Workers - Economy and Employers

What happened between 1865 and 1900? what was the impact on the number of workers?

industrialisation accelerated, industrial workers go from 885,000 to 3.2m most of these un/semi skilled wages low

what were employers like from 1865-1935?

tried to resist improving conditions and pay, could sack trouble makers and employ other groups eg minorities, often used spies and armed forces

what happened to economy in 1880s and what was this impact on unions?

slumped, meant unions lost support due to their actions

effect of ww1 on wages?

increased them due to the boom in economy

impact of 1920s boom

wages rose steadily and boom increased the power of employers and the number of strikes decreased as welfare capitalism and improved wages discouraged unions. AFL declined during the 1920’s

impact of depression

unemployment hit 13m by 1933 and only 105 of workers were in unions although strikes and sit ins between 1929 and 1933 increased

why did ww2 create a divide?

division between lower paid blue collar and white collar workers increased, there was a decline in blue collar and an increase in white collar. workers benefitted from the more affluent society but were less interested in union membership. women also working in greater numbers and were also generally negative towards unions

what does union membership go from and to in 1953 to 1960

36% to 31%

what happens to economy in 1970s and impact?

slow down of US economy due to foreign competition eg china. rising inflation also led to real wages falling for the majority. increased demand for skilled workers but less demand for unskilled workers so skilled wages rose.

what happened to the wage gap between unskilled vs skilled in 1970-1992?

widened significantly

what happened to number of whitecollar workers in 1960 to 1980? what was the impact?

1960 - 30.5m 1980- 50.5m

meant that less people interested in unions as white collar workers often had good salaries and generous packages with health benefits