The rise and fall of Labor Unions
Kevin Campusano
Class
Prof.
30 November 2014
The rise and fall of labor unions
Labor union is an organized association of workers, in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. During the industrial revolution in Europe there was a rise in new workers without representation in the workplace. In the 19th century the industrial revolution spread to the United States from Europe, this resulted in the economy shifting to manufacturing from agriculture as an economic importance. American societies were increasing in population as well as experiencing industrial growth. This industrialization brought conflict between businesses and the labor force since mechanized production was replacing household manufacturing. This encouraged workers to seek out labor unions to help defend the workers’ rights. Workers wanted protection against unethical wage cuts, lay-offs and firings. They also wanted to make management change the dangerous working conditions and overly long hours. Most importantly the workers wanted a contract with their business that lasts for a specific amount of time. Workers believed that labor unions could protect the rights of the workers from unjust treatment from the management. Business owners needed a certain amount of flexibility in cutting wages, hiring and firing, and adding extra hours of work or trimming back work hours in order to keep the business successful. Mostly business owners did not want to have to negotiate with their workers and they did not think of their employees as equals. Since this imbalance of power many conflicts would arise between the employers and employees. During these conflicts, employees would retaliate with workplace protests, strikes, industry wide boycotts, massive demonstrations in cities, pressure on Congress, and voting preferences. These conflicts would put a strain on the success and operation of the business, which ultimately hurt the employees and management. These conflicts
Class
Prof.
30 November 2014
The rise and fall of labor unions
Labor union is an organized association of workers, in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. During the industrial revolution in Europe there was a rise in new workers without representation in the workplace. In the 19th century the industrial revolution spread to the United States from Europe, this resulted in the economy shifting to manufacturing from agriculture as an economic importance. American societies were increasing in population as well as experiencing industrial growth. This industrialization brought conflict between businesses and the labor force since mechanized production was replacing household manufacturing. This encouraged workers to seek out labor unions to help defend the workers’ rights. Workers wanted protection against unethical wage cuts, lay-offs and firings. They also wanted to make management change the dangerous working conditions and overly long hours. Most importantly the workers wanted a contract with their business that lasts for a specific amount of time. Workers believed that labor unions could protect the rights of the workers from unjust treatment from the management. Business owners needed a certain amount of flexibility in cutting wages, hiring and firing, and adding extra hours of work or trimming back work hours in order to keep the business successful. Mostly business owners did not want to have to negotiate with their workers and they did not think of their employees as equals. Since this imbalance of power many conflicts would arise between the employers and employees. During these conflicts, employees would retaliate with workplace protests, strikes, industry wide boycotts, massive demonstrations in cities, pressure on Congress, and voting preferences. These conflicts would put a strain on the success and operation of the business, which ultimately hurt the employees and management. These conflicts
References: http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/rise-of-labor-unions-industrial-revolution-52458/ http://www.businessinsider.com/the-dramatic-rise-and-fall-of-labor-unions-in-one-chart-2012-5 http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/history_of_labor_unions.html http://www.unionplus.org/about/labor-unions/history-origin http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/eco_unionization.htm http://www.onthecommons.org/when-unions-are-strong-americans-enjoy-fruits-their-labor http://www.shmoop.com/history-labor-unions/ideology.html http://mises.org/library/history-labor-unions-colonial-times-2009#part5