History of Organized Labor in the United States - Essay Example

History of organized labor in the United States

During the mid-nineteenth century majority of the work being done in America was farm based. However, the dawning of a new millennium brought with its new developments as most places became industrialized and the economy began revolving around the factory. The economy thus changed from subsistence-based one to a market-based economy where people bought goods rather than produced them on a small scale for the household. Canned goods, as well as clothes and other household items, became common phenomena in most industrialized countries. The industrialized life brought with it a set of challenges as people began to look for formal employment in the factories which were also massively recruiting due to their large scale productions ("From the Countryside to the City [Ushistory.Org]"). People began to work for more than ten hours six days per week while the returns were not commensurate with the labor and time being offered to the employees. Children of that age were considered as merely small adults. Thus, they were subjected to conditions that would be deemed to be abusive in these modern days. They were launched into employment as early as eight years of age without discriminating on their age or gender. Inadvertently most missed out on education as they could not balance work and school all at a go. People were overworked beyond what their bodies could handle yet after years of hard labor they would be released without being offered retirement benefits or health benefits. Women who became expectant while at work were simply fired while those who were injured while on duty would not be compensated. Medical coverage was unheard of people’s rights were just nonexistent at work.

Workers began to be discontented with the working conditions and rumors of a revolution were heard as people began to unite quietly to fight their current conditions that were inhumane and dangerous. Though the employees of the time lacked education, money or power, they knew they had a vantage point when it came to numbers since they were many in number and united them could easily overpower their employers. Thus, their bosses having this knowledge of what a united front could potentially do, they did all they could to prevent any associations or unions forming. At times, they resulted to extreme measures in a bid to avoid any union from taking root. Measures such as violence, intimidation and even firing those who were perceived to be the ring leaders were amongst the strategies used b the employers to cut off any form of uprising against them. Therefore, when workers saw that peaceful measures were not fruitful they often resulted in taking up weapons to defend their rights. Many people in America foresaw the tension leading a revolution the only question that lingered was when, where and how it would break forth. It was all determinant on the level of resilience of the poor and mistreated workers, how longer they could stomach the conditions they worked and lived under. Some industrial tycoons began preparing for the long awaited revolution by building fortresses to stand against any upheaval that was coming. John Rockefeller was one of the industrial titans who made for was by building mighty castles as fortresses to guard against any form of war and revolution that was coming ("From the Countryside to The City [Ushistory.Org]").

Unions began taking root in a slow but sure manner. Efforts that were made to form organizations nationwide more often than not experienced great difficulties. Troops were sometimes engaged to help block people’s efforts, and it did not help that the judicial system largely favored the industrial bosses. One of the biggest problems that the unions faced was disagreeing regarding opinions. Some had the radical idea while others were more progressive in their approach towards freedom for their rights. Some of the ideas that developed during this era were Marxism, which was rather extreme in its ideologies with the major proponents being Karl Max. Other workers only wanted to fight for higher wages and more benefits without completely changing the whole system ("Labor History Timeline").

Arguments concerning whether women and African-Americans should be engaged in the Unions often arose. Immigrants were not even considered to be part of the equation as they were handled in a hostile manner with an attitude of seclusion since they were not part of the indigenous people. The only issue that the unions seemed to agree to a large extent on was the preferred eight hours per day working hours.

The benefits of organized labor can be seen today as many workers enjoy better working hours, higher wages, and safer working conditions couples with medical insurance and retirement benefits. People are given several weeks of vacation as well as other benefits such as housing and transport. However going back to the roots we can see that it was not always like this, many lost their lives and jobs in the struggle for better working terms. The fight began in the gilded age when workers took their first step towards unity. The battle began with the great significant upheaval.

The great upheaval began with a ten prevent pay cut. The leaders of the Ohio and Baltimore Company had issued an order to have this reduction in payment a few months after railroad workers in West Virginia and Martinsburg had felt they have had enough. In 1877, July 16th employees in the town decided to drive all engines into a roundhouse and declare boldly that no train was to leave until everyone’s payment was restored. The locals gathered to show their support to the workers who had stricken. It was a massive showdown ("From the Countryside to the City [Ushistory.Org]").

The mayor tried to quench the crowd and stop the workers from carrying through with the strike, but it was in vain. He tried to threaten them, but the crowd mockingly laughed and jeered him. The next move was to involve the local police who were less in number compared to the massive crowd that had gathered, and numbers kept increasing as people streamed in to support the stickers. The mayor turned to the government of West Virginia in desperation rallying for support against the crowd that had gathered. Units were sent in response to the outcry of the mayor; two people were killed, and then the guards lay their weapons down and started chatting with the mass. The last resort was when federal troops were sent by the President despite their trains being harassed and sabotaged along the way ("Labor History Timeline").

The strike went down as one of the small local attacks that were stopped by force. It had a domino effect on other cities as many other people in other towns joined the strike. The army and police clashed with crowds who were infuriated all over America. Wealthy individuals and the employers feared the worst of outcomes since a revolution that seemed to spread like a bush fire was sweeping the nation. As much as the strike spread over the whole country, it came to an end. In some cases the strike was ended through the use of force in others people simply became tired and gave up the cause. People only wanted better treatment and higher wages not to overthrow the government which explains why they gave up so quickly.

Looking from the inside out it may have seemed that the strike failed. However, it did not entirely fail since in most cases workers had their demands met. If they had not acted out, no prediction can be made to the amount of pay cuts that would have continued to be enforced with time. The great upheaval was fast and spontaneous triggered by the pay cut directive. There was no prior planning with shows how many people were discontent with the working conditions and were looking for an opportunity for change to happen. More than a hundred thousand people had gone on strike which resulted in nearly half of the rail systems of the nation being shut down. After the strike had ended, it was recorded that nearly a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand imprisoned for the attack. Losses that were made were significant in number totaling up to millions in damages caused by cars, roundhouses and railway lines. The first major battle was over, but more wars were still underway since people were not fully satisfied with the minimally improved terms of employment ("From the Countryside to the City [Ushistory.Org]").

The lines of battle were clearly drawn after the great upheaval people were either categorized as bosses or workers which brought a lot of dislike between the two groups. As the number of individuals who were self-employed, dwindled workers began to feel they were acquiring more strength in their numbers and started to make more demands on their employees. When the employers rejected these claims, they arranged for schemes and strategies to ensure they won their cases. The managers of factories developed ways of counteracting the strategies of the labors causing the relationship between the two parties to be strained. Sometimes the tension between the two camps resulted in ugly fights and at times, there was just the existence of pressure with the exchange strictly being intellectual.

The workers employed many methods to get their employers attention including strikes, sabotage and boycotts. It would in turn force management to incur many costs and losses that would lead them to accept the worker terms of employment. Strikes grew larger in occurrence and number during this period. When attacks were not successful, workers would employ boycotts to achieve their desired results. Unions would gather support from the townspeople to make the boycott effective by not buying the goods the factories produced until their pay was increased as demanded. This method usually worked for small communities where companies were dependent on the business of groups of people who were close in proximity. Desperate times called for desperate measures thus when all else had failed workers would use sabotage which was illegal. They would destroy the factories’ equipment, and occasionally when caught by the supervisor they would result in violence.

The management’s response to the above strategies was enacting a lockout when the company had high inventory. The bosses would tell their workers not to bother to show up for work unless they agreed to a pay cut. It was a form of a reverse strike. In other instances, the managers would force their new employees to sign an oath where they swore never to be involved in a union or be part of any of its activities ("From the Countryside to the City [Ushistory.Org]"). Strikes were counteracted in different ways sometimes resulting to violence for workers who dared to cross the picket line during a strike. The strikebreakers hired by the bosses would then lead to violence of any given measure to stop the attack from continuing.

In the 19th century, the government would never side with Unions usually they sided with the managers and bosses of the industries. The courts were also biased as they favored the directors after being persuaded by the chiefs to issue injunctions declaring the strikes illegal. After the directives were issued anyone who would continue in the attack would be imprisoned. When these efforts failed to break any given strike the government would step in and send militia to regulate the strike as was experienced during the great upheaval. In the entire struggle, the goals of labor that workers hoped to achieve were better working conditions and higher wages. Although the managers had the upper hand, the unions still fulfilled their purpose in the long run as experienced in current times (Surowiecki).

Appendix

Great upheaval; a movement that was widely portrayed as a violent rebellion that took place in the e 19th century in protest of the poor working conditions that workers experienced.

Union; an organization that has been formed to represent a larger group of people and to achieve a particular goal.

Gilded age; the late 19th century was ranging from the 1870s to around 1900.