Labor Unions: Aging Dinosaur or Sleeping Giant?

Labor Unions: Aging Dinosaur or Sleeping Giant?

The Labor Movement and Unionism Background and Brief History

Higher wages! Shorter workdays! Better working conditions! These famous words echoed throughout the United States beginning in Ð"Ò'1790 with the skilled craftsmenÐ"¶ (Dessler, 1997, p. 544). For the last two-hundred years, workers of all trades have been fighting for their rights and Ð"Ò'seeking methods of improving their living standards, working conditions, and job securityÐ"¶ (Boone, 1996,p.287). As time went by, these individuals came to the conclusion that if they work together collectively, they would grow stronger to get responses to their demands. This inspired into what we know today as labor unions. Ð"Ò'A labor union is an organized group of workers whose purpose is to increase wages and influence other job conditions for its membersÐ"¶ (Parkin, 1998,p.344).

These labor unions can be divided into two types: craft unions and industrial unions (World, 1998). A craft union is Ð"Ò'a union whose membership is restricted to workers who possess an identifiable skillÐ"¶ (Robinson, 1985,p. 69). These members tend to be better educated and trained, and more unified because of common interests (World, 1998). An example of a craft union is the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (World, 1998). On the other hand, an industrialized union Ð"Ò'is a group of workers who have a variety of skills and job types but work for the same industryÐ"¶ (Parkin, 1998, p. 344). Unions of this type include the United Steelworkers, United Auto Workers, and the United Transportation Union (Boone, 1996).

History from the 1870Ð"†s to 1900Ð"†s. The first national union founded in Philadelphia in 1869 in the pre-Civil War period was the Knights of Labor, which Ð"Ò'intended to include all workersÐ"¶ (Encyclopedia, 1996, p. 630). For a decade, this organization grew at a slow pace due to operating in secrecy until the failure of railroad strikes that increased membership to over 700,000 in 1886 (Robinson, 1985). Their advance and efforts had persuaded legislation to enact the following laws: Ð"Ò'abolition of convict-made goods, establishment of bureaus of labor statistics, and prohibition of the importation of European labor under contractÐ"¶ (Encyclopedia, 1996, p. 630).

In 1890, the Knights of Labor membership had declined to only 100,000 members and the number of members continued to decline and eventually disappeared. The decline is said to have been a result of Ð"Ò'inadequate national leadership, opposition from existing craft unions, and the loss of major strikes in meat packing and railroads in 1886 and 1887Ð"¶ (Robinson, 1985, p. 57).

In December 1886, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was formed in Columbus, Ohio. The AFL was originally named the Federated Organization of Trades and Labor Union back in 1881. The AFL was a Ð"Ò'national union made up of affiliated, individual craft unionsÐ"¶ (Boone, 1996, p. 288). The first president of the AFL was Samuel Gompers. On the contrary to the Knights of Labor, GompersÐ"† focus was to raise day-to-day wages, and continue to improve the working conditions (Dessler, 1997). After the formation of the AFL, the period included significant developments. In the early 1890Ð"†s, the United Mine Workers was formed, becoming the first major United States industrialized union (Robinson, 1985). In addition, a significant defeat occurred in organized labor. The defeat is known as the strike at Homestead, Pennsylvania. The Ð"Ò'Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers was eliminated from the steel industryÐ"¶ (Robinson, 1985, p. 58).

History from 1905 to 1920. In 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) challenged the AFL, prior to the depression of the 1930Ð"†s. The IWW invited the unskilled and semiskilled workers that the AFL had denied and was a success from 1910 to 1915 (Encyclopedia, 1996). The results of this had decreased the AFL membership for a short period of time, but they fought back by bringing unskilled workers into the craft unions (Encyclopedia, 1996). The IWW had disappeared by the middle of World War I.

During World War I, membership of unions had increased-- particularly those Ð"Ò'industries involved in war productionÐ"¶ (Robinson, 1985, p. 60). This success was due to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. While being president, Wilson made sure that government contractors favored unions and collective bargaining, and he made sure that railroads were operated by the executive federal branch (Robinson, 1985). In addition, President Woodrow Wilson is responsible for the labor-management conference of 1918 which resulted in the National War Labor Board (Robinson, 1985). The significance was a decrease in strike activity that was a result to Ð"Ò'labor reaction to rising inflation of 1917Ð"¶ (Robinson, 1985, p. 60). The 1920Ð"†s and post war was a time of continuous improvement.

History from 1929 to 1940. In 1929, the Great Depression began leaving millions jobless (World, 1998). Prior to 1929, business executives were seen as leaders and union members were referred to as Ð"Ò'dangerous radicalsÐ"¶ (World, 1998, p.12). However, this changed when Americans saw that these businesses could not beat out the depression and they started to favor the union (World, 1998). Then in 1932, the Norris-LaGuardia Act was passed in favor of labor unions. This act protected unions by decreasing managementÐ"†s ability to obtain a court injunction to stop union activities (Boone, 1996). Before the passing of this act, employers could easily get an injunction to stop strikes, picketing, and membership drives (Boone, 1996). In addition, the Norris-LaGuardia Act also guaranteed each employee the right to bargain collectively Ð"¦free from interference, restraint, or coercionÐ"† (Dessler, 1997, p.549).

Continuing through the 1930Ð"†s and Franklin RooseveltÐ"†s presidency, another act was passed in 1935 known as the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) after Senator Robert F. Wagner of New York (World, 1998). This law, like the previous ones, encourages and protects laborÐ"†s rights. When this act was passed it added Ð"¦meatÐ"† to the National LaGuardia Act. Ð"Ò'It did this by: (1) banning certain unfair labor practices,