Success of Organized Labor

Between 1875 and 1900, organized labor was - for the most part - successful in improving the position of workers. There were many ineffective strikes however, causing a negative cast over the public about labor unions. Many resulted in riots and protests. This slowed down, but didn't stop the success of organized labor unions.

Despite many difficulties, these organizations' success was marked by less hours and higher wages. Workers were very determined to fight back, sometimes causing the employers to think twice. This worked very well after the Great Railroad strike of 1877, the first nationwide strike against an employer. The unions plead for an eight-hour work day and better wages. Workers pushed their positions on the workday very diligently, even thru the challenges of the Depression of 1873. As documented in the Historical Statistics, daily wages increased from $169.2 to $ 172.5, while hours dropped from 9.9 to 9.4 per day. The most successful union was the American Federation of Labor, or the AFL. The AFL remained uninvolved with politics throughout their campaign, and was very smart about which principles to stand up for. Samuel Gompers, the founder of the American Federation of Labor, testified that rights have been gained by the workers through persistency and making grave sacrifices. The AFL mainly included only skilled workers.

There were also many obstacles that often restricted successful strikes and other radical movements in labor organization. Management used Yellow Dog contracts to keep workers from joining a labor union. Every Western Union Telegraph Company employee after 1883 was forced agree to leave any union before re-employment. This tactic proved very successful in maintaining control of the workforce. Communist influence hazed over the American workforce, destroying capitalism and resulting in better wages, this is depicted in Thomas Nast's Cartoon. The public was strongly against the unions after they witnessed the devastating strike failures like the Homestead strike and the Great Railroad Strike of '77. For example, the writer of the New York Times Editorial claimed the Railroad strike is a pointless act by men trying to cause resentment. Newspapers and media were generally against strikes and unions, which was a big factor in influencing the public. Cartoons often depicted the ridicule given by the government as to why the unions are failing. Frank Leslie's illustration showed how the lack of unity between the different labor groups is what hurt the labor movement's progress. All of these factored into the downfall of many unions like the National Labor Union and the Knights of Labor.