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Labor Unions In The 1800s

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A labor union is a group of money earners that come together to promote and defend the interests of its members with respect to earnings and working conditions. Labor unions deal with employers on the behalf of its members through a process known as collective bargaining. In the United States, the first labor unions were on a regional level, when shoemakers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, organized in the 1790s. Terrible working conditions in the 19th century led to worker conditions. Employers fought back against the strikes by issuing demands, hiring private detectives and engaging in other dispositions. Sometimes, the strikes became violent. The National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935 to protect workers ' rights to form unions and …show more content…

If your employer refuses to acknowledge these laws, you should take action to pursue the wages you deserve. No company is too big or too small to fight. If you have been mistreated despite wage & hour laws, he can help you secure the compensation you deserve. I for one go to work and signed an hour laws contract and do NOT get provided meals even though I work 24-54 hours a week. I wont fight my job though because they will find a way to tax me more on my tuition. None the less this is a very important law to know. On May 14, 1882, unionized workers in New York City held a parade and picnic, and the seeds of the Labor Day holiday were planted. About 50 years later, pollsters began asking Americans to share their opinions on unions. The results highlight how views of the labor movement have — and haven’t — changed since the 1930s. Some insights from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research archives.Gallup has been asking the public about their approval of labor unions since 1936. Support for unions has drifted slowly downward since its early peaks. However majorities (54%) still express approval in the most recent poll.Despite continued majority support for labor overall, the public has consistently reported negative associations with union leaders. In the McCarthy era, Americans expressed concern about communist infiltration of union leadership, with 64% in a 1954 Opinion Research Corporation survey believing there were “quite a few” people holding important jobs in unions who worked for the

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In 1916, which instilled an eight hour work day for interstate railroad workers, and also overtime wages. This was a victory for the American Federation of Labor because this act soon spread into more extreme business regulations. One such regulation was the Fair Labor Standards Act. Although this act was passed fourteen years after Gompers death, in 1924, this act was tied to all the work he had done with his union organization. The Fair Labor Standards Act enacted a forty hour work week, and established a national minimum wage.

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In the Taft-Hartley Act, the US Congress demonstrated this by demolishing the rights of worker unions and strikes, giving the employers overwhelming control over the lives of employees. The National Labor Relations Act, or Wagner Act, passed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, previously protected the strikes and collective bargaining of employees and labor unions. However, with the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, labor unions were much weaker than before, and many even branded this act as the “slave-labor act.” “To pass the Taft-hartley Act that lifted many of the protections organized labor had enjoyed since the passage of the Wagner Act in the 1930s” (Fraser 754). With the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, many of the rights that protected the rights of workers to collectively bargain with their employers without any risk of losing their jobs and union strikes, were significantly weakened.

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Right-to-work laws have been heavily debated even before their formal inception in the mid-1940s and they continue to be debated today. The core of the debate is about union security, which is the unions right to secure their position in a shop once voted in. One example of union security is compulsory unionism. Right-to-work laws are legislation enacted on a per state bases that limits or eliminates compulsory unionism. The main viewpoint of right-to-work supporters is that compulsory unionism breaches inherent freedoms.

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Based on our group’s research, we believe that the labor movement in the 1820s in the United States during the Jacksonian Democracy was a major factor in the implementation of many of the laws and better working conditions that are present in today’s society. As we have learned and presented to the class, this labor movement in the 1820s grew out of the need to protect the common interest of workers and to improve their overall working conditions. We currently see the results of these labor unions that were formed in the 1820s whenever we enjoy the luxury of having our weekends off from work and having the opportunity to miss work, also known as “sick leave”, when we are ill. We now have an established minimum wage and legally, no one is forced

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Back in the late 19th century and early 20th century there was disputing for and against the labor unions. There were employers who disliked like unions. While the working class, liked the unions and joined them. There were two people who had contrary views regarding the unions. They were Samuel Gompers and N.F Thompson.

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On Saturday, June 25, 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill that was a landmark law in the Nation’s social and economic development. This law was called the Fair Labor Act of 1938. (Grossman) This Act established minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting full-time and part time workers in the private sector and in the Federal, State, and local government. (US Department of Labor, 2008)

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Many believed the unions were a threat to capitalism and the United States which terrified the public. (Document F2) To combat these opinions, Samuel Gompers, the founder of the American Federation of Labor, made a statement to show that he and his union were pro capitalism, not socialism. “Economically, you (socialists) are unsound; socially, you are wrong; and industrially you are an impossibility.” (Document G2)

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The government sided with the bosses instead by stating that men could find other jobs if their current employer was not giving them the treatment they thought they deserved. Eventually laborers got what they sought and they were granted fair treatment, such as 8 hours shifts. The first Labor Day was celebrated on the first Monday of September in the year 1882. Then in 1884, Congress passed an act which made every first Monday of September a nationwide holiday. Today Labor Day is dedicated to the American workers who contribute to the nation.

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Within two years, it had more than 600,000 members. The goal of the NLU was to improve working conditions by pressuring the Congress to make labor law reforms, including passage of laws mandating an eight-hour workday. In 1868, the National Labor Union managed to gain congressional passage of the eight-hour workday, which was the most important issue. Then, employers retaliated by cutting employees’ hourly wages. President Ulysses S. Grant gave out an

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During the decades following the civil war government dissension prevented labor unions from effectively improving the inadequate conditions of the working class. By the end of the 19th century these unions were viewed as a threat to the republican way and were encouraged to dismantle. Although it may have seemed that the voice of the minority had been silenced once more, Eugene Debs, head of the socialist party refused to let that happen. Debs emerged as a leader of a political movement aimed at defeating private control & transferring political power from the elites to the public. He prompted the working class to unionize once again and inaugurate their own party, a labor party.

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Since their conception, labor unions have positively affected the lives of the American worker. Throughout the years, numerous labor unions have developed to enhance workers’ lives. The American Federation of Labor founded in 1886. From then, many other organizations were created such as the Women’s Trade Union League, which was formed at an American Federation of Labor (AFL) Convention in 1903.

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One of the main reasons people do not agree with the usage of labor unions are because they view it as a system of abuse. When they were first established in the eighteenth century they served a very valuable purpose on fixing the horrible working conditions and extremely low pay. Since this time nonunion members think that people abuse the power the union offers such as members knowing what the company can and cannot fire them for and that all the “loop holes” have been exposed to the union members. Not only do people think that the system is abused but they also believe that unions devaluate hard workers. When a contract states that there will be fair wages that means that everyone will receive the same amount of pay which means that there is no strive to do better and those who are dedicated workers lose the lack of value and motivation that they put into their work.

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For example, The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which still today, prevents companies from over working and underpaying its people. Companies are required to pay a minimum wage which adheres to a standard of living that Americans have a right to. Companies cannot take advantage of its employees by forcing them to work an unheard of amount of hours without proper pay. There were numerous statues that regulated the employer of minors which are still in effect today. Under federal law the Fair Labor Standards Act state that no minor under the age of 14 can be employed.

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Tina you have provided some very good insight into the NLRA “National Labor Relations Act” where you explain that any agency or group of employees that are joined together in representation or come together to negotiate for better conditions such as grievances over wage disputes or benefits or conditions fall under the NLRA. To that end these “Labor Unions” are viable entities that are allowed by law to represent and fight for these better employee rights. Many of these labor unions started up as grass roots organizations that had very few members. In the article, “Trade Union Officers: A Study of Full-Time Officers, Branch Secretaries and Shop Stewards. / Labor's Grass Roots:

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The following section discusses the decline in trade union membership, reasons of decline union in membership and the solution of the declines, advantages and disadvantages of trade unions membership in any employment. Trade union is an organization who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work and better working conditions. Most trade unions are independent of any employer. However, trade unions try to develop close working relationships with employers. This can sometimes take the form of a partnership agreement between the employer and the trade union which identifies their

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