Labor Union's Role In The Industrial Revolution

Labor Unions are essential to our society because it gives the workers the rights that they need to be able to be safe, fair wages, and rights in the workforce for the employee. The first record of labor unions began around, “1619 The first labor strike on American soil was organized and staged by Polish workers and artisans in Jamestown” (AFL-CIO). The more commonly know strike happened in New York, which happened in 1787. The workers were protesting fair wages for their labor and not to be underpaid for their hard labor. Between the years of 1791, though 1847 they had New Hampshire, Lowell Female Labor Reform Association, and Philadelphia were advocating and protesting for a ten-hour day. It took years before this would become a law in Hampshire
In the Industrial Revolution, it was a turning point for the Unions. “Between 1860 and 1910 the population of the US tripled, and so too did the industrial workforce. New types of commercial enterprise sprung up to stand alongside the pre-Civil War textile factories.” (PBS) During this time period, working conditions did not improve and the demand for workers was at an all-time high. In 1869 the Knights of Labor union was formed and got national attention and was one of the largest unions of that time period. Unfortunately, these movements were short-lived after a bomb exploded in 1886 and killed people and police officers. The union got a bad reputation and the people wanted nothing to do with the union. “Samuel Gompers in 1886 and acting as a national federation of unions for skilled workers, that the labor movement became a real force to be reckoned with and took on more of the shape we see today.” (PBS) Labor Unions started to be advocates for the working men, women, and children for better environments, hours, safely, wages, and so much more. The unions hoped to achieve it by protesting, exclusion, and to show their value to their
This act established the 40-hour work week and made employers pay at time and a ½ time for every hour that was more than the 40 hours during a week. This was beneficial to the employee and was a turning point for the people who worked extremely long hours with no extra pay for their time. This act also set the minimum wage to be .35ct and hour. I think this is one of the most important legislative labor acts that was made at that current time period because it gives the power back into the employee’s hands. Another legislative act is the “Norris-LaGuardia Act” which happened in 1932. This act prevented employers from Yellow dogging their employees, so they wouldn't join a union. It also prevented company union, which was a fake union to make workers feel like they were apart of a union that really didn't exist. Lastly, stopped giving the employers the right to injunction their employees from joining unions. One of the labor legislation that took power away from the workers, which was the “Taft-Hartly Act” in 1947. Which made the worker not able to join a union after the worker joined the company. It replaced it with Union shop and it made stops with the exclusion