off teachers would be hired back according to their seniority-pay, merit-pay and in some ways surprise me, they wanted to connect teacher evaluation to student achievement as test scores just like China. In some aspects, this strike was just part of the battle across the entire country between teachers unions and education reformers.