position of trade unions and organised labour

Question 1

unions and labour fought for

4 points

Answer 1

1. right of unions to exist and be legally recognised
2. right to negotiate pay and working conditions
3. establishment of systems for mediation
4. right of workers to withdraw labour without punishment

Question 2

position of unions and labour in 1865

7 points

Answer 2

1. rights depended on what they could negotiate with employers
2. could be exploited. had no protection
3. unions represented skilled workers in craft industries
4. new industries e.g. steel no protection
5. workers could be laid off easily
6. few safety precautions
7. injured at work received little support

Question 3

unions in the late 19th century

8 points

Answer 3

1. growth in industrialisation = growth in unions
   1869 Knights of Labor KOL
   1886 American Federation of Labor AFL
2. KOL 1886 membership 700,000
   (successful strike action against Wabash railroad)
3. KOL membership fell
   violence of Haymarket Affair 1886
4. divisions within workforce (skill, gender, ethnicity)
   position of workers undermined by availability of AA labour after slavery ended (AA payed less)
   arrival of European immigrants
5. 1892 Homestead strike
   1894 Pullman strike
6. little achieved by WW1
7. unions represented only 20% of non-agricultural workforce
8. 1910 union membership over 2 million

Question 4

WW1 to the end of WW2

10 points

Answer 4

1. position improves during WW1
2. increased demand for production e.g. steel to help with war = factory owners more conciliatory
3. gov wanted to maintain production
   established National War Labor Board NWLB 1918
   limit working day to 8 hours exchange for workers agree not to strike
4. economic boom during 20s
   rise in real wages
   employers offered workers benefits (welfare capitalism)
5. some companies set up own unions and forced workers to sign yellow-dog contracts
6. depression = high unemployment
7. new deal - gains to position of workers
   National Industry Recovery Act NIRA 1933
   Wagner Act 1935
   Fair Labour Standards Act 1939
8. gains often benefited only skilled workers.
   manufacturing lost out (particularly lower pay)
9. improvement in union and labour rights continued during WW2 - workers essential for war production

Question 5

period after ww2

8 points

Answer 5

1. end of war - number of strikes
2. position of unions declines - many thought too powerful
3. Taft Hartley Act 1947 limited their power
4. further weakened by decline in blue-collar workers and growth in white-collar workers (technological advances)
5. unions seemed less important as many workers had paid holidays, healthcare and pensions
6. some gains in 60s-
   equal pay act 1963 (men and women)
   Age Discrimination Act 1968 (protects 40+)
7. unions could now
   Bargain over conditions, wages and contract conditions.

Gain medical and dental insurance, pensions and unemployment insurance.

Question 6

1880-92

3 points

Answer 6

1. unions attacked by government and public especially due to PATCO air traffic controllers strike of 1981
2. unions divided among themselves
3. declined because
   size of factories and businesses meant workforce dispersed and harder to unionise

employers now gave welfare provisions to employees

number of female and white-collar workers grew - unions traditionally made up of male blue-collar workers

Question 7

NIRA 1933

1 points

Answer 7

1. workers given right to organise unions and take part in collective bargaining

Question 8

Wagner Act 1935 (national labour relations act)

2 points

Answer 8

1. legal right to organise and join unions

2. excludes agriculture and domestic service

Question 9

Fair Labour Standards Act 1939

Answer 9

1. minimum wage established

Question 10

1892 homestead

Answer 10

1. occupied by state militia