Labor Union

Labor unions have been defined as private combinations of workingmen that try to increase wages and improve working conditions for members.

From colonial times, trade unionists found the going difficult in North America. There was no prevailing ideology of "working-class solidarity," and unions were far from respectable; in fact, they had a well-earned reputation for being antisocial, even criminal. Some unions were secret societies with secret oaths, and unionists engaged in intimidation, threats, vandalism, and violence, especially against uncooperative workers denounced as subhuman "scabs" and "blacklegs." Private property, freedom of contract, competition, and freedom of movement across occupations slavery and indentured servitude aside were celebrated concepts, while government-granted monopolies and cartels were not popular at the founding of the American Republic.

Courts of law were not fond of union methods either, and employers, consumers, and workers often resisted "militant" unions. Competition from imported goods made life difficult too. Some workers were intensely anti-union, not just employers. America was an open society, a frontier society, farm-dominated, sprawling, and free, and wages often were double those paid in England because labor was so scarce here. Although no reliable statistics are available, union membership probably remained below one percent of the work force most years from colonial times to the 1870s.

If a union declared and lost a strike, it usually collapsed and disappeared. Most unions failed during business downturns as jobs, union membership, and revenue declined. While wage rates fell elsewhere in response to depressed business conditions, unions stubbornly insisted on maintaining wage rates ("wage rigidity"), intensifying their own failure. As nonunion labor became less expensive more "affordable" and induced more hiring, production costs fell, thereby reducing unemployment. Such wage-price flexibility shortened business downturns by expanding output and employment, thereby acting as "shock absorbers" in the economy.

In the vast sweep of the early American economy, unions were a curiosity rather than a prominent feature, confined largely to skilled trades in big cities and on the railroads. Not until the late 1870s and prosperous 1880s, when political philosophy began to shift toward collectivism and the "progressive era," did national trade unions gain a real foothold.

Colonial Period

The roots of our country's trade unions extend deep into the early history of America. Europeans began arriving after 1492 upon the shores of the Americas in search of economic opportunity unavailable in the old world. They found a land rich in resources and native culture. As news reached Europe, it sparked a wave of explorations in America and ultimately colonization. Several of the pilgrims arriving at Plymouth Rock in 1620 were working craftsmen. to help build settlements, Captain John Smith pleaded with his sponsors in London to send him more craftsmen and working people. Primitive unions, or guilds, of carpenters and cordwainers, cabinet makers and cobblers made their appearance.

According to Phillips (2001), many, if not most, of the early colonists in America arrived under some version of bound labor, either as a slave or an indentured servant. This was the way many free persons could pay for their passage. Upon arrival they would be sold out to an artisan gentleman or farmer according to his or her abilities. They would then work for 5-7 years which would repay their passage costs. The southern colonies developed slave systems based on the free and forced labor of enslaved Africans. Slaves obviously had little chance to earn their freedom, though some did. Common laborers provided the foundation for a stable society in the New World. However, they lacked an effective voice as well as freedom and choice in a New World which was remnant of feudal systems in parts of Europe.

Revolutionary Era

In the colonies' struggle for independence, workers and their interests played an important role in the success of the revolutionary movement. For Example, the Boston Massacre had roots in the unhappiness of Boston rope makers over competition from off duty British soldiers who sought casual work to supplement their wages. What began as a verbal confrontation between one rope maker and a soldier moved to a confrontation between workers and sentries and then ended as a battle cry for the revolution. Carpenters dressed as Mohawk Indians helped lead the Boston Tea Party in 1773 which led to the Revolution. Ideally, the Revolution stood to create a government and society based on equality of free men. In reality, its aftermath maintained an elitist system that favored the educated upper class.

Further evidence of the importance noted by Anderson (2009), of common people in the movement is the success of Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, which was written for the masses and not the upper class. The tremendous sales over 150,000 and three printings indicate the level of interest the average person had in the emerging ideology of independence. During this period, people continued to work and there were instances of workers uniting to better their condition. Support of Adam Smith's free trade ideology grew and was the foundation of which workers used to fight wartime monopolies and price controls. Political organization and action grew. Crafters of the Declaration of Independence deliberately failed to address slavery.

Growth of a New Nation (1789 - 1830)

During this period, there was debate and struggle between agrarian democrats and industrial interests. Jefferson had warned of the evils of an industrialized society where wealth separated men. He argued that an industrial class system would erode democracy and equality. He and his supporters hoped that America would remain a rural agricultural society where equality and a man's dignity could be maintained by tying men to the land. The Jeffersonian's lost this struggle to retain their vision of America in the face of industrialization, yet there were some who sought to blend these competing interests. Brinkley(1992) maintained, a fine example of this is the experiment at Lowell. The founders of the Lowell experiment sought to preserve America's agricultural base by employing rural women who would supplement the income on the farm. The experiment failed and soon Jefferson's vision would be relegated to the history books or curriculums.

Also during this period, a pattern of economic hard times depression and recession followed by periods of prosperity emerged. During these

...