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Industrial Revolution
Going from hand production to machines, iron production processes, improved water power, and the use of steam power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system. However, life for the poor and working classes continued to be challenging. Wages for those who labored in factories were low and working conditions could be dangerous. Children were part of the labor and often worked long hours and were used for tasks such as cleaning the machinery. -
Civil War
The Civil War was a war over issues of labor ad how to use land. Homesteading was a key demand of northerns an freed slaves, most northerners wanted ownersip of the land. -
American Federation of Labor
Every member of the A.F. of L. was a skilled worker. Samuel Gompers wasn't going to unite the entire working class. Tradespeople were in greater demand and already earned higher wages than the other unskilled workers. He knew that the A.F. of L. would have more political and economic power if unskilled workers were excluded. He served as president of the union every year except one until his death in 1924. -
Homestead Strike
Andrew Carnegie the owner of Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel, was determined to lower its costs of production by breaking the union. A bloody battle by the steel plant's management remain a transformational moment in U.S. history that hasn't full healed. -
McKees Rock Strike
Known as the turning point for immigrant workers. The strike took place at the Pressed Steel Car Company plant in McKees Rock, a few miles down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. There were between 5,000 and 8,000 mostly immigrant workers from some 16 nationalities created railway cars. -
The Steel Strike
After years of long hours, low wages, harassment and poor working conditions, the strikers shut down almost half of the country's steel industry. The strike lasted from September 1919 to January 1920. -
The Railroad Shop Workers Strike
The walkout strarted off when the Railroad Labor Board cut wages for railroad shop workers by seven cents. Rather than negotiate, the railroad companies replaced three-quarters of the strikers with nonunion workers. -
Right to Work Law
Right-to-work laws are statutes in a number of states in the United States that prohibit union agreements or agreements between employers and labor unions. -
World War 2
The Second World War was the most widespread and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries and resulting in more than 50 million military and civilian deaths. After World War 2 more than 12 million workers belonged to unions, and collective bargaining had taken hold throughout the industrial economy -
National Labor Relations Law
National Labor Relations Act closed shops, businesses in which every employee was required to be part of the union and pay dues, that was no longer legal. This left individual states free to pass laws that prohibited requiring employees in a unionized business to pay dues. -
Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Law
This act guarantees certain rights to union members and imposes certain responsibilities on union officers to ensure union democracy, financial integrity and transparency.
