When big businesses boomed and the second industrial revolution came about in the 19th century, industrial workers carried the burden for industry to be successful, but suffered exploitation, dangerous working conditions, long hours, and very low wages. While major factory and business owners would make millions a year, the average worker made $400-$500 a year, barely enough to survive. Workers knew that without uniting under one body they had no chance to stand up to the powerful and wealthy owners. This brought about the age of unionization.
One of the first major unions, Knights of Labor, wanted to unit both skilled and unskilled workers to maximize the manpower of strikes and the effectiveness of protests, but the major problem with that idea was that there were too many conflicting ideas between skilled and unskilled workers. Also, many strikes were unsuccessful and ineffective because unskilled workers were easily replaced. The mass population of immigrants and lower class citizens who needed work made unskilled work very easy to fill.
The bosses and workers faced the struggle of who should control the workplace and hours. Owners wanted workers to work,long hard hours doing the same task to maximize effectiveness and the production of products. Company towns emerged out of the need owners had to control their workers. They were towns that surrounded factories so that the owner men could control everything (Pullman town:example).
The first unions were largely unpopular among the public because they challenged individuality and the believe that hard work lead to success and poverty was due to lack thereof. The violent strikes did not look favorable for the workers either. Later unions, like the AFL, were less radical and did not challenge the ideas of capitalism, making them more appealing to the public. AFL wanted 8 hour work day, safety, and they focused on skilled workers who were valuable. They were one of the most successful labour organization because their reach never exceed its grasp. AFL looked to gain achievable things people would support.
What do unions look like today? Are they similar in desires and are they more or less effective at achieving their goals?
On current union seen today is Actors Equity Association, also known as just Equity. They have over 50,000 members and are governed by a democracy. They have similar goals as they did at their founding in 1913, they negotiate wages, working conditions and provide health and pension benefits. They are more effective at achieving their goals now than they were then because of how widely accepted it is in the industry. Almost all actors are a part of equity which makes it so successful.
ReplyDeleteI think that in general, today's unions such as the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) are still guided towards general goals of improving working conditions that are realistic similar to what the AFL tried to do. However, in my opinion, the goals of today's unions are much greater than those of older worker unions, and this is most likely due to the fact that over time, the rights of workers have gotten better drastically, which is why they are starting to ask for more things. For example, even though labor unions during the early 20th century fought for fewer working hours and higher wages (which are still fought for in some of today's unions), many current unions are fighting for health care, benefits, and paid maternal leave, which were all mostly unheard of when labor unions first started being created. So, even though both the older and more current labor unions shared similar goals in terms of worker's rights, because these rights are much more valued in today's society, people are able to ask for more from their employers and get it more easily, which is clear through the drastic differences in working conditions between today and the early 20th century.
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