Key Facts About Labor Unions, Key Facts About Labor Unions, Labor Laws, and Labor StrikesLabor Laws, and Labor Strikes

The Knights of Labor

• Terence V. Powderly, 1886

• Grew rapidly because of a combination of open membership policy, the continuation of industrialization, and the growth of urban population

• Knights welcomed unskilled and semiskilled workers, including women, immigrants, and African Americans

• Had an ideal vision that they could eliminate conflict between labor and management

– Believed labor should own industries

• Haymarket Square Bombing signaled end of Knights influence

The Industrial Workers of the World

• IWW was led by “Mother” Jones, Big Bill Haywood, and Eugene Debs

• Strove to unite all laborers, including unskilled workers

• IWW’s motto was “an injury to one is an injury to all”

– “One Big Union”

• IWW endorsed violent tactics and class conflict (unlike Knights of Labor)

• Never as big as Knights, collapsed during WWI

The American Federation of Labor

• Led by Samuel Gompers

• An alliance of skilled workers in craft unions

• Concentrated on bread and butter issues such as higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions

– Most conservative of early labor unions

– Did not support unions for women and African-Americans

Great Railroad Strike, 1877

• Considered the first general strike in American history

• Paralyzed the nation’s commerce for 45 days

• Governors in 10 states forced to use state militia to reopen rail traffic

Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890

• This act forbade unreasonable combinations or contracts in restraint of trade

• Little immediate impact

– Actually used against labor unions

• Act declared illegal “every contract, combination in the form of trust, or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade among the several states”

Homestead Strike, 1892

• Strike began as a dispute between iron and steel workers union (AA) and Carnegie Steel Company

• AA refused to accept pay cuts and went on strike in Homestead, PA

• Strike culminated in a battle between strikers and private security guards hired by the company (Pinkertons)

Pullman Strike, 1894

• Late 19th century characterized by a number of violent strikes

– Two best known were Homestead, 1892 and Pullman, 1894

• Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages but maintained rents and prices in a company town of 12,000, workers struck

• Pullman Strike halted a substantial portion of American rail commerce

• Strike ended when President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to Chicago (injunction) to crush the strike (protection of interstate commerce)

Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902

• This was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania

• It was arbitrated with the active involvement of President Theodore Roosevelt; this marked the first time the federal government intervened in a labor dispute as a neutral arbitrator

The Wagner Act of 1935

• AKA the National Labor Relations Act

• Often referred to as the Magna Carta of Labor because it ensured workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively

• Passage of the act led to a dramatic rise in labor union membership

Congress of Industrial Workers

• Led by John L. Lewis

• Organized unskilled and semiskilled workers in basic manufacturing industries such as steel and automobiles

• Split between AFL and CIO

– AFL favored organization based on skills and trades

– CIO favored organization of all workers in a particular industry

Taft-Hartley Act, 1947

• Primary purpose was to curb the power of labor unions

• Supporters of Taft-Hartley believed the following:

– Unions were abusing their powers

– Widespread strikes would endanger the nation’s vital defense industries

– Some labor leaders had been infiltrated by communists

– Employers were being coerced into hiring union workers

• Organized labor opposed the Taft-Hartley Act

• Passed over President Truman’s veto

United Farm Workers

• Organized and led by Cesar Chavez (Chavez is best-known Latino civil rights activist)

• Union of farm workers

• Tactics used by Chavez included hunger strikes

• Most farmworkers were Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans