Labour Rights

Question 0

Who was William H Sylvis?

Answer 0

Set up the national labor union - 1866

Question 1

What was the condition of labour rights at the beginning of the period?

Answer 1

Union and labour rights limited to what workers could negotiate.
Small, skilled, closed shop unions.
Employers under no legal obligation to recognise labour unions.

Question 2

What was the extent of effect of the NLU?

Answer 2

The NLU began a failed strike in 1867 but was gone first union to experience larger membership
300,000 members-1868
1869 NLU died as Sylvis died.

Question 3

What happened to the workforce of the USA in the early period?

Answer 3

The workforce saw the rise of the low skilled, low wage worker due to the rise of industrialisation.
The arrival of old immigrants from Europe, especially Irish Catholics.

Question 4

How were employers able to exploit the changing work conditions?

Answer 4

Immigrants were kore willing to take on dirty and dangerous jobs and there were many new workers to fill the jobs of the old ones.
Employers used a contract system which allowed workers to be laid off whenever benefitted employers.

Question 5

What was the main trade union which arose out of the changes in the nature of industry?

Answer 5

The Knights of Labor -1869
Gained momentum when Terence v. Powderly became its leader.
Powderly aimed to unite skilled and unskilled labour and benefitted from the fall of the NLU.

Question 6

What were the main victories of the KOL?

Answer 6

Successful strike in 1885 which spurred on membership
1881 - 20,000 members
1886 - 700,000 members

Question 7

Why did the KOL fail.

Answer 7

The 1886 haymarket affair ruined the reputation of the KOL.

Question 8

After the KOL what new organisation was set up.

Answer 8

The American Federation of Labor - 1886

Question 9

Who led the AFL?

Answer 9

Samuel Gompers
Argued that workers had to secure their rights through legislative means and the bargaining power of workers.
Had support of leading businessmen such as T. P Morgan.
Gompers did however support the use of strike action.

Question 10

What Union is an example of a militant union?

Answer 10

The Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) - 1905
Stood for the rights of poor and illiterate workers
Fell in 1924 due to internal divisions
Regarded with general suspicion by employers.

Question 11

What is an example of early violent protest? What were the effects if this?

Answer 11

The haymarket affair - 1886
Caused suspicion and animosity towards trade unions and new immigrants.
Exacerbated already existing tensions between white Protestant skilled workers and other workers.

Question 12

What was the workforce divided between over the course of the period?

Answer 12

Gender
Race
Culture
Language 
Nationality
Skilled and unskilled (white v blue collar)

Question 13

How did the workforce become more divided at the beginning of the period?

Answer 13

The arrival of old immigrants - willing to take on dirty and dangerous jobs as they needed the money. Fear if dismissal made low skilled workers afraid to attempt to unite against employers.
As more immigrants entered the United States skilled white workers began to see new low skilled immigrants as a threat to their bargaining power so refused entry to their unions. Admittance refusal was a serious barrier to solidarity and weakened the position of union leaders as they struggled to gain recognition of labour rights.
Suspicion that immigrants stirred violent culture amongst workers.
Confirmed by haymarket affair 1886, molly maguires 1873, homestead strike 1892.

Question 14

How did Federal government impede the progression of labour rights in the early period.

Answer 14

The federal government had a policy called laissez faire capitalism.
Laissez faire capitalism allowed big business to form monopolies over certain industries and made employers very powerful.
The law at this time as also partial to the employers as shown to some extent by Lochner v. New York (1905) which declared a maximum 10 hour day unconstitutional.

Question 15

What was the effect of big business formed due to laissez faire capitalism

Answer 15

Employers were very powerful which allowed them to cut wages, raise working hours, and lay off workers without warning.

Question 16

What were some significant strikes in the 1890s? What did they demonstrate?

Answer 16

The homestead strike - 1892
Amalgamated association of iron and steel workers (AA)
Demonstrated the lenience of the law and the power of employers.
Broke entire industry’s unions
Other employers in other industries became nervous of accepting worker unionisation.
The Pullman strike - 1894
American railway union (militant) helped Pullman workers to strike. Strike broken by contract technicalities and by federal government intervention by invoking legislation.
Pullman strike highlighted the resistance to collectively bargaining as a right. Also how far federal government was willing to go suppress assertion of labour rights. First time law has been invoked to break a strike.

Question 17

What was the position of labour rights by 1914?

Answer 17

Trade union membership increasing:
1910 - 2 million members
1920 - 5 million members
Still a number of non unionised significant industries such as steel and textiles

Question 18

What did Woodrow Wilson do for labour rights?

Answer 18

New department of labor - 1913

Clayton antitrust act - 1914 - limited use of court injunctions to stop striking workers.

Question 19

What did federal government do to break monopolies?

Answer 19

Sherman anti trust act - 1890 outlawed business trusts.

Question 20

What was the impact of world war 1?

Answer 20

Racial tensions in the workplace increased as African Americans immigrated north.
1914-‘18. - factory production increased by 35%. Real wages increased by 20%.
National war labour board set up - no strike action during the war period but recognised rights of workers to join unions and right to collective bargaining.
Union membership increased: 2.7 million 1916 -> 5 million 1920

Question 21

What defined the 1920s for labour rights?

Answer 21

1920 - economic prosperity and the rise of giant corporations.
Welfare capitalism - Henry ford doubled daily wage to $5
Yellow dog contracts - prevented unionising and striking to maintain the period of economic prosperity.

Question 22

Why did the period of economic prosperity end what was the effect?

Answer 22

The prosperity ended in 1929 with the Wall Street crash.
Unemployment rose from 3% in 1929 to 25% in 1933.
The power of employers was high only 10% of the workforce was unionised and sacking of striking workers was common.

Question 23

How did the period of economic downturn end?

Answer 23

With the new deal 1933-36.

Question 24

What did the new deal do?

Answer 24

The new deal 1933-6 was a multiple pronged deal. 1. National industry recovery act - 1933 - established the national recovery administration (NRA) - impact limited, employers such as Henry ford refused to sign the NRA 2. National labor relations (Wagner) act (1935) - recognised right of workers to elect their own representatives to collectively bargain with employers. - gave workers the right to join unions and to collectively bargain. Closed shops permitted, blacklisting agitators banned. - set up the national labor relations board (NLRB) had the power to bargain collectively on behalf of workers.

Question 25

What was the effect of the Wagner act?

Answer 25

Trade union membership rose : 3.7 million 1933 to 9 million 1938 The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) - 1937, was set up to unite the mass production industry.

Question 26

What was the effect of the Second World War?

Answer 26

The Second World War tipped the balance in the favour of the workers as their work was crucial to the continuation of the war effort. The national war labour board - 1941 was set up to adjudicate wage disputes. Wage rises boosted average industrial earnings by 70%. Union membership rose dramatically from 8.9 million 1940 to 14.8 million 1945. During the war strike action was prohibited, right to work laws and a 30 day strike action notice were all put in place in order to ensure war time production remained high.

Question 27

What were the after effects of the world war?

Answer 27

Due to the overbearing power of the unions the Taft-Hartley act 1947 was established. Diminished the power of unions to some extent - established 60 day cooling off period and made right to work laws legal. Female labour increased by 50% in the workforce and highlighted the further divisions in the workforce.

Question 28

What happened in the 50s to affect labour rights?

Answer 28

Rapid technological shift introduced a new division into the workforce: blue collar (manual) v white collar (professional) Women enter the workforce due the rise of the service industry. Level of complacency amongst trade unions as wage levels were at their highest in some time and average working week was just 40 hours. AFL-CIO merger 1955 - response to divisions, greater solidarity needed within the labour movement.

Question 29

What happened in the 60s and why?

Answer 29

As a response to the increasingly obvious racial injustice and alarming poverty in areas such as Harlem, Kennedy had a policy of a new frontier however, as labour was becoming more relevant to politics republicans in congress who vehemently opposed the increasing power of trade unions blocked him however Kennedy was able to pass the equal pay act 1963. Johnson's new society also concentrated on removing injustice and the civil rights act 1964, economic opportunity act 1964 and age discrimination in employment act 1968 had many positive connotations for much of the workforce.

Question 30

What gains did unions make in the 1960s?

Answer 30

Made some steady gains Wages rise by 2% per year. Union workers earned around 20% more than their non unionised counterparts.

Question 31

What evidence is there that the labour movement was in decline by the end of the 1960-70 period?

Answer 31

With the republicans in congress the organised labour movement came under scrutiny which would result in new government regulation such as the Landrum-griffin act 1959. The Vietnam war divided unions to some extent and Walter Reuther of the UAW led a revolt against the AFL-CIO for supporting the war. With the increasing relevancy of the labour movement to federal politics the solidarity of the movement became very vulnerable to swings in the political environment as was seen in 1947 with the Taft Hartley act when the republicans took control of congress.

Question 32

What was the position of the labour movement at the end of the period?

Answer 32

Towards the end of the period the power of the unions fell dramatically. 1981 - air traffic controllers strike. The response of the government led to a redefinition of labour relations in the US. Strike action plummeted 1980 - 187 strikes 1985 - 54 strikes. Indicative that positive attitudes, high power and influence of unions were closing. 1970: 27.3% of work force unionised 1990 : 16.1% of work force unionised. A new wave of Asian immigrants only served to exacerbate already existing tensions between the workforce.