IUIF - Labor (Lesson)
Labor
Do you have a job or want a job? Think about what type of work your job would entail. What should your pay be? What conditions would you work in? What type of pay would you require? Under what conditions would you be unwilling to work?
Labor Unions
Most laborers of the 19th century were immigrants or first-generation Americans living in urban areas. Some laborers took advantage of new opportunities in growing cities or new opportunities with advantageous building projects such as the Transcontinental Railroad. These laborers worked long hours under grueling conditions for very little pay. The workers lacked the means to negotiate changes in their work or compensation because of their lack of skills and immigrant status. As a result, groups of laborers organized together to fight for better working conditions and pay and their organizations became the basis for the labor union.
Unions utilized strikes and protest to demand better working conditions and pay. These tactics generally worked early on as businesses were unwilling to lose profits over the long-term for a short-term negotiation. However, over time businesses became more protected by the federal government and increasingly they were able to put down the work stoppages. Two of the best known labor unions of the era were the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor.
The Knights of Labor was comprised of skilled and unskilled workers. The union used strikes and political influences to negotiate for their members. However, after some political losses and the devastating events of the Chicago Haymarket Affair, the Knights of Labor lost influence. The American Federation of Labor was founded by Samuel Gompers. Also known as the AFL, the American Federation of Labor was instrumental in negotiating better pay and better working conditions for its members using a tactic called collective bargaining. With collective bargaining both sides of the negotiations, laborers and owners, negotiated a series of offers and demands for mutual benefit. By the 1920s the AFL had become a powerful force in workers’ rights. The impact of labor unions of the 19th century exists today with the foundation of workers’ rights.
Labor Practices