Essay On Labor Unions In The Gilded Age

The industrialist leaders were robber barons throughout the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was a term coined by Mark Twain to label an era defined for its corporate and political greed and corruption; furthermore, monopolies created by industrial leaders grew to prosperity. For instance, John D. Rockefeller was an American businessman who dabbled in the oil industry. Rockefeller practiced horizontal integration where he would ally with, buy out, or undermine competitors to monopolize his business. This allowed him to acquire the vast majority of the oil industry thus empowering Rockefeller to control the latter by forcing his competitors into bankruptcy.

The National Labor Union (NLU), the Knights of Labor, and then the American Federation of Labor (AFL) all strived for a better workers’ condition. Specifically, Samuel Gompers, the founder of AFL, demanded “a reduction of the hours of labor,” “adequate wages,” etc. (Doc G) The labor unions took actions against the relentless business owners: the Railroad Strike, the Homestead Strike, and the Pullman Strike were examples that attempted to ameliorate working conditions by refusing to work. Similarly, the southern and western farmers formed organizations that asked for legislations that would benefit them.

The Industrial Revolution, a time of technological advancements and changing society, yet also a period marked with unfair and unsafe working conditions. In response to dismal working conditions labor unions emerged and although the workers’ pleas were the same, they were not united in their plight. It emerged as a struggle between American born workers and immigrants, they learned though, that if they united, they were much stronger than they were when divided. Three historians explored the topic of labor radicalism in this time and examined how laborers interactions with each other. The first historian, Philip Dreyfus, specializes in political radicalism and ethnic and class identities.

During World War One, Labor Unions formed concessions for the war effort and wanted demands met after the war. Come the late 1880’s specifically 1869, the Knights of Labor were born. The Knights of Labor was the first major effort to create a Labor Organization in America. By 1890, the membership of the Knights shrunk from over 700,000 to about 100,000. Only a couple years later, the organization vanished all together after several damaging strikes and the organizations failure to restore their reputation.

The Knights of Labor “An Injury to one is a concern of all” The Knights of Labor was an organized secret society which begun in the 1869 composed of a group of skilled and unskilled workers In 1886, The knights flourished to 700,000 members under the leadership of Grand Master Workman Terrance V. Powderly Functioned by informing members on what to do and actions against its employers such as work strikes Also pushed for an eight-hour workday and equal pay for women

The feeling, shown in Nast's illustration after the railroad strike of 1877, that amalgamations simply lead to more " communistic values" and general uniformity made it very arduous to genuinely get anything done. Samuel Gompers, progenitor of the American Federation of Labor, argued that the right to strike was absolutely obligatory if any reforms were going to be made and not even this right had been officially granted to the people by regime (Document I). Gompers made it very pellucid that not even the very substratum of organized labor had been established and so up until this point the advances that had been made, were virtually frivolous. In conclusion, from 1875-1900 very few advances were made through organized labor in achieving better working conditions for workers.

The Industrial Revolution was a controversial time period and many workers felt they weren’t being respected. Their employers abused them and made their jobs much more difficult than they had to be. Eventually, these workers were fed up and formed unions in order to change their society. In the Preamble and Declaration of Principles of the Knights of Labor of America, it demonstrates the frustration that workers had towards capitalists and corporations. They are issuing this because they want to improve their conditions and promote equality among employers and employees.

The Knights of Labor, founded by Terence Powderly and Uriah Stephens in 1869, helped create a union contract with Carnegie’s Braddock Mill. While the Knights of Labor were trying to have broad social reform around the country, they created a lockout in the Braddock Mill. Workers like Kratcha did not care as much about the union’s goals, instead they wanted the mills to be open so that they could earn money (25). Large business owners, like Carnegie, tried, and usually succeed, at breaking strikes and unions in their mills. In Homestead and Braddock, Kratcha experienced the effects of strikes, and they were not positive.

During the Gilded Age laboring-class Americans attempted to better their lives in the power of big businesses and the federal government. Many different attempts were taken by the laboring-class Americans but they were more successful uniting to become one. To obtain an eight hour work day, paid sick days, health care, sanitary conditions, and higher pay. Politically the first largest American labor union was formed during the Gilded Age the historical context of this document is the Boston Tea Party that took place in December 1773 as a colonial defiance by the Sons of Liberty to protest against taxation they dumped the tea as a violent act just

Prompt: How successful was organized labor in improving the position of workers in the period from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the factors that have contributed to the level of success achieved. The period of 1875-1900, better known as the Gilded Age, was a time of economic definition. At this time America was settling in its ways as a capitalist society known for its free market and trade opportunities.

During the Great Depression, there was a dramatic decrease in labor union members as unemployment rates rose notably. Although it seemed like the labor movement was over, the movement would soon strengthen and expand in numbers and power with the start of the Roosevelt administration and legislations from the New Deal. Ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution era, there had always been conflict between the working class and employers as workers suffered poor wages, bad working conditions, and long hours. Labor unions, such as the Industrial Workers of the World believed “The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life”.

1. How did the IWW differ from the AFL and other workers’ unions? The IWW and the AFL were vastly different in a variety of ways, with perhaps the most obvious difference being each union’s composition and diversity, or lack thereof. The AFL, or American Federation of Labor, was founded first as a highly selective entity comprised primarily of white males, the majority of whom were skilled laborers and therefore a social and economic cut above unskilled laborers.

The popularity of this new union spread rapidly as workers began to realize they had a voice and options. The Knights of Labor was open to all workers, including women and African Americans, but as a symptom of the times, was mostly composed of white males. In just a few years, the Knights of Labor grew to a few thousand members nationwide. The Knights of Labor set off a chain of events that eventually made way for the federal laws that govern our unions today. These are the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA), the Labor Management Relations Act (also known as the Taft-Hartley Act), and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

The union purpose when they strike is to stop the companies or factories from caring out their purpose of existence therefore, Labor unions play an important role in the labor market. A labor union is the union of workers having the right to negotiate with the employer for and on behalf of its members. The purpose of labor unions is the maximization of salaries of their members, improvement of their work conditions, and appointment of bonus supplements and privileges. In a competitive market, labor unions act in two ways: they tend either to increase the demand for labor, or restrict the supply.

Samuel Gompers, the founder, and former president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) from 1886 to 1894 advocated for the priorities of the wage-worker. Gompers believed “first things must come first” (Gompers, [], p. 30), wherein the role of trade unions is to ensure wage-workers receive protection. Both by increasing his wages, as well as securing a reduction in the long workday, and other conditions about safety and sanitation of workshops (Gompers, [], p. 31). Bread and butter trade unionism, works with the lines of least resistance, attempting to improve conditions of working people “today and tomorrow, and each day making it a better day than the one that had gone before” (Gompers, [], p. 32). Trade unions can improve their conditions and wages through the organization of their workers to a collective group.