Labor movement is a term that refers to the efforts of workers as a group to improve their pay, benefits, and workplace conditions. The movement consists chiefly of attempts by wage earners to improve their welfare through labor unions . But political parties and other groups have also played a part in the labor movement.
Before the development of labor unions, individual laborers had almost no voice in determining their wages, hours, or working conditions. There was a plentiful supply of labor, and employers could easily replace any worker who threatened to quit his or her job. The competition for jobs forced poor people to work under almost any conditions.
Workers formed unions because their bargaining power as a group was greater than that of individuals. If all the employees in a factory or other business stopped work, it would be difficult to replace them. But early unions faced strong opposition. Courts regarded the first attempts at group bargaining as illegal, and employers refused to recognize unions as the representatives of workers.
In the United States , the labor movement began to be more widely accepted during the 1930’s. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and other laws required employers to bargain with unions. By 1945, more than a third of all nonagricultural laborers were union members. Today, organized labor is still a powerful economic force, even though the percentage of workers who belong to a union has declined sharply. The highest percentage of union members are in such fields as construction ; education ; protective services, including firefighting and law enforcement ; telecommunications ; and transportation and utilities. Workers in the public sector, which includes government, are more likely to have a union than those who work in the private sector.
The labor movement, along with economic progress, has given workers a higher standard of living . Compared with past laborers, modern workers earn higher wages, work shorter hours, are better protected against accidents, and receive more fringe benefits. However, some people believe that unions are too large and too powerful.
In the United States and Canada , union goals and activities are much alike. The labor movement in most other countries differs greatly from the movement in these two nations. Most of the sections of this article deal with the labor movement in the United States.
What labor unions do
The chief aims of a labor union are to improve the wages, hours, working conditions, and job security of its members. Usually, the first step for any union is to get workers to join it. After a union has become established in a manufacturing plant or industry, its major functions are arranging labor contracts and handling job disputes. Some labor groups help provide apprenticeship programs and other benefits for their members. Unions are also concerned with government policy, political activities, and public relations .
Organizing workers
is the process of bringing wage earners together into a union. In some cases, the workers themselves form a union to increase their bargaining power. In other cases, an existing union decides to organize the employees of a particular plant or industry. Men and women called organizers help workers join unions. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conducts secret-ballot elections at firms to determine which union the workers want to be represented by, if any. The NLRB is a federal agency that works to correct or prevent unfair labor practices by either employers or unions.
In some states, the union and the employer can agree to set up a union shop. In a union shop , the employer can hire anyone. But new employees must join the union within a specified period of time or pay the equivalent of union dues. This arrangement spreads the cost of union representation evenly among the employees, who also share any benefits the union wins. But individuals who oppose the union must contribute to it against their wishes. Today, a majority of states have laws banning union shops. These laws are often called right-to-work laws.
A business that employs both union and nonunion workers is called an open shop. In a closed shop, which is now illegal, the employer could hire only union members. During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, many employers insisted that their workers sign a promise not to join a union. Such an agreement was called a yellow-dog contract. The Norris-La Guardia Act of 1932 forbade suing an employee in federal court for breaking a yellow-dog contract. As a result, such agreements became unenforceable and gradually disappeared.
Arranging contracts.
Labor and management often have different goals. The two sides settle their differences and establish conditions that are acceptable to both through a process called collective bargaining. They negotiate a contract, or written agreement, covering working conditions and the terms of employment.
In a typical bargaining session, union representatives make demands and management then makes a counteroffer that meets some, but not all, of the union’s demands. The two sides then try to work out a compromise. The bargainers may call in outside experts to help, including lawyers, economists, and industrial engineers. Many meetings also include state or federal government representatives to help settle disagreements. Usually, contract talks begin several months before the existing agreement comes to an end. Some unions have a no contract—no work rule and stop work if their contract expires before a new one is signed.
A labor contract describes in detail the arrangements concerning wages, hours, and other terms of employment. Some of the most important matters covered are (1) union security, (2) wages and hours , (3) fringe benefits, (4) seniority, (5) safety measures, and (6) the handling of grievances.
Union security
is a term for the part of a labor contract that provides for the position and rights of the union. Most agreements begin by stating that management recognizes the union as sole bargaining agent for a specific group of employees. In some cases, the employer agrees to deduct union dues from the pay of members. This arrangement, called a checkoff, is easier for the union than collecting from individual members. Most contracts also include rules about whether union officials can meet with employees during working hours.
Wages and hours.
Nearly all labor contracts specify wage rates either by the hour or by the number of goods produced or services performed. Some agreements also guarantee employees a minimum number of hours of work.
Contracts also establish a standard number of hours per day and per week during which employees are paid their regular rate of pay. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 requires that firms pay an overtime rate of at least one and a half times the usual pay for work that exceeds 40 hours per week. Some union contracts establish a more generous formula, such as overtime pay after 8 hours worked in a day.
Labor contracts often last for two or three years. A general rise in prices during this period will cause the workers’ purchasing power to drop. To make up for this loss of buying power, many agreements include an escalator clause. Such a clause provides for automatic wage increases as prices rise. The changes are often tied to the Consumer Price Index , a figure prepared by the federal government (see Cost of living ).
Fringe benefits
developed during World War II (1939-1945), when the federal government prohibited nearly all wage increases. War industries attracted workers by offering benefits in addition to wages. For example, employers paid part of the cost of food served in their cafeterias. Later, some companies provided pensions , life insurance , medical insurance, accident and disability insurance, and college tuition for workers and their families.
Since the end of World War II, fringe benefits have grown in importance. Some employers have introduced new benefits, including free dental care and company stock purchase plans. Unions often accept fringe benefits instead of higher pay.
Seniority
refers to employees’ rights based on length of service. This provision is one of the most important parts of a contract. Detailed rules specify how seniority is acquired. It may be based on how long a worker has served in a particular job, department, or plant. If the company must lay off any workers, it first dismisses employees with the least seniority.
Safety measures.
Most labor contracts include minimum safety standards for workplaces. The rules deal with fire prevention , exposure to toxic substances, protective clothing, staffing levels, and other safety matters. Contracts often establish a joint labor-management committee on health and safety.
The handling of grievances.
Most labor agreements specify a series of steps that can be used to handle a worker grievance (complaint). An employee with a grievance discusses the matter with his or her supervisor. In most cases, a union representative accompanies the worker. Nearly all problems end at this level. If the matter is not resolved, the worker may file a complaint with a higher level of management. If the employee is still not satisfied, a neutral third party may be called on to deliver a decision.
Handling labor disputes.
Most disputes between unions and management involve wages, hours, or other conditions of employment. If labor and management cannot settle their differences and produce a new contract, they may receive outside help called mediation. If the two sides still cannot agree, and the existing contract expires, the union may call a strike to press its demands. If a contract is in place, the union and management may submit the union’s grievances to a process called arbitration. A person called an arbitrator hears the evidence and hands down a decision that is binding on both sides.
Unions—or the workers themselves, against union advice—may use several methods other than a strike to press their demands. For example, they may organize a slowdown—that is, a deliberate decrease in the rate of production . A union may refuse to deal with a firm and urge the public not to buy its products. This action is called a boycott. Large numbers of workers may call in sick. Government employees sometimes use this tactic in states where the law forbids them to strike. For example, police officers may threaten an outbreak of “blue flu” to protest job conditions.
Mediation and arbitration.
In mediation, a neutral third party called a mediator suggests solutions to the dispute. Neither side is required to accept the recommendations, however. Sometimes, labor and management ask for help from a local citizen whom both sides respect and trust. However, most disputes that require mediation go to a government agency called the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or to a similar state agency. If mediation fails, the two sides may enter into binding arbitration (see Arbitration ).
A special agency called the National Mediation Board settles disputes in the railway and airline industries. Congress established the agency in 1934, when railway unions were strong and railroad strikes could cripple the economy. The board later received authority to deal with airline disputes as well.
The NLRB also helps settle some labor disputes. If an individual, employer, or union files charges of unfair labor practices, the board investigates and corrects the situation if necessary.
Strikes
occur when workers believe such action is the best way to pressure their employer into granting their demands. Before a union calls a strike, it must put the question to a vote by its members. In most unions, a strike cannot be called unless a majority of those voting support such action.
There are several kinds of strikes. In the most common type, the employees as a group leave work or refuse to come to work. The union organizes small groups of strikers, called pickets, to patrol the entrances to the factory, office, school, store, or other workplace. The pickets form a picket line and carry signs announcing the strike. Members of nonstriking unions usually refuse to cross a picket line. The pickets try to prevent other employees from working and the public from doing business with the company. Strikers call individuals who work during a strike scabs or blacklegs.
Another type of dispute is a sit-down strike, in which the strikers stop work but continue to occupy the facilities. Their action prevents management from bringing in replacements called strikebreakers. A sympathy strike is a work stoppage by employees not directly involved in a dispute. They strike to show support of another group. A similar action is a secondary boycott, in which nonstriking workers refuse to handle goods produced by a company whose employees are on strike. A work stoppage by all laborers in a community, region, or country is called a general strike. A wildcat strike is started by workers or by local union officials without national union authorization. Such actions are also called outlaw strikes or quickie strikes. A jurisdictional strike is a struggle between two unions for the right to represent a group of workers or to handle a job.
Many strikes succeed during periods of low unemployment and prosperous economic conditions. During periods of high unemployment and less prosperity, more strikes fail. Workers can no longer afford the loss of income , and they may return to work without winning any of their demands. Many unions maintain a strike fund to provide small payments to striking members.
Lockouts
are management’s own version of a strike. In a lockout , the company refuses to let employees work until they accept its terms.
Conducting apprenticeship programs.
Apprenticeship is a formal system of training young people for such skilled trades as bricklaying and printing . Unions in these trades conduct apprenticeship programs in cooperation with employers and vocational high schools. The training combines on-the-job experience with individual or classroom instruction.
Other union activities.
Some unions provide facilities called hiring halls where members seek job openings. Such hiring is common in the building trades, shipping, and other industries where workers are employed by the day or week.
Many labor organizations provide educational programs dealing with economics , the history of the labor movement, or other subjects. A number of groups offer college scholarships for union members and their children. Unions also do community service. For example, they may conduct blood donation or fund-raising drives.
Many unions actively advocate for public policies and laws that will help large groups of working people, such as measures that raise the minimum wage . Political activities are also an important part of the labor movement. Union officials urge workers and their families to vote for candidates who are sympathetic to union goals. Because of the ability of union leaders to influence votes, most elected officials listen carefully to what labor leaders want. In this way, organized labor influences the city, state, and federal government. 
Types of unions
Historically, there have been two major models for labor unions: (1) craft unions and (2) industrial unions. A craft union is made up of skilled workers in a particular craft or trade, such as acting or carpentry . The members of the union may work in many different workplaces. An industrial union is made up of both skilled and unskilled workers in the same industry, such as the automobile industry or the health care industry. When a craft union bargains with an employer, it speaks for only part of the firm’s workers—for example, the electricians or the bricklayers. When an industrial union bargains, it speaks for all the production and maintenance workers in the company except management personnel.
In practice, many unions are a mix of craft and industrial unions. For example, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union serves as a craft union for skilled butchers in stores. But it is an industrial union in the meat-packing industry, where it represents all workers regardless of the work they do.
The levels of union organization
In most unions, there are three levels of organization: (1) local unions, (2) national unions, and (3) the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) .
Local unions,
often called locals, are the smallest unit of labor organization. A local represents the workers in a particular plant, neighborhood, city, or other area. It is usually the local union that bargains with an employer, though the national union may assist.
Many local unions employ one or more people called business representatives or business agents. These employees work full-time to administer the union’s contract and to handle grievances.
The union members in each department of a company elect one of the members to serve as shop steward. The steward helps workers deal with management and ensures that union rules are followed in the department. Most local unions also elect an executive board that includes a president, a secretary, and a treasurer.
National unions
are made up of local unions throughout the United States. Many national unions are called international because they include Canadian locals. National unions promote legislation favorable to their members. They also organize new workers, especially in industries or geographical areas with little union representation.
National unions are governed by conventions, to which each local sends representatives. The conventions meet every one to five years. A president, a secretary-treasurer, and an executive council manage union affairs between gatherings. In addition to these officers, most groups have a staff that includes lawyers, public relations experts, and editors. National unions are supported by dues, initiation fees, and other charges paid by members. Union dues vary from one to two hours’ wages a month.
The AFL-CIO
is a federation (league) of national unions. It consists of numerous craft and industrial organizations that together have millions of members. The president of the AFL-CIO is probably the most powerful American labor leader, but the organization itself does little collective bargaining. Its major activities include promoting legislation favorable to labor, educating the public about the labor movement, and settling conflicts between member unions. For more information about the organization, see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Origins of the labor movement
Various scholars trace the beginnings of the labor movement to different sources. Some historians have compared labor unions to medieval craft guilds. The craft guilds were associations of skilled workers in Europe during the Middle Ages , which lasted from about the A.D. 400’s through the 1400’s. Other scholars have different theories about the origins of the labor movement.
Craft guilds,
like labor unions, worked to establish reasonable wages and hours and to increase job security. But there are important differences between guilds and unions. A guild consisted of ranks of members. The highest-ranking guild members were the masters, who had their own shops. They employed less experienced workers called journeymen and beginners called apprentices. Many apprentices and journeymen eventually became masters themselves and had their own employees. Modern labor unions do not include employers, and few union members ever start a business or employ others. Because of these differences, a large number of labor historians think craft guilds and labor unions have little in common.
Other possible origins.
One theory is that workers organized to protect themselves against the effects of price competition between companies. Competition among products tends to reduce prices, because consumers try to buy at the lowest possible price. As prices fall, companies must reduce costs. The easiest way to do so is to pay workers less, to get more production from them, or a combination of the two. Many scholars believe that workers banded together to keep employers from reducing wages.
Other scholars think workers formed unions because the Industrial Revolution , which began during the 1700’s, gave employers too much power. Before the revolution, workers needed only a few tools to go into business for themselves. Many worked in their own homes. Afterward, most people worked in factories, and only wealthy employers or corporations could afford the expensive machinery used to produce goods. Employees may have banded together to increase bargaining power between themselves and their bosses, who controlled the means of production.
Development of the American labor movement
Most historians trace the American labor movement to the early 1800’s. In the 1820’s and 1830’s, carpenters, masons, printers, and other skilled workers established citywide organizations to obtain better pay. Printers, weavers, tailors, cotton mill workers, and bookbinders all struck during the 1830’s for higher pay and to demand that working hours be limited to 10 hours a day.
The first nationwide labor organizations
developed during the mid-1800’s. Workers in many different trades established national unions. William H. Sylvis, a Philadelphia ironworker, founded the National Union of Iron Molders in 1859. In 1867, boot and shoe workers formed a national organization called the Knights of St. Crispin. Blacksmiths , machinists, printers, and other skilled workers also established national unions during this period, though most of the groups lasted only a few years.
In 1866, Sylvis united a number of national labor unions into a federation called the National Labor Union. Although the federation dissolved in 1872, its fight for an 8-hour work day inspired workers to wage a decades-long campaign on this issue. At that time, most laborers worked about 10 hours a day.
The first national federation to remain active for more than a few years was the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. It was established in 1869 by a group of Philadelphia garment workers. The Knights of Labor differed from other labor organizations by including farmers and merchants as well as wage earners. The group’s goals included equal pay for equal work, the abolition of child labor , and an 8-hour workday.
The Knights of Labor reached the height of its power during the 1880’s under the leadership of Terence V. Powderly. The group won a strike against railroads owned by the American millionaire Jay Gould in 1885. By 1886, the organization had about 700,000 members. But the Knights lost a second strike against the Gould railroads that year, and membership declined rapidly. By 1900, the group had almost disappeared.
In 1881, Samuel Gompers and other leaders organized a federation that, unlike the Knights of Labor, included only wage earners. It was called the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada.
In 1886, the federation was reorganized and changed its name to the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Gompers became the AFL’s first president. He served as its president for 37 years—from 1886 to 1894 and from 1896 until his death in 1924.
Under Gompers’s leadership, the AFL stressed wage increases and other job demands, and placed less emphasis on political issues. The group’s chief means of achieving its goals was collective bargaining. Another AFL tactic was the use of marks called union labels to identify goods manufactured by its members. The federation urged shoppers to “look for the union label” and buy union-made products.
Opposition to unions
increased during the late 1800’s. Employers exchanged blacklists—lists of workers suspected of union membership—to prevent such workers from getting jobs. Factory owners hired strikebreakers and armed guards to crush strikes. Sometimes, the state or federal government sent troops to end a labor dispute. Many states passed laws to restrict union activity. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was designed to prohibit trusts that hindered trade , was used mostly against labor. Union leaders were found guilty of violating that law by interfering with commerce. On this basis, judges issued court orders called injunctions forbidding strikes.
In 1886, a disaster known as the Haymarket Riot increased antilabor feeling throughout the country. A meeting of workers was held in Haymarket Square in Chicago to protest police actions against strikers at an industrial plant. Near the end of the meeting, an unknown person threw a bomb, and a riot broke out. At least seven police officers and one civilian died. Many Americans blamed the labor movement for the violence. The police charged eight labor leaders with aiding the unknown person to commit murder . Although the leaders were never found to be the direct cause of the deaths, seven were sentenced to death and the eighth was imprisoned. Four of the seven were hanged , one committed suicide , and the remaining two were resentenced to prison . The three imprisoned leaders were pardoned by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld in 1893.
Several violent strikes during the 1890’s also hurt the labor movement. One of the most bitter was the Homestead Strike of 1892, which involved the Carnegie Steel Company and the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers. The workers refused to accept a wage cut, and the company locked the workers out at its Homestead, Pennsylvania, plant. The company hired guards from the Pinkerton Detective Agency and brought them to the steelworks on two barges , armed with Winchester rifles . Violence broke out between the strikers and the guards, and several people were killed. The strike failed, and the company reinstated less than a quarter of the workers.
Another violent dispute was the Pullman Strike of 1894. Employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company, which manufactured railroad cars, struck to protest a wage cut. In sympathy, members of the American Railway Union, a group of railroad workers headed by Eugene V. Debs , refused to handle cars manufactured by the Pullman Company. A general railroad strike resulted. The U.S. government sent troops to end the strike, declaring that it interfered with mail trains. Debs and other leaders were sent to prison, and Debs’s union was so weakened that it dissolved three years later.
The early 1900’s.
The labor movement suffered a number of failures in the early 1900’s. One major setback was the case of Lochner v. New York, a 1905 ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States . The court held that a law limiting the number of working hours was unconstitutional because it restricted the right of an individual to contract for employment. The court based its decision on the principle that individuals had “liberty of contract” derived from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution . After this ruling, employers used the “liberty of contract” principle to defeat local minimum-wage laws.
Unions gained membership during World War I (1914-1918), when government supported the right to collective bargaining for some unions in exchange for labor peace. Over 4 million workers participated in a wave of postwar strikes in 1919.
However, the AFL also suffered a major defeat in 1919, when it tried to organize workers in the steel industry. The AFL called a strike for higher wages and other benefits. But the steel companies brought in enough strikebreakers to continue production, and the AFL was forced to cancel the strike.
The Industrial Workers of the World.
The setbacks of the early 1900’s made many labor leaders and workers dissatisfied with the AFL, which accepted the capitalist system and sought benefits within it. To oppose the AFL’s conservative policies, radicals founded the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905. This group, also known as the Wobblies, sought to overthrow the capitalist system and replace it with socialism . Wobbly composers wrote many songs about the labor movement and the poor that became popular folk songs . These songs included “Dump the Bosses off Your Back” and “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum.”
In 1912, the IWW led a strike by textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to protest a pay cut. The strikers’ food and money soon ran low. To help them hold out, strike leaders sent the workers’ children to stay with labor sympathizers in other cities. The strike succeeded, and workers actually won a wage increase.
The IWW was also involved in a strike by silk workers in Paterson , New Jersey, in 1913. But the Wobblies lost it and a series of others. They nearly disappeared in the late 1920’s.
The 1920’s.
Labor lost ground in the 1920’s when employers formed open shop associations throughout the country. Such employer groups as the National Association of Manufacturers formally named this campaign the “American Plan.” In addition, the Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants admitted to the United States. It reduced the number of new arrivals competing for jobs as well as the number of potential new labor movement recruits. AFL membership dropped from about 5 million in 1920 to about 3 1⁄2/ million in 1929.
The Great Depression,
which began in 1929, left millions of workers jobless. But it also changed the attitude of many Americans toward the labor movement. Before 1929, most people regarded business executives as the nation’s leaders, and union members as dangerous radicals. But people lost faith in business leaders after business could not relieve the Depression . Many Americans began to believe the way to fight the slump was to increase the purchasing power of wage earners. The political climate changed from one favoring management to one favoring labor.
In 1932, Congress passed one of the first prolabor laws. It was called the Norris-La Guardia Act after its sponsors, Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska and Representative Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York. The act made yellow-dog contracts unenforceable and limited the power of federal courts to issue injunctions in labor disputes.
The New Deal,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s program to end the Depression, included several laws that benefited labor. One of the most important was the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. The act guaranteed workers a minimum wage, reasonable hours, collective bargaining, and the right to join unions. But in the 1935 case of Schechter v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the law unconstitutional.
To replace the overturned law, the federal government enacted the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. The act was also called the Wagner Act, after Senator Robert F. Wagner of New York, who led the fight for its passage. Like the earlier law, the Wagner Act sought to protect labor’s right to organize and to bargain collectively. It also established the National Labor Relations Board to administer its provisions. The board was given the power to punish unfair labor practices and to determine which union should represent workers. Many employers argued that the Wagner Act was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court upheld it in a 1937 landmark case known as National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation.
Formation of the CIO.
The automobile and steel industries and other industries that used mass-production techniques had expanded rapidly during the early 1900’s. As a result, the number of workers in those industries also increased. Most of them lacked union representation. The craft unions that controlled the AFL opposed efforts to unionize these workers, most of whom were unskilled or semiskilled. Many AFL leaders feared that attempts to organize these factory workers would fail, as had attempts to organize steelworkers in 1919.
Nevertheless, several AFL unions established the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) to conduct an organizing drive in the mass-production industries. The CIO quickly gained millions of members and unionized workers in many plants that previously had no unions. Its greatest successes were in the automobile, rubber , and steel industries.
But the dispute over industrial organization continued. In 1938, the AFL expelled the unions that formed the CIO. The CIO then established its own federation, changing its name to the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) . John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers (UMW) became the federation’s first president.
World War II and the postwar period.
The United States entered World War II in 1941. Shortly afterward, President Roosevelt called a conference of the nation’s most important labor leaders. The leaders promised to avoid strikes for the duration of the war so that the nation’s defense production would not be interrupted. In exchange, the government put in place a “maintenance of membership” policy. This required workers who were union members, or who later joined the union, to remain members for as long as the union had a contract with the employer.
Union membership soared during the war. By 1945, more than a third of all nonagricultural workers belonged to a union. The government prohibited general wage increases during the war, but unions won many important fringe benefits. These gains included company-financed hospital insurance, paid vacations and holidays, and retirement pensions.
After the war ended in 1945, the United States entered the greatest period of economic growth in its history. Prosperity spread to more Americans than ever before, and unions took steps to enable their members to share in the new wealth. A wave of strikes began, and the number of work stoppages reached an all-time high in 1946. Unions scored impressive victories, including large wage hikes and the first escalator clauses. Although the South had long been less unionized than the North, hundreds of thousands of Southern workers joined unions during World War II. To build on these gains, the CIO, in 1946, launched a large Southern union organizing drive called Operation Dixie with vigorous organizing in textiles, lumber, and tobacco processing. Operation Dixie failed, however, when resistance by Southern political and industrial leaders proved overwhelming. During the next few years, the proportion of union membership in the South declined.
The Taft-Hartley Act.
Many Americans began to believe that the unions had become too powerful. They resented the inconvenience caused by strikes and blamed soaring prices on union demands. Many people believed that individual workers were bullied by “strike-happy” union leaders. Meanwhile, many employer groups continued to resist the spread of organized labor’s influence. Some people demanded a new law to curb the power of organized labor. The result was the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, usually called the Taft-Hartley Act . Its sponsors were Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr., of New Jersey.
The Taft-Hartley Act, which Congress passed over the veto of President Harry S. Truman , introduced new government controls over unions. Labor leaders bitterly opposed the legislation, which they called a “slave labor law.” It prohibited use of the secondary boycott , sympathy strike, and jurisdictional strike. The act outlawed the closed shop and banned union political contributions in national elections. It increased the amount of support a union needed to establish a union shop. A union needed a majority of the workers eligible to vote instead of a majority of those voting. The law required unions to file constitutions and financial statements with the federal government. In addition, union leaders had to affirm that they did not support Communism. Communism is a political and economic system characterized by government ownership of land and capital (wealth). Finally, the Taft-Hartley Act established cooling-off periods and other special rules for handling strikes that endangered the nation’s health or safety.
Reunification of the AFL and the CIO.
Faced with growing opposition to labor, the AFL and the CIO began to consider joining forces. One of the major differences between the two groups was their attitude toward Communism. The AFL was strongly anti-Communist, but many officials of the CIO either were Communists or supported Communist ideals. These Communist leanings became a problem after World War II, when intense anti-Communist feeling swept through the nation. Many CIO unions overthrew leaders thought to be Communist sympathizers. For example, Walter P. Reuther , who opposed Communist influence in the United Automobile Workers (UAW) , became president of that union in 1946. In 1949 and 1950, the CIO expelled 11 unions that it found to be dominated by Communists or Communist sympathizers.
Ridding the CIO of Communist influence removed one of the chief barriers to reunification. Another obstacle disappeared when Philip Murray , the president of the CIO, and William Green , head of the AFL, died in 1952. Both men had played major roles in the split between the two organizations.
George Meany became president of the AFL, and Reuther headed the CIO. The new leaders then began discussion of reunification. In 1955, the two groups merged into a single organization called the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Meany became its first president.
Charges of corruption.
In 1957, the U.S. Senate formed a committee headed by Senator John L. McClellan of Arkansas to investigate charges of corruption among labor leaders. The investigation revealed that officials of the Teamsters Union and other groups took union funds for their own use and had links with organized crime. Most of the union’s members were truckdrivers. As a result of the investigation, the AFL-CIO expelled the Teamsters and two other unions.
In 1959, Congress passed the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to guard against corrupt union leadership. The act was also called the Landrum-Griffin Act after its sponsors, Representatives Phillip M. Landrum of Georgia and Robert P. Griffin of Michigan. It gave the government greater control over union affairs by providing for federal supervision of union elections and financial accounts. Individuals who had been in prison could not run for union office until five years after their release. At the insistence of Senator John F, Kennedy of Massachusetts, the act also included a “Bill of Rights” for union members. It guaranteed freedom of speech , control over union dues, and other rights.
The challenge of automation.
Beginning in the late 1950’s, many factories introduced automatic machinery to perform tasks formerly done by workers. Such automation caused many labor disputes when new machines and methods threatened to eliminate jobs.
Unions called for a variety of measures to protect the jobs and incomes of workers affected by automation. The demands included free retraining and shorter workweeks to spread the available work among more employees. In 1962, the United Steelworkers of America (USW) and the Kaiser Steel Corporation agreed to a landmark plan for dealing with automation. The plan called for the money saved by automation to be shared with workers through higher wages. Laborers replaced by machines would draw full pay until they were retrained or assigned to a new job.
New groups become unionized.
Several groups of workers became unionized for the first time during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Two of the most important were farmworkers and public employees.
Cesar E. Chavez , a Mexican American labor leader, began to organize agricultural workers in California during the 1960’s. Chavez established what is now the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), a union of migrant workers and other farm laborers.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order that gave federal employees the right to organize and to bargain collectively but not to strike. Many states passed similar legislation, and a few even allowed government workers to strike. These laws encouraged the rapid growth of unionism among public employees. By the 1970’s, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union of public workers, had become one of the fastest-growing U.S. labor groups.
Union membership and organizing efforts among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and women also increased during this period. Members of these groups joined unions to win equal pay and other rights. Clerical and hospital workers, flight attendants, and clothing and textile workers all pushed to form unions in the 1970’s.
Recent developments.
In the late 1900’s and early 2000’s, labor unions in the United States faced the challenges of a declining industrial base and increasing automation. Lower labor costs helped foreign companies in the automobile, electronics, and other industries gain larger shares of the American market. Many large U.S. factories in these industries closed, and large numbers of union members lost their jobs.
Since the late 1940’s, the percentage of American workers who belong to unions has declined. In 1945, about 36 percent of all laborers in nonagricultural jobs in the United States were members of unions. Today, about 10 percent are union members.
Increasingly, the labor movement includes new kinds of worker organizations that help workers improve their work lives. For example, worker centers are nonprofit, community-based organizations that often serve low-wage and immigrant workers. Many worker centers offer legal counseling, language instruction, and community-organizing support. There are also new kinds of unions that do not engage in collective bargaining, such as the Freelancers Union. These groups help workers navigate such new developments as the rise of independent contract work.
Critics of organized labor charge that many unions are too big, inefficient, and corrupt. They claim that numerous unions put their members’ interests above those of the nation. But other people point out that the same criticisms apply to many other groups. In the 1990’s, the U.S. government took control of several unions, including the Teamsters Union. The government did so in an attempt to reduce union corruption. Its goals included protecting union funds and ensuring the fair election of union officers.
In 2005, a number of large unions—including the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Union , and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union —formed Change to Win , a new alliance dedicated to improving the lives of workers. Several of the unions that belonged to the coalition withdrew from the AFL-CIO because of disagreements over strategy, though a number have since rejoined.
In 2010, state elections placed many state legislatures and governorships under Republican control, and a number of newly elected officials moved to take collective bargaining rights away from public employees. For example, a law limiting the rights of teachers to bargain collectively on some issues went into effect in Indiana in 2011. So, too, did a Wisconsin law limiting the right of public employee unions to bargain collectively. 
Labor around the world
The labor movement in other countries differs in some ways from that in the United States. American unions concentrate on job issues, such as wages and hours. They seek to obtain benefits within the existing free enterprise system. Labor groups in most other countries often consider political and social reform also to be a high priority. Labor unions in the United States achieve most of their gains through firm-by-firm-level collective bargaining. But labor groups in most other countries also rely on industrywide bargaining and on legislation. In many nations, labor groups have founded their own political parties. The unions have little influence if their party loses an election.
Outside the United States, the labor movement is strongest in such industrial nations as Australia , Canada, Japan , and most countries of Western Europe, including the United Kingdom .
In Australia,
the labor movement includes unions and a political party. Australia’s labor movement developed relatively early, with the formation of craft unions in the 1800’s. By 1856, Australian unions were among the first in the world to win an 8-hour work day. Following big strikes in the 1890’s, unions formed the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to take political action to supplement their industrial action. The ALP’s policies are generally influenced by unions.
ALP governments have pioneered many changes. They introduced protection for employees from unfair dismissal, promotion of equal opportunities, safety at work, public health , and universal pensions. The main unions are affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). A former ACTU president, Bob Hawke , was elected as the prime minister of Australia in 1983. That ALP government implemented an accord with the ACTU that shaped public policies. Most unions were restructured after the mid-1980’s. The Australian labor movement was at the height of its power from 1983 to 1996. The ALP lost control of the government in 1996. Since then, the labor movement has generally been less influential in Australian politics, though it did have an influence on ALP governments from 2007 to 2013. Union membership in Australia has declined significantly.
In Canada,
labor unions are usually called trade unions. The history of labor in Canada is similar to that in the United States, and unions in both nations share many features. Many Canadian unions, including the largest ones, belong to a federation called the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). It includes the Canadian locals of international unions that in the United States belong to the AFL-CIO. A smaller federation, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), consists mostly of French-speaking unions from Quebec .
In Japan,
most of the unions are enterprise unions. Such unions consist of the employees of a particular firm. This type of union developed because, traditionally, many core employees spent their entire career working for the same company. Large firms rarely fired core employees, and few such workers moved from one firm to another. However, the tradition of lifelong employment with a single company has begun to fade.
In Western Europe,
many major unions in France , Italy , and numerous other countries have socialist aims. They have traditionally sought to reorganize the political and economic system to achieve nationalization (public ownership) of industry.
In the United Kingdom, the labor movement has traditionally had close ties with the Labour Party . For most of its history, the Labour Party has promoted social democratic policies and has brought about many changes in the British economic system. For example, while in power, the party nationalized the coal mines, the iron and steel industry, shipbuilding, and other industries. It also set up an extensive program of pensions, free medical care, and other benefits. However, in 1995, party members voted to drop from the party constitution a statement of commitment to public ownership of industry. The party began moving away from its long-held socialist ideals in an effort to win wider support among British voters. Many British trade unions belong to a federation called the Trades Union Congress. The organization, founded in the 1860’s, is similar to the AFL-CIO.
In other countries.
In Russia (formerly the largest and most powerful republic in the Soviet Union ) and Eastern Europe, the role of labor unions changed in the late 1980’s. The unions in those countries had existed mainly to support the aims of government planners and to help meet production goals. The government determined wages and hours, and the power of unions to bargain on behalf of their members was severely limited. In the late 1980’s, independent labor organizations emerged in Eastern Europe, and workers regained the right to strike.
Less developed countries in Africa , Asia , and Latin America generally have smaller labor movements. However, active labor movements are growing in such nations as South Korea and Brazil .
International organizations.
Representatives of labor groups from about 55 nations, including the American CIO, founded the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in 1945. But the CIO withdrew in 1949, after organizations from Communist countries gained control of the federation. That same year, the AFL, the CIO, and other labor groups from non-Communist countries established a new federation. This organization, created to oppose the Communist policies of the WFTU, was called the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). Its goals included the promotion of independent unions and of workers’ rights and interests throughout the world. In 2006, the ICFTU and the World Confederation of Labour merged to form the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
