Railway Labor Act Essay

In 1947 it was revised to help better protect employees as well as employers. The revision stated that employees and managers must bargain “in good faith” with each other, and illegalized wild cat strikes, (refusing to work under a valid contract). These rights help employees as well as employers to be treated fairly. Forcing employees and employers to work together as a team can increase their understanding of where each side is coming from, as well as making it easier to compromise. The act also prevented businesses from becoming “closed shops,” (places where only union members were hired.) and prevented members from forcing others to join a union. Employees were also given the option to hold elections to certify and decertify unions. Employers were given the freedom to voice any concerns they had over unions so long as they did not interfere with the organization of unions. The revised act also gives the president the power to call off strikes in the event that it becomes a national emergency. A board may be hired to examine the situation of the strike so that the president may better understand why the situation has not been resolved. The president can then put an injunction on the strike; if a decision is not reached, the injunction can be extended.

The laborers demanded a 20%, greater protection and rights, and have the work day reduced to nine hours instead of ten. The stubbornness of the corporation would ultimately be their own defeat. The strike was becoming a substantial burden on the United States due to the diminishing amount of coal being produced. Due to this, Roosevelt decided to intervene. It is true that Roosevelt threatened the mine owners when no negotiation was met, but this would be the first time a president sided with a union over corporations. This is quite a revolutionary action for unions, because Roosevelt heard the people’s voice and answered. The owners agreed, and the workers got the terms the union had been fighting for. Roosevelt is known to be overly expressive, so he also convinced Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, and the Meat Inspection Act. Congress was cautious in passing these acts due to the amount of influence the meat industry had, but Roosevelt was the man that convinced Congress. These acts protect

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

In labor as in all things there is strength in numbers it is this strength that American labor unions provide. Labor unions provide a collective voice for those who had not previously been heard. As the professor in the “Frustrated Labor Historian” Dr. Horace P. Karastan is left with the dilemma what are the three most important events in American labor union history it would be difficult to choose with so many important moments. There are however several events that stand out as being turning points in giving employees unquestionable protections. The Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 allowing employees the right to organize. Further the Wagner Act protecting employees from reprisal from employers for organizing spurring the growth of unionization. The Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 building on the Wagner Act as well as the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 which granted protections from the unions. It is these Acts that have changed the landscape of American labor union history and leave us with the unions that we have today.

The Great Railroad strike of 1877 led to many problems this strike, also referred to as the Great Upheaval, which began in July in a town named Martinsburg, West Virginia, the railroad strike ended forty-five days after locals, state militias and federal troops shut it down. The goals of the railroad strike were for a wage increase. The workers of the railroad were not represented by labor unions, which mad the workers angry therefore several cities started to build armories to support their militias to avoid any problems. There were many causes of the strike, one was that the civil war ended and a boom in railroad construction ensued about 55,000 of new tracks being laid between the years 1866 and 1873. In 1873, the Wake of the panic developed between workers and leaders. As immigration from Europe was underway, the railroad jobs were increasing and it became a competition, which enables companies to drive down the wages and lay off their workers. Speculators fed large amounts of money into the railroad industry causing an abnormal growth (en.wikipedia.org).

Craft unions had been representing small groups of skilled workers since before the Civil War, but most unions never hoped to have a compelling authority over the economy. Also, during the unstable times of the years of recession in the 1870’s unions encountered superfluous public opposition. “The “Molly Maguires” in the anthracite coal region of Western Pennsylvania” were the most predominantly frightening to middle class Americans. (Brinkley 412) The Molly Maguires were a radical employment establishment that occasionally benefited from using brutality and seldom used murder as a tactic in their disputes with coal operators. Enthusiasm toward the group diminished alongside the panic that engrossed the United States for the duration of the railroad strike of 1877, which commenced when the eastern railroads declared a ten percent income cutback and escalated into something close to a class feud. Strikers argued rail service from Baltimore to St. Louis, demolished equipment, and rampaged in the streets of Pittsburgh and other metropolises. State armed forces were requested, and in July President Hayes demanded federal troops to overpower the complaints. Eleven campaigners died and forty were injured in a divergence involving workers and militiamen in Baltimore. In Philadelphia, twenty people were also killed when troops had to open fire upon “thousands of workers and their families who were attempting to block the railroad crossings” (Brinkley 412). Over one hundred people died in total before the strike came to an end numerous sorrowful weeks after it began. Conclusively America’s first major labor conflict was the great railroad

The two major Railroad Strikes were the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and Railroad Shop workers Strike of 1922. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, was due to workers not being happy about the pay cuts that were being made by their employer so often. Northern Railroads began cutting salaries and wages. Because of various railroads cutting wages by 10% back to back, workers were not willing to continue working under those conditions. Not only were the wages of the workers being cut, the amount work of work given to the employees increased and the employer did not hire additional workers. This then caused railroad employees to respond by taking control of the rail yard switches, and blocking movement of trains. Throughout various cities such as Baltimore, Pittsburg, St. Louise, and Chicago, Violent acts began to occur. Many people died throughout the cities. The strike cause the country’s commerce to become paralyzed and pushed governors in different states to utilize militia members to reopen rail traffic. This action also helped set the stage for violence that would occur later in the 1880s and 1890s.

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).

5. Great Railroad Strike of 1877 cut wages of railroad workers by 10 percent, so the workers stopped working. President Hayes sent troops to stop the workers from stop working and more than 100 people dead. This event was the start of the conflict between workers and owners. The conflict between the Irish and Chinese in labor caused terrorization of the Chinese. Chinese Exclusion Act then was passed to restrict Chinese immigration until 1943.

NLRA was considered to be the law that affected the relationship among the federal government and private enterprise; this measure considerably increased the government’s powers to arbitrate in labor relations. Prior to this law, employers had the emancipation to chastise, spy on, question for no reason and fire union members. Work stoppages commenced in the mid 1930’s (Gould, 1986), which included striking by factory and industrial occupational workers. By the time the strikes came to a halt, America had a more conservative Congress. This Congress led to balance the power between employers and unions. While the Wagner Act addressed only unfair labor practices by employers, it was added to the enactment of

“Chapter 1: The Railroad Strike.” American Perspectives. Sixth ed. Vol. 2. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2015.2.

Because of a 75 year old section of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, companies that use sheltered workshops to train workers with disabilities, such as Goodwill Industries, can legally pay their employees just pennies an hour. The section of the Fair Labor Standards Act that legalizes this behavior needs to be repealed in order to ensure fair pay and treatment of every employee in today’s workforce. To begin, I will explain the use of sheltered workshops and the timed tests used to determine subminimum wages for employees with disabilities. I will then go on to discuss the history of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and how companies use a section of the legislation to get away with paying their employees with disabilities so

The two major Railroad Strikes were the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and Railroad Shop workers Strike of 1922. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, was due to workers not being happy about the pay cuts that were being made by their employer so often. Northern Railroads began cutting salaries and wages. Because of various railroads cutting wages by 10% back to back, workers were not willing to continue working under those conditions. Not only were the wages of the workers being cut, the amount work of work given to the employees increased and the employer did not hire additional workers. This then caused railroad employees to respond by taking control of the rail yard switches, and blocking movement of trains. Throughout various cities such as Baltimore, Pittsburg, St. Louise, and Chicago, Violent acts began to occur. Many people died throughout the cities. The strike cause the country’s commerce to become paralyzed and pushed governors in different states to utilize militia members to reopen rail traffic. This action also helped set the stage for violence that would occur later in the 1880s and 1890s.

Deep snow isolated communities. Canadian railway milestones to 1978 turning point in Canada's history occurred in 1836, when the first public train commenced running between Saint Jean sur Richelieu and La Prairie near Montréal. Construction of the transcontinental railway spurred the birth of Canada; in fact, all of North America was undergoing vicissitude in the 19th century. Factories and industries sprang up in cities such as Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver. The event triggered an extraordinary boom in every dimension of Canada's magnification. With trains, a day's trip overland was no longer quantified in kilometers but in tens and hundreds of kilometers. Locomotives superseded horses, while coaches gradually gave way to automobiles

The Homestead Movement was ultimately was ineffective because no inconsequential change occurred due to the violence of this movement. In 1892, Eugene V. Debs formed the American Railway Union, which resulted in one of the largest strikes in American history: the Pullman Strike (Ushistory.org). When workers repudiated to capitulate the pay cut in their checks, the Pullman Car Company fired 500 employees. Debs and members of the American Railway Union boycotted trains that used Pullman cars. On July 4, mobs started to tip over rail cars using fireworks since the federal troops sent in by President Grover Cleveland to handle the situation (Ladd). “This burning and rioting came to a zenith on July 6, when fires caused by some 6,000 rioters destroyed 700 railcars and caused $340,000 of damages in the South Chicago Panhandle yard” (Hofstader). Ultimately, the violence used in the Pullman Movement proved ineffective in attaining social change because the worker’s pay was not rehabilitated. The Labor Force Movements were more effective, however, in attaining social change compared to the Homestead and Pullman violent Strikes. The Labor Movements brought a halt to child labor, and gave health benefits, and aid to retired or injured workers. One of the hallmarks of the Labor Movement, are the strikes formed in which many workers