Labour Movement Pros And Cons

The main reason of the rise of labor unions was the quick industrialization of the US economy. During the post-Civil War period, the US economy became extremely industrialized. This meant that more and more people were working in factories owned by large companies rather than working in small shops for themselves or for small businesses. In addition, large numbers of immigrants were coming to the US. They created a huge pool of labor that made labor prices go down and the quality of working conditions.

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.

Everyone was frustrated with work conditions and this led to the formations of unions around the country. The Knights of Labor was a very popular union that led the first major strike in the United States. The year was 1885 and Jay Gould’s Missouri Pacific Railroad was the target. The owner, Jay Gould, had recently cut wages drastically and fired union members. The Knights led the strike and eventually succeeded to improve wages for the railroad workers. With this great accomplishment the Knights gained

The Homestead Strike was a labor dispute between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. The Carnegie Steel Company’s chief executive, Henry Frick, hired Pinkerton Detectives to end the workers’ strike. On July 6, 1892, a confrontation between the workers and Pinkertons escalated into a deadly battle in Homestead, Pennsylvania (AFL-CIO). Despite becoming a source of inspiration for American workers, the Homestead Strike led to the eradication of the country’s strongest labor union and showed how powerful the combination of government and business could be.

During the Progressive Era of the Gilded Age, many laborers were being mistreated by the companies that they worked for. Because of this, workers started forming labor unions or organized association of workers, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Many of these labor unions failed, while few of them achieved their goals and still exist today. Many factors contributed to the failure of these labor unions. The labor unions were given a bad image, the reason for this was the media, and they did this by publishing articles depicting the unions as violent, communist groups. The government supported big business during this time, since the government had a lot of power; this was a huge setback in the labor unions’ battles.

They held several successful protests across the country, demanding the “8-Hour workday”. However an employer counteroffensive began in the aftermath of the Haymarket bombing in 1886 and stopped the Knights march by the end of 1880s (Rosenzweig, Pg 91). The Haymarket incident stunned the society & created fear in the hearts of people about radicals, mobs and labor movements. The government strengthened there stance against the labor movement with increasing the presence of police, militia and the US Army. The workers learned about the power of capital and had experienced firsthand the role of government in labor-capital conflict. Another stain on the Knights of Labor was that they blatantly discriminated against the Chinese by promoting the Chinese Exclusion Act in the early

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

This federation was named the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The creation of the American Federation of Labor was caused by the weakness of a labor union at the time called the Knights of Labor. Because the Knights of Labor had internal conflicts such as competition among the labor unions. Members of the AFL were required to pay 6 cents per year as a due for being within the union and under the protection of the union. The president of the union was paid $1000 per year for a full-time job of guiding the union. The American Federation of Labor spread rumours about the Knights of Labor, causing them to collapse. Despite this, the labor union’s growth was not fast, even though they had taken out their biggest rival. It wasn’t until 1892 that they hit the 250,000 member mark. A possible reason for the slow growth of the union were their beliefs against immigration. During that point in time, there were still many immigrants coming to America mainly from the European countries and some Asian countries. The American Federation of Labor were against the immigrants because they took away jobs from the already citizens of the United States, a situation much like the present day. One thing the American Federation of Labor did do was play a big role in the creation of labor laws in the United States. With the creation of worker’s rights, the workplace became safer and they were able to have influence over laws concerning immigration. During World War 1, the United States government encouraged industries and companies to compromise with the labor unions rather than face strike, otherwise it would stunt the production of supplies needed for the war in Europe. The American Federation of Labor signed an agreement to help with the war and to eliminate socialist and communist labor unions in the United States. They did this because it was in both

Andrew Carnegie was away hunting and left Henry Frick in charge. Henry Frick was replacing the workers with machinery. Frick wanted to treat the workers as individuals, so he locked out the workers. He locked out the workers by building a fence and hiring Pinkerton detectives to mend the fence. The workers were expecting the detectives and a huge battle broke out. This battle lasted fourteen hours and left a total of ten people, laborers and Pinkerton detectives, dead. The state militia would soon be called to calm the workers down (Tindall 814). Another rebellion I stated was the Pullman Strike. Employees of Pullman were forced to live and rent in a community town called Pullman. These workers were given company money and could only get groceries from the company store. Eugene Debs wanted to come up with mediation between Pullman, but Pullman refused Eugene Debs’s plea (Farless). “In June 1894, after George Pullman refused Debs’s plea for arbitration, the union workers stopped handling Pullman railcars. By the end of July they had tied up most of the railroads in the Midwest” (Tindall 516). The railroad executives hired Canadian strikebreakers and requested that they connect the Pullman cars to mail cars (Farless). By doing this they were making the strike a federal strike. The Attorney General argued that the interference of the mail was a direct violation of the Sherman Anti-trust Act

Unions were formed to protect and improve the rights of workers. Their first order of business was to establish the eight-hour workday and in 1866, the national labor union was formed. Labor movements were around before 1866, but few organized up until this point. Unions created an environment for workers with difficult tasks, creating better pay, safer work conditions, and sanitary work conditions. Unions made life better for many Americans in the private sector. Collective bargaining became the way in which employers and a group of employees reached agreements, coming to a common consensus. From 1866 to the early 1900’s Unions continued to make headways increasing membership and power. The real gains started in 1933 after several pieces of legislature, which saved banks, plantations, and farmers. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) proposed an important, and controversial, amendment to the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. It insisted that language from the pro-labor Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 be added to the simple declaration of the right to collective bargaining. The setbacks the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) suffered in Little Steel and textiles in the latter half of 1937, and in Congress from 1938 to 1940, despite the gains made by the AFL, by 1940 the amendment had stalled. WWII created a rapid buildup within the industrial complex, creating more work for women and African Americans, overshadowing the union’s inability to project their power

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).

However, many of the business leaders were not willing to give in to the demands of fewer work hours and days or higher wages. The first effective American union was founded in 1869 by Uriah Stephens and was called The Knights of Labor. The goal of the union was to bring in all workers to unite and fight for their rights. In 1879, Terence Powderly took over the leadership of the union and gained notability by accepting almost all workers, including farm hands, factory workers, women, African Americans, and immigrants were welcome in the union, However, the union excluded white-collared workers, such as doctors, lawyers, bankers, and liquor dealers.The Knights of Labor became the largest in the country for a short time, gaining notoriety in 1884 and 1885 when union members organized successful strikes against the Southwest railroad companies. After the strikes, membership increased to approximately 100,000 members in 1884 to over 750,000 by 1886. The success of the Knights of Labor quickly faded as the union was unable to coordinate it's members activities due to the members coming from a variety of regions, industries, and ethnic backgrounds. And, although the railroad strikes assisted in the success of the union, Powderly avoided strikes believing that they threatened the union's public standing. The collapse of the union came in 1886 when workers in Chicago went on strike against the McCormick Harvester Company demanding eight-hour workdays. On May 3, 1886, four of the strikers were killed in a confrontation with the police. A rally was held the next day at the Haymarket Square in protest of the police actions. While attempting to break up this protest, a stick of dynamite was thrown at the police and killing seven officers and wounding dozens more. The police response was to fire their weapons at the crowd, killing four

Unions first came about with the realization that workers were being treated unfairly, worked in

Labor Unions began in the United States in the mid-late 1800’s. The first founding labor union was the National Labor Union, started in 1866. This labor union was not set on a particular type of worker and even though it did not succeed in making a difference in workers’ rights, it set an important precedent in our country. Being a part of a labor union has lots of pros and cons, as well as, because of them, the right to work movement was created.

Labor Unions have become an important factor in our industries. For many years, labor unions have served as the main voice of the workers to their employers. The continuous effort of labor unions in helping the laborers ensure their rights in their jobs, acquire all the benefits they need and to eliminate the injustice experienced by workers in their workplace is still an ongoing process. In order to understand labor unions in general, knowing the roots of it is the best way to start. In this paper, the progress of the labor unions throughout history, the issues faced the developments it achieved, laws passed and the problem faced by today’s unions will be tackled.