Introduction
Times after the Civil War and Reconstruction in the US brought the Second Industrial Revolution to the country. It brought factories and people willing to work there, despite the harsh conditions and low payment. Workers tried to organize the Labor Unions to resist the unfair treatment by the business owners and government officials. However, authorities had much power that allowed them to suppress strikes and other organized activities directed at improving the work conditions at the US factories.
Reasons for Labor Unions
The end of the nineteenth century in the US was characterized by the Second Industrial Revolution and the construction of numerous factories all over the country. Such conditions led to the emergence of the Robber Barons, the wealthy entrepreneurs who used their money and influence to build their business empires. Among those influential figures were famous J.D. Rockefeller, A. Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan (Maryville University, n.d.). They gladly hired thousands of workers at low wages to create as much profit as possible. Immigrants, unskilled laborers, and poor Americans saw the machinery development in US as their opportunity to work hard and provide for their families. However, since people were willing to tolerate uncomfortable conditions, working in industries often meant twelve-hour shifts, no breaks, and low wages (16mm, 2016). The employees observed the unprecedented concentration of wealth in the hands of a few businessmen. In their opinion, it threatened not only the decent working conditions but the democratic nature of American society (Freeman, 2020). The only acceptable strategy for the laborers was to create a union organization to resist the unfair treatment of the bosses and authorities collectively.
Labor Unions
The purpose of Labor Unions is to concentrate the power of separate employees to state their requirements regarding the work conditions and wages. The most known organizations of such type in the US during the end of the nineteenth century were the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor (AFL) (History.com, 2020). The former promised its members a radical labor change leading to a permanent improvement in the working conditions. The organization did not cooperate much with the US government and acted mostly through strikes. The Knights of Labor was inclusionary for their time, allowing African Americans and women to join (Freeman, 2020). The main requirements were directed at the basic needs for the employees to have enough money and rest time for a decent lifestyle. The AFL was based on the trade union members and concentrated on job-conscious goals (History.com, 2020). The organization was pragmatic politically, banned Black and female members, and supported negotiations with the authority representatives (Freeman, 2020). Despite millions of people all over the country supporting them, the labor unions were not effective at the end of the nineteenth century.
Factors that Made Strikes Unsuccessful
Most of the union leaders and members were not educated in the sphere of politics, economics, and debates. Despite the noble intentions of helping the employees, the methods of striking did not work in a society with wealth concentrated in the hands of several businessmen and their tight governmental connections (16 mm, 2016). Many people needed the jobs, so the employees did not hesitate to replace those not content with the working condition with newcomers. Robber Barons and other influential figures were confident in their resources to control the crowd and bend its behavior in whichever direction they found desirable. Also, the wealthy families of the US at the end of the nineteenth century firmly believed in the fairness of the social division during their time.
The union members saw the wealth gap in the US society and expressed aggression toward the upper class. In their turn, the business owners asked the government for help to maintain order in the streets. Since politicians often had shares in businesses and were interested in achieving the highest levels of profits possible, they involved state militias in suppressing the strikes (16 mm, 2016). That created more hatred among the workers toward their government but did not lead to radical reforms.
Another factor that made Labor Unions weak was segregation and division within the organization. Skilled workers often did not support those without similar education and experience, racial and national conflicts happened, and sexist connotations prevented females from being accepted in all the organizations (History.com, 2020). The inner disagreements distracted the leaders’ attention from focusing on the working class in general and improving every employees’ job conditions. This significantly decreased the early Labor Unions power when trying to adjust the national laws and regulations.
Conclusion
Despite the significant progress in providing jobs and business development during the Second Industrial Revolution in the US, many employees were forced to work unreasonably long shifts at the factories for a low payment. The Labor Unions were created to demand the appropriate job conditions for the laborers. Despite many efforts, they did not achieve the better factory conditions at the end of the nineteenth century. The wealthy business owners and politicians were not interested in improving the working conditions and had enough power to suppress the labor movements.
References
16mm Educational Films. (2016). The rise of Labor Unions. YouTube. Web.
Freeman, J. (2020). The history of Labor in the US. US Department of State. Web.
History.com. (2020). Labor movement. Web.
Maryville University. (n.d.). America’s Gilded Age: Robber Barons and Captains of industry. Web.