Trade Unions

Question 1

What are the 4 types of trade union? Provide examples

Answer 1

Craft: Represents skilled workers (e.g. Musicians Union)

Industrial: Represents the members of a particular industry (e.g. Fire Brigades Union)

General: Unions that recruit workers from all types of industry, with any level or range of skills (e.g. AMICUS - the American Manufacturing Science and Finance Union)

White Collar: Represents office workers (e.g. National Union of Doctors)

Question 2

What is a closed shop?

What is a single-union agreement?

Answer 2

A closed shop is a business in which all employees are required to join a particular union and remain members for the duration of their employment.

Single-union agreements are when an employer and a union agree that they will represent all the workers at a certain workplace.

Question 3

What were the issues for workers in the late 1800s? (11)

Answer 3

• Child labour (dangerous/exploitative, meant working class children did not access education)
• Usually 12 hour shifts
• Dangerous conditions - in 1889 alone, 2000 railway workers were killed
• Lack of compensation for workers
• Influx of Chinese/Mexican immigrants caused tension
• Health and safety mesaures were expensive and opposed by employers
• Courts considered that employer negligence was one of the normal risks of an employee
• Low wages
• Contracts could be terminated instantly
• Employers were not required to recognise unions
• Unions that existed in the early part of the period represented only skilled workers in craft industries, but the country was undergoing a period of huge industrialisation.

Question 4

What were the aims of the National Labor Union (1866 - 1873)? To what extent were they successful?

Answer 4

Aimed to promote the idea of working clas solidarity. Campaigned for an 8 hour day, currency and banking reform, for immigration restrictions. Encourages women and AAs to form separate unions. Used strikes.

• 1866 - 1867 Strike of Iron Founders failed and William Sylvis’ death caused demise

+ 300,000 members by 1868

Question 5

Which union existed 1869 - 1949? What were their aims/methods and how successful were they?

Answer 5

Knights of Labor

To unite skilled and unskilled labour and remove cultural/religious/gender barriers. Demanded an 8 hour day, equal pay and the abolition of child labour. Preferred legislative reform but forced to strike in Wabash railroad incident.

+ Membership icnreased from 20,000 in 1881 to 700,000 in 1886 (10,000 women and 50,000 African Americans)

• Reputation and membership depleated after Haymarket affair

Question 6

When did Grover Cleveland enshrine Labor Day in law?

Answer 6

1894

Question 7

What were the American Federation of Labor’s (1886-1955)aims/methods? How successful were they?

Answer 7

Sought to unite unions and concentrate on common goals of increasing wages and reducing hours. Attempted change through lobbying, strikes and boycotts.

+ Gained support of Marcus A. Hannan and J.P. MOrgan

+ 2 million members by 1914

+Only remaining national federation by 1924

• Represented small amount of national workforce

+ Unions within AFL maintained autonomy

Question 8

Why was the Industrial Workers of The World/Wobblies (1905 - present) so unsuccessful?

Answer 8

Sought reform through notably violent and militant tactics. Employers and police regarded it with suspicion.

Question 9

What factors hindered labour rights progress in the 1800s?

Answer 9

• Violence/militancy
• Employers and government/law enforcement were not required to recognise them as legitimate political forces
• Divided workforce
  
  • old vs. new immigration. By 1910, immigrants counted for 3/4 of the population of many cities. 1900 - 1930, 19million people entered the United States.
  • african americans: workforce not united due to racist practices
  • women excluded from unions
  • tended to only be skilled, craft or white collar workers
  • most closed-shop unions
• Laissez faire capitalism and big business (Carnegie steel, Ford cars, Rockefeller oil)
• The Supreme Court and other courts largely ruled in favour of employers eg. Lochner v. NY in 1905

Question 10

What did the 1890 Sherman AntiTrust Act do?

Answer 10

Prohibited monopolies and forbade any “restraint of commerce” across state lines: courts ruled that union strikes and boycotts were covered by the law.

Question 11

What happened in the Haymarket Affair of 1886?

Answer 11

Violence broke out between workers and police in Chicago. A bomb was thrown the next evening at a protest and 7 policemen were killed. They opened fire on the workers. Innocent people were convicted of the bomb throwing, which was blamed on german anarchists.

Question 12

Describe the events of the Homestead Strike of 1892

Answer 12

The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers vs. Carnegie Steel Company

The company decided to lock the union out of the plant after the company decided to advertise repacement workers, culminating in the shooting/stabbing of Henry Frick. The dispute lasted 143 days and ended with a battle between the strikers and Pinkerton National Detective Agency, a private security firm.

The dispute broke the union and membership dropped from 24,000 in 1891 to 6300 in 1909. There were no unionised steel works in Pennsylvannia in 1900.

Question 13

What strike is this describing?

A nationwide railroad strike in the United States on May 11, 1894, and a turning point for US labor law. It pitted the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company, the main railroads, and the federal government of the United States. President Cleveland sent in 2000 federal troops to Chicago, which fired at protestors and killed 4 people. The federal government deemed stopping the transport of mail as a federal offence.

Answer 13

The Pullman Strike

Question 14

What was the In re Debs ruling of 1895?

Answer 14

Ruled that the government had a right to regulate interstate commerce and ensure the operations of the Postal Service, along with a responsibility to “ensure the general welfare of the public”, slowing the theretofore building momentum of labor unions

Question 15

Which Supreme Court ruling rejected the law that limited the number of hours a baker could work each day and week?

Answer 15

Lochner v. New York, 1905

Question 16

What was the Adair v. U.S. ruling of 1908?

Answer 16

It declared that bans on “yellow-dog” contracts (that forbade workers from joining labor unions) were unconstitutional.

Question 17

What was the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 responsible for?

Answer 17

Limited anti-competitive practices and prohibited a number of common schemes conducted by businesses in order to artificially inflate prices, decrease wages and work around the free market.

Question 18

What positive impact did WW1 have on the trade union and labour movement?

Answer 18

• Real wages rose by 20%
• Union membership increased from 2.7 million in 1916 to 5 million in 1920
• National War Labor Board encouraged cooperation between employers and workers
• An 8 hour working day was implemented by the NWLB
• Many employers adopted ‘welfare capitalism’ to prevent strikes.

Question 19

What negative impact did WW1 have on trade union and labour rights?

Answer 19

• Company union reps could negotiate but not call strikes as it was deemed unpatriotic
• Nativism became popular
• Workers were sometimes obliged to sign ‘yellow dog’ contracts

Question 20

How did the National War Labor Board aid trade union rights? Which presidents introduced it?

Answer 20

Mediated labour disputed in wartime in order to maintain production.

Wilson and FDR.

Question 21

Which 1915 ruling permitted yellow dog contracts?

Answer 21

Coppage v. Kansas:

Question 22

What did the Adamson Act of 1916 do for the first time?

Answer 22

Limited the number of hours an employee could be expected to work during a day without overtime pay, limiting railroad workers to an eight hour day.

Question 23

What did the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act do? When was it passed?

Answer 23

Prohibited interstate commerce on goods produced by child labor.

1916

Question 24

What impact did the 1920s have on trade union and labour rights? (7)

Answer 24

• Laissez faire capitalism meant employers were unlikely to make concessions
• Red scare fever struck after the Russian revolution
• In 1919 a series of strikes broke out and in Seattle a mayor called in Federal forces to crush them
• Workers were obliged to sign yellow group chats
• Assembly line methods increased wealth and power of employers
• Mergers of small businesses into big ones
• The number of workers involved in strikes decreased from 1 million in 1921 to 200,000 in 1929 but the number of strikes increased

Question 25

Which 1923 supreme court ruling was a massive blow to women’s rights in the workplace?

Answer 25

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital: Decided the Minimum wage law for women violated the due process right to contract freely. D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed.

Question 26

How many strikes were there in:

a) 1930
b) 1946

Answer 26

637

4,985

Question 27

How did the Great Depression impact Trade union and Labour rights?

Answer 27

Total collapse of the economy and high unemployment (25%) meant employers could exploit workers. In 1933, only 10% of the workforce was unionised.

Question 28

Which union provides a particularly good example of how the New Deal increased union power?

Answer 28

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, formed in 1925 but not powerful until Railway Labor Act: a year after 51% had joined and Pullman company were forced to recognise them in 1935 (after they were defeated in elections).

Question 29

Which New Deal agencies benefited trade union and labour rights? (4)

Answer 29

National Recovery Administration (NRA - established by NIRA): encouraged minimum wage and abolition of child labour

Social Security Act (SSA): provided pensions and benefits for people with disabilities

Farm Security Administration (FSA): lent money to sharecroppers

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): employed 2.5million young men

Question 30

Which 3 acts of the New Deal aided trade union and labour rights?

Answer 30

1933 National Industry Recovery Act: Established National Recovery Administration to improve relations between employers and employees. Deemed unconstitutional in 1935.

1935 Wagner Act: Guaranteed basic rights of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining for better terms and conditions at work, and take collective action including strike if necessary. The act also created the National Labor Relations Board, which conducts elections that can require employers to engage in collective bargaining with labor unions

1938 Fair Labor Standards Act: introduced the forty-hour work week, established a national minimum wage, guaranteed “time-and-a-half” for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors in “oppressive child labor”.

Question 31

What were the positive impacts of the Wagner Act (1935, declared constitutional in 1937)?

Answer 31

Positive:

• Spies and blacklisting agitators were banned
• First legislation to recognise the rights of workers to elect their own reps and join tuS.
• Trade union membership increased.

Question 32

What was the Congress of Industrial Organisations (1937)? What was the positive/negative impact of the orgaisation? When did they reform with the AFL?

Answer 32

A splinter group of 8 unions from the AFL

+ Attempted to organise labour in mass production industries and gained 3.7million members

+ Welcomed African Americans and Women

• Showed division in labour movement
• Established closed shop and was resisted by employers

1955

Question 33

How did the West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish ruling of 1937 subvert American ideas about liberty that had previously prevented a progression fo labour rights?

Answer 33

Permitted the restriction of liberty of contract by state law where such restriction protected the community, health and safety, or vulnerable groups (eg. working hours, minimum wage)

Question 34

What evidence is there to suggest that the New Deal was not as positive for trade union and labour rights as has been claimed?

Answer 34

• Many employers, inc Henry Ford, did not recognise NIRA
• NIRA deemed unconstitutional in 1935
• Support of African American workers and those in non skilled industries limited (none for domestic workers)
• Employers continued to use violent and underhand tactics

Question 35

What impact did WW2 have on trade union and labour rights?

Answer 35

+ Unemployment fell to such an extent that there was almost a labour shortage. This meant that workers had power and wages increased by 70%.

+ Union membership increased.

+ The NWLB increased bargaining opportunities.

+ More than 1 million African Americans found jobs in industrial centres

+ When Philip Randolph threatened a march on washington in 1941, Roosevelt responded with an executive order that banned racial discrimination in all defence projects and the Fair Employment Practices Committee.

+ Number of women at work incresed by 50%.

• When the war ended, employers sought to regain power and this led to a period of industrial unrest (4.5million workers involved in strikes 1946 - 1947)
• Presence of 1 million blacks in armed forces: tension but also + integration.
• Equal pay for women not enforced despite greater involvement in the workforce.

Question 36

Why has it been argued that the period after WW2 regressed trade union and labour rights?

Question 37

What were the consequences of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act?

Answer 37

It added a list of prohibited actions, or unfair labor practices, on the part of unions to the NLRA, which had previously only prohibited unfair labor practices committed by employers. The Taft–Hartley Act prohibited jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes, solidarity or political strikes, secondary boycotts, secondary and mass picketing, closed shops, and monetary donations by unions to federal political campaigns. It also required union officers to sign non-communist affidavits with the government.

Question 38

How did a 1962 Executive Order (under Kennedy) provide a breakthrough for public sector workers?

Answer 38

Recognized the right of federal employees to partake in collective bargaining as they were not protected under the Wagner Act.

Question 39

What did the Equal Pay Act of 1963 do?

Answer 39

Made wage discrimination on the basis of gender illegal

Question 40

How did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 impact trade union and labour rights?

Answer 40

Helped demographics who were historically discriminated against at work (eg. African Americans, women, hispanics). Encouraged inclusion of oppressed minorities in union activity.

Question 41

Which federal government measures in 1964 improved working conditions/opportunities for workers?

Answer 41

• The Economic Opportunity Act: Provided funds to train people and increase employment opportunities
• Extended the minimum wage to 2 million unprotected workers (Johnson)

Question 42

What piece of legislation did Richard Nixon introduce in 1970 that improved working conditions?

Answer 42

Occupational Safety and Health Act: Ensured that employers provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions

Question 43

Which two Acts were passed in 1978 that improved workers rights?

Answer 43

Pregnancy Discrimination Act: Prohibited discrimination “on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.”,although employers with less than 15 employees were exempt.

Federal Labor Relations Act: Established collective bargaining rights for most employees of the federal government in the United States after Carter pushed for legislation to regularize federal labor relations.

Question 44

How did Carter’s presidency disadvantage trade union and labour rights?

Answer 44

He initiated a period of deregulation and increased competition in transport industries, harming labour rights.

Question 45

How many workers did Reagan dismiss in the PATCO strike?

Answer 45

13,000