You touched on a critical point in your forum, as of why workers went on strike. While poverty played a significant role, in 1877, railroad employees experienced a significant pay cut, which sparked the Great Railway Strike, triggering violence and a shutdown of the railways lasting nearly six weeks. Next, the Pullman strike began with railroad owners becoming increasingly wealthier, while none of the profits trickled down to the employees. The labor walk-outs encompassed the substantial divide between social classes. Hence, rich businessmen were increasing their profits, while poor workers often remained stagnate with low wages and company issued paycuts.
After mass production began and working conditions worsened workers began to unionize. The goals of these unions were to
Organized Labor DBQ Starting in the 1870’s, there were large movements pushing to better the lives of the working and labor classes. Various unions were formed throughout the country, each with their own agendas, while progressives put pressures on the government for reforms. With corporations working against them, however, organized labor was not very successful in improving workers’ lives, a result of the awful plight of the workers, the power of the corporation, and the futility of strikes. The workers’ plight in the late 19th century was bleak.
In 1935, the United States passed the Wagner Act which enables more workers rights and gave the right to join/form unions and participate in collective bargaining. But this was not to be passed before many workers began to form unions and were refused that ability. Many riots and strikes were put into place to try and protect their rights. Some strikes became violent resulting in deaths, while others just created trouble for the workers. These efforts without initial government backing caused many problems but many changes.
Naturally, this angered a lot of workers and their families during this time. During the years of 1875 and 1900 many strikes were organized by angered laborers. The goal of these strikes was to reduce excessive work hours and equally low wages. The strikes did not result in
“In the United States history of unions, early workers and trade unions played an important part in the role for independence” (Union Plus). In 1866, the National Labor Union (NLU) ambitiously tried to achieve equal rights for women, African Americans, and mandate eight-hour work days. They managed to convince Congress to adopt the eight-hour work day, but only for federal employees. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) with approximately 1.4 million members was successful in wage negotiation, and enhanced work conditions for its members. “A combination of factors contributed to the debilitating Panic of 1873, which triggered what the public referred to at the time as the “Great Depression” of the 1870s” (OpenStax College, 2014).
If a worker protested, often he was simply fired because the employer could easily find another worker to fill his spot, or he was blacklisted as well. These were the issues faced by workers in the Homestead steel mill: low wages and 12-hour work days which they were powerless to do anything about. However by the late 1800s, workers were finding ways to address their problems. All people worked together in the Knights of Labor to improve their situation. Having such a diverse membership made them less effective than the American Federation of Labor which was a union for skilled workers.
1) Labors unions were unsuccessful in the late 19th century because most people did not belong to a union. Some business owners used this competition to undermine unions. They pressured workers to sign "yellow-dog contracts," which were written pledges not to join a union and owners would not hire workers who did not sign a pledge. They also shared lists of union members, refusing to hire any worker whose name was on these blacklists. Yellow-dog contracts and blacklists discouraged workers from joining unions.
Unions have been around for a long time. The first union was established in 1866 in the U.S. with the foundation of the National Labor Union or the NLU. The National Labor Union was created to persuade Congress to change laws. The NLU was against holding strikes and instead relied on political action to reach its goals. The NLU, made up of farmers, workers, and reformers, excluding African Americans and women, firstly wanted Congress to limit the work days to just eight hours, and it was able to make this change, but after this none of its other suggestions made it through.
After the industrial revolution, work conditions in the United States quickly became a major problem. Individually a person could not do much, but there was strength in numbers. The formation of unions helped all these individuals unit and gave them a voice that could no longer be ignored. The formation of unions helped pave the way for better work conditions for these workers. One of the groups seeking better work conditions were the American farm workers.
Male middle class workers, such as factory manages, and merchants, actually benefitted from the Industrial Revolution. They received appropriate pay for their work. Men’s working conditions weren’t half bad because they often had jobs that didn’t do all the hard labour stuff; they didn’t have to handle dangerous machines or tools. Working hours were extremely long, but times did vary from factory to factory, place to place and era to era. Workers in textile mills generally worked…
Labor unions arose from the outcry of the working class after being subjected to borderline dehumanizing conditions of the workforce. Workers were treated as disposable waste capable of performing tasks and lacked the respect they deserved. There was a general disregard for the working man, woman, and child, and it was evident through their pay, working hours, unsafe working conditions, sexism, racism, or age. Take note, as well, that many of these conditions were tolerated first out of desperation and pressure from incoming immigrants. Otherwise, surely strikes and unions would have risen sooner.
In the early 1800s working for wages started to become a problem in America. Many people thought that working for wages kept people dependent. If people did not own their own business then they were ultimately under the rule of a boss or master. Thomas Jefferson mentions that freedom is destroyed by dependence when it comes to people working for someone else and they do not produce or own their own property. There was also a social stigma for those who worked for wages.
Problems like these angered the workers and caused labor unions to form. Some labor unions included the American Federation of Labor (AFL), or the Knights of Labor (KoL), which were the first two industrial labor unions. The industrial unions did more physical rebellion such as strikes or walk-outs, but both the industrial unions and the farmer unions were formed due to the people’s
Equal Opportunity for various people between 1877 and 1900 Irish immigrants were often at the bottom of the ladder and took on the harsh and dangerous jobs that were often avoided by other workers. Many Irish women became servants or domestic workers, while many Irish men labored in coal mines and built railroads and canals. As Irish immigrants moved inland from eastern cities, they found themselves in heated competition for jobs. The Irish often suffered job discrimination. Furthermore, some businesses took advantage of Irish immigrants’ willingness to work at unskilled jobs for low pay.
