Early American Labor Unions essays

Early American Labor Unions essays Subsequent to the Civil War, the Second Industrial Revolution occurred, bringing in swarms of immigrants who consented to procure factory jobs with minimal pay. Radical ideas concerning labor were formed in Europe over time, and the immigrants assimilated those ideas into the American Labor System. Organized labor from 1875 to the end of the century was relatively successful, given that it is viewed as a beginning to a new form of workers influence. Such success though was not achieving without sacrifice and drudgery; for there were innumerous challenges and difficulties faced during the fight for employees rights. A large factor in the outcome of this so-called revolution was the opinion of the American people. As stated in the New York Times, the people were pro-strikers when on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. Some though were suspicious of the true meaning of these unions. Nasts cartoon inversely depicts the strikers as communists, trying to undermine capitalism thus challenging the accepted thought of the times. The Gospel of Wealth theory at this junction was also popular. It assumed that those willing to work could make it big, and the poor were in such state due to their lack of effort. In even greater lengths to spoil the plight of labor unions, the latter was associated with socialism as well as anarchy in a cartoon depicted by Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper. Despite the fact most unions collapsed (Knights, NLU, and ARU) during rough times, their demise was not in vain. After the Railroad strike of 1877 employers were made to think thoroughly and carefully before negatively tampering with wages. A pre-Civil War demand or a 10 hour work day was almost achieved. The AFL survived the depressions of the 1890s and by 1901 encompassed 1/3 of workers. Pension plans were provided by a number of large corporate companies such as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads. The Second Industria...