Position of Trade Unions 1865-1992

Question 1

Context 1860-1914 (5)

Answer 1

• Trade Unions smaller + mostly focused on skilled workers in 1865.
• Unskilled workers were not represented in Unions
• No legal enforcement of unions (only small number of craft unions) before 1880
• From 1880 onwards- rise in unskilled blue-collar workers, so early unions began
• Many workplace accidents- 1889, 2000 railroad workers killed- little compensation

Question 2

Trade Union Position 1860-1992 (5)

Answer 2

• Knights of Labor 1869 - Wanted 8hr day, successfully gained 680,000 members following Wabash Railroad Strike
• Haymarket Affair 1886 - Unsuccessful strike in Chicago- ended in violence and 7 policeman deaths (KOL Blamed)
• AFL 1886 - United skilled/unskilled workers, caused some divisions. By 1914 had 2 mill members, less radical than KOL
• Homestead Strike 1892 - ‘Pinkerton detective agency’ broke strike, resulted in fall in membership of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steelworkers (AA)
• Pullman Strike 1894 - Federal troops brought in to manage the strike

Question 3

Context 1914-1945 (3)

Answer 3

• WW1 + Economic Boom = Rise in Union membership (Aside from ‘Red Scare’)
• 1929 Wall Street Crash + Economic Decline –> 1933 New Deal
• WW2 brought back a rise in unions

Question 4

Trade Union Position 1914-1945 (5)

Answer 4

• WW1 - NWLB established 1918 (workers could join unions + collective bargain), 8hr working day applied, 20% wage increase
• BSCP 1925 - Only recognised in 1935, was a black union, helped raise wages from 15 cents/hr to 60 cents/hr
• NIRA+NRA (National Indust. Recov. Act) 1933 - Declared unconstitutional 1935, encouraged co-operation + codes of practice
• Wagner 1935 (NLRA) - permitted union formation, representatives, increased union membership, 1933=3.7mil 1938=9mill
• WW2 - Employers needed to avoid strikes so cooperated w/ unions, number of women working increase 50%, NWLB reestablished.

Question 5

Context 1945-1968 (3)

Answer 5

• After WW2 -> Worries unions = too powerful
• Led to attempts from Gov. to reduce influence of unions
• Union workers earnt 20% more than non

Question 6

Trade Union Position 1945-1968 (3)

Answer 6

• 1945: Waves of strikes focused on keeping wartime wages –> led to concern that unions were too powerful.
• Taft-Hartley Act 1947 - Restricted union activities, made closed shops illegal
• AFL-CIO Unification 1955 - 85% joined, improved trade union unity

Question 7

Context 1969-1992 (3)

Answer 7

• Significant decline in union power with rise of ‘New Right’ ideologies
• Rise in service industry and ‘tech revolution’
• By 1992 11% of US citizens existed below the poverty line.

Question 8

Trade Union Position 1969-1992 (3)

Answer 8

• UFW & Chavez 1972: Salad Bowl Strike and Grape boycotts were successful in achieving higher wages <3
• PATCO Strike 1981: BIG - 11,000/13,000 strikers were fired in 48 hrs. Reagan was strikebreaker
• Phelps-Dodge Strike 1983-6: Union workers lost their jobs, ‘scabs’ brought in following strikes due to declining wages