...In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, American history marks the time periods of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Additionally, it is during this time that both the American society and labor force face an “industrial” change in which allows for the development of coal mining, working the railroads, in addition with a variety of other jobs. Correspondingly, when these new jobs come to the American hand, union groups begin to come along with them such as the Knights of Labor and later the American Federation of Labor. However, it is also during this time that America undergoes a great migration wave in which brings a significant amount of Italians, Germans, and Irish to the eastern coast which created great competition on the job market. Moreover,...
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...American Labor Movement Labor unions began to develop in America in the nineteenth century because of the need for better safety and job security for workers. Workers formed labor unions in response to dangerous working conditions, low wages, and long hours. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, men, women, and even children worked in unsafe factories for ten to twelve hours daily for a meager pay. These harsh conditions forced workers to look for ways to improve their situation. They eventually learned that by banding together and bargaining as a group, they could pressure employers to respond to their demands. The development of labor unions follows the development of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought about skilled laborers and a huge increase in production, thanks to a better production system. The new factory system brought workers both steady employment in good economic times and bad working conditions and unemployment during depressions. Consequently, the Industrial Revolution changed the American class structure, turning skilled tradesmen into the working class, who found it very difficult to escape factory work. Printers, carpenters, tailors, and weavers formed local craft unions in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Their main objective was to maintain craft standards, to prevent employers from hiring unskilled workers and immigrant labor. The largest labor organizations emerged between 1866 and 1936. The National Labor...
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...leadership effectiveness in the AFL. 2. While the CIO and KOL shared somewhat the “one big union” concept, the CIO’s goals were more similar to the AFL than to the KOL. 3. One change since 1950 is organized labor’s current emphasis on short-range reform instead of long-range material goals. 4. The leadership of the Knights of Labor was more interested in seeking higher wage increases for employees than in seeking moral betterment . 5. The new Change to Win federation believes that the AFL-CIO should be supportive of the Democratic Party, even when party leaders did not stand with organized labor on key issues, such as opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and subsequent proposed trade pacts. 6. Many new members joined the Knights of Labor because of the organization’s “get tough” militant stance during the Haymarket Riot. 7. Organized labor repeated its success in three previous presidential elections by delivering a very large majority of union members for Obama. 8. The sit-down strike helped the CIO to obtain union membership in the 1930s, and it was soon approved by the Supreme Court. 9. Member unions of the Change to Win federation are encouraged to devote 50 percent of their annual operating budget toward union organizing activities, compared to a goal of 30 percent for AFL-CIO affiliated unions. 10. The Homestead Incident unlike the Ludlow Massacre showed the public that union and management officials could resolve their differences in a...
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...leadership effectiveness in the AFL. 2. While the CIO and KOL shared somewhat the “one big union” concept, the CIO’s goals were more similar to the AFL than to the KOL. 3. One change since 1950 is organized labor’s current emphasis on short-range reform instead of long-range material goals. 4. The leadership of the Knights of Labor was more interested in seeking higher wage increases for employees than in seeking moral betterment . 5. The new Change to Win federation believes that the AFL-CIO should be supportive of the Democratic Party, even when party leaders did not stand with organized labor on key issues, such as opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and subsequent proposed trade pacts. 6. Many new members joined the Knights of Labor because of the organization’s “get tough” militant stance during the Haymarket Riot. 7. Organized labor repeated its success in three previous presidential elections by delivering a very large majority of union members for Obama. 8. The sit-down strike helped the CIO to obtain union membership in the 1930s, and it was soon approved by the Supreme Court. 9. Member unions of the Change to Win federation are encouraged to devote 50 percent of their annual operating budget toward union organizing activities, compared to a goal of 30 percent for AFL-CIO affiliated unions. 10. The Homestead Incident unlike the Ludlow Massacre showed the public that union and management officials could resolve their differences in a...
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...The Civil War was the bloodiest war the Americans had ever experienced up to that period. After the four year long fight to preserve the union over six hundred thousand lives were lost. In an attempt to recover from the damage of the war the Unites States entered The Reconstruction Era. The Reconstruction Era was the period after the Civil War when Northern political leaders created plans for the governance of the South and a procedure for former Southern states to reenter the Union. As the United States recovered, the Reconstruction Era faded away and industrialization took hold in the healing nation. Industrialization brought about the Gilded Age, a time period of rapid economic growth and corrupt politics. People responded differently to...
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...On the topic of unionism and union politics, historians have shown the small success, but ultimate failure of labor unions in the United States of America during the industrial era. Several historians have delved into the topic, but three will be examined. Leon Fink is a historian with a specialty in American labor, immigration history, and the Gilded Age/Progressive Era. He wrote the book Democracy: The Knights of Labor and American Politics. Another historian is David Montgomery is a labor historian. He wrote the book The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism. Finally, the third is Michael Pierce; he is a U.S. labor historian and author of the article “The Populist President of the American Federation...
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...states to fund the cost of building mechanical and agricultural colleges. Land grant colleges such as Iowa State University and Kansas State University, were set up to teach certain branches of learning that include mechanical arts and agriculture. 2. Two examples of where the federal government violated treaties as a result of continued settlement into the west and give the results of these conflicts During the nineteenth century the Native Americans were deprived much of their land and were forcefully removed from the west. The white authority failed to honor the treaties they had signed and made the natives vacate their own land. This resulted to relocation of a mass of people from the west. After the war the white authorities started treating the natives in a hostile manner. They claimed ownership of the Indian lands in the west by the terms of 1783 peace treaty. This resulted to relocation of the India from the west. 3. (a)Explain the use of the Dawes Severalty Act in trying to force natives to assimilate to the American culture. What were the unintended consequences? The Dawes Severalty Act provided for elimination of tribal ownership of land and gave out land to individual owners. The head of the family received 160 acres of land. A single adult and a dependent child received 80 and 40 acres respectively. Assimilation of Indians happened through taking Indian children to schools run by whites where they were educated to abandon traditional ways. Creation of...
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...Good evening everyone, I came here tonight prepared to speak with you all about American Labor Union History going back to the Eighteenth Century. Due to time restraints, I am now being asked to give you the top three most important events in American Labor Union History. There have been so many significant events, picking the three most important is a very difficult task. However, I will rise to the occasion and give you lovely folks what I believe to be the three most important events in American Labor Union History. The three I will speak briefly about are; the formation of The Knights of Labor in 1885, The Wagner Act of 1935, and the merger between AFL and the CIO creating the AFL-CIO in 1955. The foundation of The Knights of Labor is especially significant because this was the first time in American Labor Union History that there was an attempt to form one large general union. The early years of The Knights of Labor were very successful. This union offered membership to skilled and non-skilled workers as well as women and African Americans. Between 1885 and 1886 nearly 600,000 members joined under leader Terence Powderly seeking eight hour work days, equal pay, and to do away with child labor. The Knights won a major strike against the Wabash Railroad which led to the quick increase in membership. However, by the late 1880’s the organization was practically extinct due to lack of leadership for such an overwhelming quick increase in membership . The Wagner Act...
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...RLAT Task 4 Labor Unions Historically, labor unions were created to protect the American worker from business management. Throughout the years, many laws have been enacted to protect the American worker and businesses. With the decline in our labor force and shrinking wages and benefits, do they continue to be relevant today? The story of American labor is dramatically relevant to today’s society. There are very little issues that is or has not been influenced by the labor’s organized efforts or lack of them. (Cahn, 1972) Labor organization in the mid-nineteenthy century was not new to America, and it was inevitable due to the working people being confronted by common problems causing them to unite their protection efforts. There was mutual aid or societies for masters, journeymen, and apprentices. They were usually founded to provide insurance against accidents and sickness. In 1801, an early labor organization announced the purpose of said insurance, and they were called the Society of Mechanics. Society or association was used in place of the word union representing a local organization of journeymen within a single trade. In the 1830’s the term trade union came in use, then later national and international which meant representing members in more than one country. Terms such as trade assemblies and central labor unions came in the 1860’s. The first permanent labor organization was founded when journeymen shoemakers of Philadelphia joined forces...
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...United States Labor Movement The Labor Movement in the United States of America started in the formative years of our nation. Its purpose being to organize workers to strive for better working conditions, reasonable pay and better treatment in the workplace. From it’s beginnings in the early to mid nineteenth century during the Industrial Revolution to the modern era of today, the labor movement has fought hard forming labor parties and labor laws to give the American worker the rights they deserve. One of the earliest and more influential of labor organizations came to be in 1860; The Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labor mission was to “inform, and support working families, and to organize them to better represent their rights” (The Knights of Labor, 2011, ¶1) By the end of the 1800s the Knights had become a national fixture and included all workers into the group such as lawyers, doctors, gamblers and bankers. The main focus of the Knights of Labor were to push for an eight-hour work day; to rid child labor from existence, to do away with convict contract labor as they opposed the source of cheap labor taking jobs away from workers who needed a job; and equal pay for all their workers. In the early goings, they were opposed to the use of strikes however that trend changed and work stoppages had become a very good tool to use. The Knights of Labor had reached its apex in 1886 with over 700,000 members however their...
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...Labor Unions — Are They Still Relevent Labor Unions were formed in the mid-19th century in response to the changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution. The labor unions were established to help workers with low pay, unsafe working conditions and long hours—to name a few. Their main goal was to ensure that all working people were treated justly in the work force. “Working people have a lot of concerns in this economy. They want decent pay. They want benefits. And of course they want job security. All the reasons why they need union representation” (Crane, 2012). Is that statement still true today? Do labor unions want the best for the working person or are unions another example of something good gone bad? Many people believe Labor Unions were essential in the 19th century but now with government oversight and business practices, unions are no longer required. Labor Unions Needed Agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions during the Industrial Revolution. As the revolution progressed, business moved from a mom-and-pop model to a machine-and-factory production model. Families quickly moved from the rural areas to the cities. They hoped to improve their standard of living. This meant ever member of the family had to work, regardless of sex or age. People worked for long hours for low wages, in dangerous and repetitive conditions, and with little-to-no job...
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...states to fund the cost of building mechanical and agricultural colleges. Land grant colleges such as Iowa State University and Kansas State University, were set up to teach certain branches of learning that include mechanical arts and agriculture. 2. Two examples of where the federal government violated treaties as a result of continued settlement into the west and give the results of these conflicts During the nineteenth century the Native Americans were deprived much of their land and were forcefully removed from the west. The white authority failed to honor the treaties they had signed and made the natives vacate their own land. This resulted to relocation of a mass of people from the west. After the war the white authorities started treating the natives in a hostile manner. They claimed ownership of the Indian lands in the west by the terms of 1783 peace treaty. This resulted to relocation of the India from the west. 3. (a)Explain the use of the Dawes Severalty Act in trying to force natives to assimilate to the American culture. What were the unintended consequences? The Dawes Severalty Act provided for elimination of tribal ownership of land and gave out land to individual owners. The head of the family received 160 acres of land. A single adult and a dependent child received 80 and 40 acres respectively. Assimilation of Indians happened through taking Indian children to schools run by whites where they were educated to abandon traditional ways. Creation of...
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...In article The Big Business and Organization labor it explains the growth and expansion of early America’s economy after the Civil War, how the rise and fall of the different labor organizations shaped America, and how the local and regional economies coming together was a key factor in forming a more mature national market. This article is a type of document called a report. The reason for this is because it contains factual content and informs the reader of important historical events of early America. The local and regional economies’ coming together was a key development in revolutionizing Americas industry for many reasons. One reason was that the demand for supplies of railroad networks, telegraph systems, and other innovations increased. This enabled entrepreneurs to manufacture products for distribution across the country. Business leaders like J.P. Morgan, Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie, there businesses created new jobs and they contributed into helping improve the general welfare of their communities. The rise and fall of the different labor organizations shaped not only early America but also the America we live into today. For example, the Knights of Labor set the foundation for 8 hour working days. Another example is Samuel Gompers who was the founder of American Federation of Labor(AFL) embraced the strike as the unions most effective weapon in wrenching concessions from recalcitrant corporate leaders. These two examples...
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...History of the Labor Movement “It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country” (United States Department of Labor). This quotation is referring to one of our national holidays, Labor Day. Ultimately, the labor movement in the United States formed this holiday celebrated every September. Labor day is a day to celebrate how far American workers have come since before the 19th century. During the 1800s American workers could be found at their job for most of the day almost everyday. It was a hard time for families to make ends meet forcing even their children to work. On average, an individual would work twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Easy jobs, such as working in a factory or mill, children as young as five would be working to help their families pay bills and even eat a meal (History, 2010). Soon times got tougher for Americans by having wage cuts and needing them to work more hours. Several different strikes occurred starting in 1768 over these wage reductions. Workers fought for several years to be treated differently by getting paid more and working less hours; to fight for these rights strikes were happening more frequently. Soon reform efforts were popping up to fight against the social inequality occurring; Knights of Labor and National Union Labor were the most popular. However, their efforts were not changing the economic conditions the workers faced; therefore...
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...economy, influenced politics through corrupt acts, and changed societal views on labor. In the late 19th century, the Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie...
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