Key Facts About Labor Unions,
Labor Laws, and Labor Strikes
The Knights of Labor
• Terence V. Powderly, 1886
• Grew rapidly because of a combination of
open membership policy, the continuation of
industrialization, and the growth of urban
population
• Knights welcomed unskilled and semiskilled
workers, including women, immigrants, and
African Americans
• Had an ideal vision that they could eliminate
conflict between labor and management
– Believed labor should own industries
• Haymarket Square Bombing signaled end of
Knights influence
The Industrial Workers of the World
• IWW was led by “Mother” Jones, Big
Bill Haywood, and Eugene Debs
• Strove to unite all laborers, including
unskilled workers
• IWW’s motto was “an injury to one is
an injury to all”
– “One Big Union”
• IWW endorsed violent tactics and class
conflict (unlike Knights of Labor)
• Never as big as Knights, collapsed
during WWI
The American Federation of Labor
• Led by Samuel Gompers
• An alliance of skilled workers in
craft unions
• Concentrated on bread and butter
issues such as higher wages, shorter
hours, and better working conditions
– Most conservative of early labor
unions
– Did not support unions for
women and African-Americans
Great Railroad Strike, 1877
• Considered the first general strike in
American history
• Paralyzed the nation’s commerce for
45 days
• Governors in 10 states forced to use
state militia to reopen rail traffic
Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
• This act forbade unreasonable
combinations or contracts in
restraint of trade
• Little immediate impact
– Actually used against labor
unions
• Act declared illegal “every
contract, combination in the
form of trust, or otherwise, or
conspiracy in restraint of trade
among the several states”
Homestead Strike, 1892
• Strike began as a dispute
between iron and steel workers
union (AA) and Carnegie Steel
Company
• AA refused to accept pay cuts
and went on strike in
Homestead, PA
• Strike culminated in a battle
between strikers and private
security guards hired by the
company (Pinkertons)
Pullman Strike, 1894
• Late 19th century characterized by a number
of violent strikes
– Two best known were Homestead, 1892
and Pullman, 1894
• Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages but
maintained rents and prices in a company
town of 12,000, workers struck
• Pullman Strike halted a substantial portion of
American rail commerce
• Strike ended when President Grover
Cleveland ordered federal troops to Chicago
(injunction) to crush the strike (protection of
interstate commerce)
Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902
• This was a strike by the
United Mine Workers of
America in the anthracite
coal fields of eastern
Pennsylvania
• It was arbitrated with the
active involvement of
President Theodore
Roosevelt; this marked the
first time the federal
government intervened in a
labor dispute as a neutral
arbitrator
The Wagner Act of 1935
• AKA the National Labor
Relations Act
• Often referred to as the
Magna Carta of Labor
because it ensured workers’
right to organize and bargain
collectively
• Passage of the act led to a
dramatic rise in labor union
membership
Congress of Industrial Workers
• Led by John L. Lewis
• Organized unskilled and semiskilled
workers in basic manufacturing
industries such as steel and
automobiles
• Split between AFL and CIO
– AFL favored organization based
on skills and trades
– CIO favored organization of all
workers in a particular industry
Taft-Hartley Act, 1947
• Primary purpose was to curb the power of labor unions
• Supporters of Taft-Hartley believed the following:
– Unions were abusing their powers
– Widespread strikes would endanger the nation’s vital
defense industries
– Some labor leaders had been infiltrated by
communists
– Employers were being coerced into hiring union
workers
• Organized labor opposed the Taft-Hartley Act
• Passed over President Truman’s veto
United Farm Workers
• Organized and led by Cesar Chavez
(Chavez is best-known Latino civil
rights activist)
• Union of farm workers
• Tactics used by Chavez included
hunger strikes
• Most farmworkers were Mexican
immigrants and Mexican-Americans