The History of Labor Movements in America

America has a long and complicated history when it comes to labor unions

By Reed Papakonstantinou

America has a long history of collective labor actions and labor unions. These include Organizations like the Knights of Labor and the United Mine Workers of America. They also include labor battles and strikes like the battles of Blair Mountain and Homestead and the pullman railway company strike. Labor history also has an even darker history such as the massacres at Ludlow and Thibodaux.

The earliest labor strike actually occured in the late 1700’s, as History.org details,

“The earliest recorded strike occurred in 1768 when New York journeymen tailors protested a wage reduction.”

Beyond a select few strikes in the late 18th century, however, the American Labor Movement as a whole wouldn’t begin until the early 1800’s. Specifically, when craft unions started popping up in local cities which set prices and commonly advocated for shorter working hours in the wake of the industrial revolution. In the mid 1800’s these local unions began to unite to form larger federations of trade and craft unions like the International Typographical Union. During this time factory workers were a negligible part of the labor movement which at this time was largely composed of skilled workers.

Beginning in the 1860’s massive federations of trade unions began to form like the Knights of Labor and the National Labor Union. These unions would tend to support leftist and socialist movements within politics with many notable early socialists (Eugene Debs and William Foster) being labor activists.

Labor strikes and demonstrations were often met with brutal crackdowns by police and the federal government. Take the Ludlow Massacre as a textbook example in which the Colorado National Guard attacked a tent colony of striking miners and their families. The National Guard would kill 21 people including 12 children and 2 women. In situations like the Ludlow Massacre, the Federal Government almost always sided with the corporations and not the striking workers. As another example, during the Pullman strike the American Railway Union was fighting for recognition and better working conditions. The Federal Government sent the army in to break up the strike and arrest labor leaders such as Eugene Debs. 70 Strikers would be killed by the end.

I would be doing a disservice if this article didn’t mention the Battle of Blair Mountain which saw more than 10,000 miners battle against 3,000 strike breakers for basic labor rights like being paid in dollars instead of company scrip. The West Virginia Army National Guard would lend the strikebreakers an airplane used to bomb the strikers. After a 100 day battle the West Virginia Army National Guard would move in on the side of the strike breakers. This marked the end of the fighting largely because, as the Cultural Landscape Foundation described

“The battle continued for four days before federal troops intervened and the miners, unwilling to fight U.S. soldiers, laid down their arms.”

Union membership would surge during the great recession. The passing of the National Labor Relations Act was a massive win for unions, as they gained official recognition from the federal government. Unions would maintain a strong footing until the 1980’s with the passing of right to work legislation and the destruction of many unions under Reagan’s administration. Today only 10% of workers are unionized compared to 27% in 1945. Between conflicts like the Battle of Blair Mountain to bills passed like the National Labor Relations Act to the collapse of unions under the Reagan Administration, unions have a long and complicated history, as well as an uncertain future with the U.S.