That Union Thing

Origins of the Labor Movement...Part 4: Into the 20th Century

In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was formed. Under it’s first president, Samuel Gompers, it worked toward organizing for union representation, toward collective bargaining, and gave support to striking workers. Its formation came at a time of changing attitudes toward support for workers over business interests...many felt that business controlled the government. This was also the time of the formation of the Populist Party.

Unions faced an uphill battle. The 1894 Pullman Railway Strike was a good example of the problems workers faced. When Pullman cut wages by 25%, violence in Chicago and sympathy strikes in 27 states ensued. Any train that carried a Pullman car was the target of a boycott. However, the government declared the strike a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act (which prohibited restraint of trade), citing impeded mail service and interstate commerce, and the courts ordered injunctions against the strike and boycott and imprisoned leaders of the strike.

In an effort to maintain "industrial peace," the National Civic Federation was formed in 1898 with representatives of labor (such as Gompers), business (such as John D. Rockefeller and Charles M. Schwab) and civic leaders (such as President Cleveland and Archbishop Ireland). Finally in 1914 the Clayton Act declared unions no longer subject to antitrust laws.

During WWI, strikes and lockouts would have been detrimental to the war effort, so in an effort to avoid them, President Wilson in 1918 created the National War Labor Board to settle disputes. In exchange for no strikes during the war, workers were given the right to organize for union representation and collective bargaining without interference. This was to foreshadow laws that would eventually be enacted to permanently protect workers’ rights to union representation.

Union News From AFL-CIO Work in Progress

AN EDUCATED WIN—Organizing for a stronger voice on the job, a majority of 373 faculty members at Jacksonville Community College voted for American Federation of Teachers last week. The unit will be part of the United Faculty Federation, a joint AFT-National Education Association affiliate.

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