Summary
Summary Civil rights in the USA trade union and labour rights comparison table
Civil rights in the USA trade union and labour rights thematic table, covers entire period, sorted thematically into : political, social, economic
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Trade unions- political rights - help or hinderFederal government Trade unions themselves Employers and opposition/public Economic and societal shifts
opinion
Start of The federal government pursued a In 1865, trade unions that did exist Employers often sacked workers who Between 1860 and 1900, as US
laissez-faire (non-interventionist) were small and exclusively for skilled went on strike. industrialisation accelerated, the number of
the
policy. workers. industrial workers jumped from 885,000 to
period Employers exploited the divisions in 3.2 million, which prompted some labour
(1865- Railroad Strike (1877) and Pullman The National Labour Union (1866-73), labour by laying off white workers in times leaders to recognise there was a need to
which had 300,000 members in 1868,
1925) Strike (1894) – Presidents used troops of unrest and replacing them with African organise labour on a larger scale.
to break the strikes. was short-lived. American “scab labour”.
The Knights of Labour (est. 1869) had The slumps in the economy in the 1880s and
The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) 700,000 members in 1886, but they Employers used workforce spies to root early 1900s caused increased membership of
was intended to be used against were of limited importance by the out employees who wanted to unionise trade unions.
monopolies but was actually used 1890s due to failed strikes and the workforce so that they could be fired
against unions by courts holding that dwindling membership. to prevent unionisation.
unions were illegal under the
Sherman Antitrust Act. The Industrial Workers of the World From the 1890s, some of the USA’s most
(est. 1905) were not widely recognised influential businessmen, including Marcus
After 1894 employers could use court by employers due to their militancy. A. Hanna and J. P. Morgan, were prepared
injunctions to break strikes and the to work with the American Federation of
federal government did nothing The American Federation of Labour Labour to establish mediation and
about this. (est. 1886) was more widely recognised conciliation in the workplace.
by employers and had over 2 million
Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914) – members by 1914. Public opinion:
limited the use of court injunctions Between 1881 and 1905, seven million
against striking workers. workers participated in 37,000 strikes,
some of which involved damage to
During WW1, the federal government property and looting.
recognised unions as representing
the workforce for the first time. The Violence by the Molly Maguires (1873), at
federal government negotiated with the Railroad Strike (1877), the Haymarket
unions through the National War Affair (1886), the Homestead Strike (1892)
Labour Board, which guaranteed the and the Pullman Strike (1894) increased
right to join unions and the right of negative public opinions towards unions
collective bargaining, however there and workers, so reduced the chance of
was also a no-strike policy. them getting their rights.
, Middle of The use of court injunctions against The Congress of Industrial In the beginning of the 1900s, employers During WW1, the federal government
strikes was prohibited further by Organisations (est. 1937) was quite used “yellow dog contracts” to prevent recognised unions as representing the
period
legislation in 1932. successful. workers from joining a union. Result of workforce for the first time in order to
(1930’s- supreme court ruling in Coppage v. Kansas maintain production levels.
1960’s) The National Industrial Recovery Act 1915 – made it legal for employers to
(1933) gave workers the right to make not joining a union a condition of The Red Scare (1919-20) caused extreme
organise trade unions and the right to labour contracts. reactions by employers to any kind of
collective bargaining, however it was industrial protest.
declared unconstitutional in 1935. Employers continued to use workforce
spies to suppress unionisation. During the 1920s, there was an upsurge of
National Labour Relations Board nativism (reaction of whites and old
(created by the National Industrial During the 1920s, employers began using immigrants to new immigrants) which
Recovery Act 1933) bargained on “welfare capitalism” to appease workers prevented labour unity.
behalf of workers. in order to prevent strikes by allowing
workers to discuss grievances with During WW2, power over industry was taken
The National Mediation Board (est. employers at “company unions”, however away from employers, giving workers more
1934) aimed to settle disputes in the they were not allowed to negotiate wages. power.
railway industry.
It was not until 1941 that any labour union
Wagner Act (National Labour was recognised by the Ford Company for
Relations Act) (1935) – gave workers the purposes of collective bargaining.
the right to join unions and the right
to collective bargaining, and banned Public opinion:
the practise of employers using spies The Red Scare (1919-20) caused negative
to root out “troublemakers” public opinion towards unions as they
were seen as socialists and even
communists.
In 1919, 4 million workers were involved
in 3630 strikes, some of which involved
destruction of property.
End of Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (1943) The merger of the American Federation In the 1950s, increasing numbers of white During the 1950s, blue collar membership in
– authorised the federal government of Labour and the Congress of collar workers signed no-strike unions fell by 50% due to blue collar workers
period
to seize and operate industries Industrial Organisations to form the agreements and were often barred from being replaced by machinery.
(1970’s- stopped by strikes. AFL-CIO (est. 1955) brought 85% of joining trade unions.
1992) union members into a single unit, so
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