What are labor unions and why are they important for workers?
- It is a union of laborers in a specific industry banding together to get better wages and conditions
- Power in numbers
- Labor unions were/are important because it gives a voice for workers and gets better wages and conditions for workers
Knights of Labor
- Started in 1869
- Most famous leader of the Knights of Labor was Terrence Powderly
- Allowed all workers of an industry to join
American Federation of Labor
- Started in 1886 and still around today (AFL-CIO)
- Led by Samuel Gompers
- Broken into "craft unions"
Why did labor unions do to get better wages and conditions?
- Strikes-picketing
- Sit-ins
- Violence
Why did labor unions struggle to win strike in the late 1800's and early 1900's?
- All power was in the hands of the owner
- Would simply fire workers and hire immigrants who needed work
- Immigrants had it better in US factories that in Europe
- Would hire strikebreakers to take the place of workers
- Would impose lockouts
- Would blacklist workers
- Workers were called communists or socialists
- Everyone was against the labor unions/workers at first
Labor Day
- Was established as a Federal Holiday by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 after some workers died at the hands of the US Army during the Pullman Strike of 1894
- Cleveland and Congress passed it unanimously to appease labor unions
Comments
The titles of your weekly blogs should be the entire week--October 17-21 for example.