Trade Union Movement

Trade Union Movement
5th period BLOG

*The Reconstruction period was intended to aid the south and also to reunite the Union and the Confederacy after the Civil War. Reconstruction ended in 1877, and even though the United States was by large an agricultural nation, it was now on the rise of becoming very well developed. Large cities and commercial areas were now rising and progressing not only in the Union, but also in the Confederacy. Urban populations were increasing rapidly and more Americans now preferred to live in the cities rather than on farms. Americans were drawn in by the cities technical and architectural progression, also by the fact that it was easier to find jobs in the city. But as they settled they were faced with city troubles such as poverty, corruption, and crime. Workers were becoming upset because they soon realized that even though they were the ones working hard in harsh environments, the owners of the companies were the ones to reap the profit. Because of this national trade unions were developed. Trade unions were used by workers to get certain work conditions that they wanted.
*Unions were built for the people, but sometimes they did not do things they promised. The trade union movement in the post-Civil War era was not all the way successful. Unions were not one hundred percent successful because, though they were able to organize they were not able to meet every goal that they set out to meet. By 1872 there were thirty two national unions. These unions represented different crafts as bricklayers to typewriters andmore. There were three major unions in the late nineteenth century, The National Labor Union (NLU), The Knights of Labor, and The American Federation of Labor (AFL). Because the unions were not able to meet all of their goals and promises, different strikes and riots took place.
*The NLU was formed in 1866 and consisted of six hundred thousand members. The goals of the NLU were to organize workers no matter of their race or gender, to accept the skilled and unskilled, higher wages, and the eight-hour work day. The normal work day was ten hours or more. One of the goals of the NLU was to lower that to eight hours. They did meet this goal and as a result the federal employees were able to work eight hour shifts. Another goal that was made and met by the NLU was that they did not discriminate against the unskilled or inexperienced workers, and they allowed both the skilled and unskilled workers into the union. This leaves two goals that were not met, no racial and discrimination and higher wages. Even though the NLU stated that they did not discriminate against the blacks or the whites, they did discriminate against the Chinese. Therefore they did have some racial discrimination. And as far as higher wages, when the depression hit so did wage reduction in 1877. Due to these wage reductions many riots were set off leaving the federal troops putting them to an end. Just as the riots were put to an end, so was the NLU. The NLU lasted for six years.
*The Knights of Labor promoted basically the same goals as the NLU but in addition the were in support of producers, (those who jobs involved manual labor) and they did not want to get tied up in political controversy. As I said before the Knights of Labor was similar to the NLU, one of the ways that they were similar was the fact that the also fought for the eight-hour work day. And with the help of their leader Terrence V. Powderly, they won this campaign. The fought to protect their workers, but that did not stop the many brawls and violent rioting that took place. This union tried to walk out on jobs that were not providing working conditions that they wanted. This did not work because the employers sought out “scabs.” Scabs would replace the workers who were on strict and often work for less than the previous employee would. This damaged this union because they were now out of jobs. Another down fall of the Knights of Labor was the Haymarket Square episode. Labor disorder took place along with a bombing. In this bombing many were injured and even killed including police officers. The Knights of Labor did not meet all of its set out goals. One reason they did not meet all of its goals is because they lost jobs to scabs. Also because after that bombing, they had to get involved in politics. As a result of the Knights of Labor not being able to meet these goals they were also unsuccessful.
*The American Federation of Labor (also referred to as AFL and the AF of L). Out of the three this was on of the better three and became even more popular during the twentieth. But during the time of the trade union it was also popular. It was one of the better unions because it set goals that were realistic and reasonable. Samuel Gompers, the leader of the AFL, set goals such as fairer share for labor, better working conditions wages and hours along with the authorization of all union labor. The AFL consisted of carpenters, bricklayers, and other skilled craftsmen. But as far as unskilled workers, women, and blacks, the AFL did not really support them and left them to fend for themselves. This was its downfall. They should have been for everyone.
*Due to the Civil War, Labor unions came into play. Workers were frustrated with the fact that they had to work in horrible conditions for long hours and the owners were the ones to reap the profit, and as a result to this they turned to the unions. The unions set up goals to get the workers what they wanted. Though some of the goals were met by the NLU, Knights of Labor, and the AFL, none of these unions were one hundred percent successful. Therefore the trade union movement was not successful.