Summary: The Rise Of Labor Unions And Strikes

Rise of Labor Unions and Strikes Labor Unions were never made up of more than two percent of total labor force, or more than ten percent of industrial workers. The workers viewed Unions in a radical and foreign way because they were new in America. Once the employees started to revive harsh treatment from the Unions, they began opposing them. The early unions often represented skilled workers in local areas but as time went on that changed. In 1866, William H. Sylvis, a Pennsylvania iron molder and talented propagandist united several unions into a single national organization called the National Labor Unions. This labor union fought for long-range humanitarian reforms. Along with that, Sylvis established workers ' cooperatives,

Gompers wanted loose alliances of national craft unions. He only hired skilled workers creating capitalist ideas. Gompers wanted higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. He would use strikes and boycotts to achieve limited gains. By the 1890 's, the AFL was the most important labor group in the country. The amount of workers increased rapidly starting from 140,000 people in 1886, to more than 1 million by 1901. Almost 1/3 of country 's skilled workers were part of the AFL. By 1914, more than 2 million were

The Homestead Strike is known to be one if the most violent strikes in history. Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick cut the wages of the employees by 20% at Homestead steel plant. Since the workers were angry, Frick locked them out, causing them to surrounded the building. He decided to hire a small private army of Pinkerton detectives, not knowing that the workers would forced the army to surrender. Not only did 3 detectives die but also 10 workers. Alexander Berkman, although not part of striker walked into Frick 's office and shot him twice. Not only that but also stabbed him several times. Frick 's survived, and Berman was