The Labor Movement

Review

The Rise of Trade Unions in the 19th Century

Corporate strategies to squash labor: High-priced lawyers, pressure politicians Hire “scabs” (strikebreakers) State & federal troops brought in Lockout (workers shut out) Yellow dog contracts (forced promise not to join union) Black list Company towns

Early Unions National Labor Union, 1866

600,000 members: skilled & unskilled laborers No Chinese allowed; little encouragement for

women & blacks Worked for arbitration of industrial disputes and

the 8-hour day Won the 8-hour day for government workers

Colored National Labor Union

Knights of Labor Started as secret society in 1869:

The Noble & Holy Order of the Knights of Labor For all skilled and unskilled labor, men and

women, blacks and whites Focused on social & economic reform, not

politics Haymarket Square Bomb episode seriously

weakened Knights

American Federation of Labor Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886 Skilled labor only Truly a federation, combining variety of

skilled labor unions for overall strategy Took a moderate approach (not socialist) Major goal: agreement to authorize closed

shop (union only) Strategies: walk-outs & boycotts

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) After abuse of 14th Amendment, Congress

finally passes Sherman Anti-Trust Act Prohibited any contract, combination (i.e.,

trust) or conspiracy that “restrained trade” Not enough enforcement power: federal

attempts to dissolve trusts stopped by Supreme Court till Teddy Roosevelt’s time

Used primarily against Unions!!

Recognition of Labor By 1900, public opinion of labor had

improved Labor Day established by Congress in 1894 Some employers realized the benefits of

working with labor, but most did not Next major steps forward with

Progressivists and TR

“Wobblies”: Industrial Workers of the World Founded in 1905 & led by “Big Bill” Haywood Favored industrial unionism—union membership for all

workers in an industry, not just skilled workers Favored strikes over political action (sometimes violence) Associated with socialist groups At the time, only union to welcome all workers: women,

African Americans, immigrants Angered US govt. by supporting strikes during WW1, and

lost much of its legal status Survived, though diminished, until 1950

Congress of Industrial Organizations Founded in 1936 by John Lewis, leader of the

United Mind Workers union Started as Committee of Industrial Organization

within the AF of L in 1935, but rejected by AF of L Continued as a rival organization to AF of L Focused on representing unskilled workers More open to accepting blacks and women More militant than AF of L

New Deal for Labor Wagner Act aka National Labor Relations Act, 1935

Created National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Replaced function of NRA

Affirmed labor’s right to organize & bargain collectively with own representatives

More support from Congress with Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 Minimum wages & maximum hours were to be set by industries

involved in interstate commerce Goal was 40 cents/hour & 40 hours/week (!) Only applied to industrial workers

farm & domestic workers excluded, mostly women & minorities Overall, tremendous expansion of labor movement, & greater public

& government support

Taft-Hartley Act (1947) Taft-Hartley Act drastically reduced labor

unions’ power outlawed all-union (closed) shops made unions liable for damages resulting from

jurisdictional disputes among themselves required non-Communist pledge of union leaders allowed the government to get injunctions to

postpone serious strikes

AFL-CIO AF of L and CIO joined together in the AFL-

CIO in 1955 under George Meany Tensions between the two groups gradually

subsided as they worked together

Miscellaneous Unions United Mine Workers Teamsters: truck drivers UAW: United Auto Workers

Late 20th Century Some union organizations succumbed to

corruption and were investigated by the government

Anti-union legislation and union corruption both weakened the labor movement Union membership began to decline after

reaching a high of about 22 million American union members in 1980