What was the role of labor unions during the Industrial Revolution?
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The changing face of labor and labor unionsBy Jack Lillich As we celebrate Labor Day, it is a good time to consider how labor and labor unions have changed and need to change. They need to change because the needs of American workers continue to evolve. A good example begins with my wife's grandfather. Horace Washington Heath was a lithographer and supervisor in a print shop in the early 1900s in Rochester, N.Y. When the workers decided to strike for better pay and improved working conditions, he stood side-by-side with them on the picket lines. Work stopped, and the shop closed. Heath, who was not a union member, never worked as a lithographer or supervisor again. Blacklisted, he remained unemployed for about 10 years and finally found employment working for his son-in-law as a part-time carpenter. By World War II, though, unions had evolved to protect these workers. As a result, by 1954 organized labor membership encompassed 35 percent of the work force, according to the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. Since that peak in membership, there has been a dramatic shift in the kinds of jobs that are represented by a union. For example, government workers who belong to a union far exceed the number in the private sector. Last year, 36 percent of government workers belonged to a union, compared to about 8 percent of private sector workers, such as those in the manufacturing, service and retail businesses. This is but one of the changes that has unions in disarray. It has created a rift within the AFL-CIO. In fact, the group promoting change calls itself the Change-to Win-Coalition. It includes five powerful AFL-CIO member unions: SEIU, UNITE HERE, the Laborers, Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers. Yet the flip side of change is opportunity. Until the past few decades, labor unions were in constant change, as their history attests. The American labor movement goes back to late 1800s when the industrial revolution took hold, and factory jobs for skilled and unskilled laborers were plentiful but working conditions were terrible. The first recognized national labor organization was the Knights of Labor. Founded among garment cutters in Philadelphia in 1869, it had a stated goal of an eight-hour workday. Within a few years, its membership reached 750,000. It grew because it met a critical need. But jobs and demographics continued to change. The Knights then were replaced by the American Federation of Labor, or AFL, which was founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886 and represented only skilled laborers. It started with about 140,000 workers. By 1900, the union had about 1 million members. They even won a day to honor the worker. In 1894 Labor Day became a national holiday. At the time, unemployment was high and hours were long. In 1914, the unions successfully pushed Congress to pass the Clayton Act that stated, "the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce." The act legalized strikes and boycotts, which, in that era, had a profound effect on business. Not everyone welcomed the change. In 1935, John L. Lewis announced the creation of the Committee for Industrial Organization, or CIO. More importantly, that same year the Wagner Act to protect workers' right to unionize was passed by Congress. This act made the AFL and CIO more powerful and membership soared, but the two groups fought over jurisdiction. In 1955 — following one of the highest membership years in the history of organized labor — the groups recognized that change was once again needed to adapt to a highly mobile, manufacturing-based post-World War II era. They decided they needed to join forces and the AFL-CIO was born. The unions worked to meet the needs of that day, tackling benefit issues, such as health-care insurance, vacation and holiday hours, and the work environment. Since then, we've experienced profound change, but unions have been slow to adapt. Not surprisingly, membership in labor unions has been in a steady decline. In 1983, the percentage of Indiana workers belonging to a union dropped to 24.9 percent. From 1994 to 2004, that figure dropped to 11.8 percent, according to U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. If labor unions are to survive, the leaders must embrace the challenges of today's knowledge economy. Products can be made anywhere, but brain power can't be outsourced. Unions need to help workers, then advance and continue their educations. They can add value by tackling the causes behind rising health-care costs. They can address concerns about companies that chronically understaff and by protecting the rights of temporary employees. The future of labor unions calls for the same thing that made them great: the ability to adapt to a changing world. Lillich is a professor emeritus of organizational leadership and supervision at Purdue University's College of Technology, is a member of the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board and serves as an arbitrator and mediator for organizations. To the News Service home page What were labor unions during the Industrial Revolution?Labor unions are large groups of workers, usually in a similar trade or profession, that join together to protect the workers' rights. The Industrial Revolution was a time when national labor unions began to form in the United States.
What was the role of labor unions?Unions have historically formed to ensure fair wages, benefits and better working conditions for their members. They negotiate with businesses and governments on behalf of employees, who either work a particular type of job or in a particular industry.
How did the Industrial Revolution affect unions?The concentration of workers in factories, mines, and mills facilitated the development of trade unions during the Industrial Revolution. After the initial decades of political hostility towards organized labor, skilled male workers emerged as the early beneficiaries of the labor movement.
What were the 3 main goals of labor unions?Labor unions historically sought to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions and reasonable work schedules for union workers in a specific area of work.
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