Chapter 2 Private Sector Labor Relations: History and Law - Study Notes

The Roots of the American Labor Movement

Pre-Revolutionary America
- Economic context: agricultural economy
- Little division between employers and employees
- Labor force characteristics: Free laborers, indentured servants, black slaves
- Key terms:
- Free laborers: workers not bound by serfdom or slavery
- Indentured servants: contracted early labor migrants
- Black slaves: enslaved workers integral to the economy
Labor unions (definition)
- An organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interests in the workplace and improving wages, hours, and working conditions

Growth of National Unions

National Labor Union (NLU)
- Founded in 1866
- First union to allow skilled and unskilled workers to join in one union
- Pursued both political and workplace agendas
National Colored Labor Union (NCLU)
- Result of NLU’s reluctance to admit African Americans to full membership
- Sought affiliation with NLU but was refused in the 1870 Congress
Molly Maguires
- Group of union organizers prosecuted and either executed or imprisoned after an 1875 strike against anthracite mine owners failed
Railway Strike – 1877
- Bitter and violent strike involving railroad workers from Maryland to Missouri
- Protested 10 ext{%} wage cuts after a 35 ext{%} cut years earlier
Haymarket Square Riot – 1886
- Demonstration in support of the 8 ext{-hour day}
- Led to confrontations with Chicago police; public fear of labor organizations
Knights of Labor (KOL)
- Open to skilled and unskilled laborers; formed in 1869 as The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor
- Sought economic and social reform through political action rather than strikes

Growth of National Unions (cont.)

Homestead Strike – 1892
- Involved the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and Carnegie Steel Company
- Armed confrontation between strikers and Pinkerton guards
- Union was broken at the plant and at other steel mills
Pullman Strike – 1894
- Involved the Pullman Palace Car Company and the American Railway Union
- Injunction issued under the Sherman Antitrust Act
- Union leaders jailed
Eugene Debs
- Founder of the American Railway Union; leader of the democratic socialist movement in America
- Espoused industrial unionism
- Ran for president in 1920
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
- Created in 1886 as a federation of unions made up of skilled workers
- Samuel Gompers founded and led the AFL
- Local autonomy; national union operated as a decentralized organization
- Eventually merged with the CIO
Samuel Gompers (1850 ext{--}1924)
- British-born U.S. labor leader; founder and first president of the AFL
- Opposed radicalism and excessive political involvement
- Believed unions should focus on economic goals, with change pursued through strikes and boycotts
Early notable labor actions and groups
- Bunker Hill & Sullivan mining incidents, Cour d’Alene (Idaho)
- Western Federation of Miners (WFM): large miner’s federation involved in violent strikes
- 1899 WFM demanded recognition of the union; company fired WFM members; federal troops arrested miners; reference to “Bull Pen”
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) – 1905
- Also known as the Wobblies
- Comprised of the Western Federation of Miners and other activist political and labor groups
IWW goals
- Become one large industrial union
- Overthrow capitalism in favor of a cooperative society
- Engaged in highly publicized strikes
1903: Women’s Trade Union League
- First association dedicated to organizing women
Ludlow Massacre – 1914
- Miners on strike evicted from company-owned houses
- Tent colony erected on public property; Colorado militia and strikebreakers attacked
- About 20 killed (men, women, and children)
John L. Lewis – 1880 ext{–}1969
- Leader of United Mine Workers of America; president from 1920 to 1960
- Driving force behind founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
- Organized millions of industrial workers in the 1930s
- Resigned as CIO head in 1941; took Mine Workers out of the CIO in 1942, and back into the AFL in 1944
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
- Federation formed in 1935 by John L. Lewis
- Organized unions within industries; included all workers at a work site rather than restricting membership to one trade
- Eventually merged with the AFL

Early Judicial Regulation

Cordwainers Conspiracy Cases
- If two or more people conspired to commit an illegal act, they were guilty of conspiracy whether or not the illegal act was completed
- Cases in Philadelphia, New York, and Pittsburgh
Commonwealth v. Hunt – 1842
- Reversed criminal conspiracy interpretation for union activity
- Must prove an illegal purpose or reliance on illegal means
Use of labor injunctions
- Court orders prohibiting acts that violate the rights of others involved in labor disputes
- Until 1932, injunctions were primarily used by employers to end boycotts or strikes
Erdman Act – 1898
- Gave protections to union members and provided mediation/conciliation of railway labor disputes

Pro-Labor Legislation

Clayton Act – 1914
- Labor is not a commodity
- The existence and operation of labor organizations are not prohibited by antitrust laws
- Individual members of unions are not restrained from lawful activities
- Neither the labor organization nor its members are considered illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade
National War Labor Board
- Created during World War I by President Woodrow Wilson to prevent labor disputes from disrupting the war effort
- Aimed to provide settlement through mediation or conciliation in key war industries
- Adopted self-organization and collective bargaining as its basic policy
- Abolished after WWI
The Railway Labor Act – 1926
- Passed to prevent disruptions in the nation’s rail service
- Required railroad employers to negotiate with employees’ unions
- In 1936 expanded to include the airline industry
Norris–La Guardia Act – 1932
- Restricted federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain law and order
- Made yellow-dog contracts illegal
National Labor Relations Act (The Wagner Act) – 1935
- Cornerstone of U.S. federal labor law
- Gave private-sector employees the right to organize into unions, bargain collectively with employers, and defined unfair labor practices
- Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Fair Labor Standards Act – 1938
- Requires employers to pay covered employees at least the federal minimum wage
- Requires overtime pay of 1.5 times the regular rate for work exceeding 40 hours per week
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA, Landrum-Griffin Act) – 1959
- Provisions include:
- Member freedom of speech
- Member right to participate in union activities
- Mandatory secret-ballot elections of officers
- Limits on the use of union funds
- Amended the Wagner Act and the Taft–Hartley Act; introduced safeguards for union elections and controls for union funds

The Employee Free Choice Act

Introduced in the U.S. Congress in 2007
Primary provisions:
- Card–check recognition
- First contract
- Increased penalties

Earnings Full Time Workers, 2009 (Chart)

Title: Earnings Full Time Workers 2009
The chart compares wages for Union vs Nonunion workers
Demographic breakdown included: Total, Men, Women, African American, Latino, Asian
Specific numerical values are not clearly legible in the provided transcript; the chart depicts a wage gap favoring union workers across several groups

African Americans and Unions

National Colored Labor Union (NCLU)
- Headed by Isaac Myers
- Organized in the South in 1870
- White labor movement did not agree with African American membership
Other related unions and efforts
- Maryland Freedom Union and the Mississippi Freedom Labor Union
- These groups organized and engineered strikes/demonstrations to improve the conditions of African American workers who were often shunted to low-paying jobs

Women and Unions

Major areas of potential growth for unionization: health industry; clerical workers
Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL)
- Formed by reformers and working women
- Adopted a six-point platform:
- Equal pay for equal work
- Full citizenship for women
- Eight-hour workday
- Minimum wage
- Organization of all workers into unions
- The economic programs of the AFL
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
- Formed in 1974 by women within the U.S. labor movement
- Objective: renew interest among women to unionize

Immigrants and Unions

General observation
- Except for American Indians and their descendants, all people in the United States are immigrants or descendants of immigrants
- After World War I, industrial labor unions took a negative stance on immigration
Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924
- Restricted immigration; reduced the nation’s labor supply
Current scenario (as described in the material)
- American employers and unions recognize new unskilled immigrants are changing workplaces
- Union leaders and managers recognize the need to abandon old assumptions to gain loyalty from each new wave of immigrants

Chapter 2: Private Sector Labor Relations – Chapter Outline (as presented in the slides)

I. Roots of the American Labor Movement
A. Pre-Revolutionary America
1. Little division between employer and employee—most workers were self-employed
2. Indentured servants and slaves contributed to the early workforce—farming and clearing the wilderness
B. Post-Revolutionary America
1. Some skilled workers became shop owners; owners employed people to work for them
2. Increased competition demanded cheaper production costs and lower wages
3. Skilled workers formed associations and societies to protect their handiwork
4. Skilled workers agreed on a pay scale and worked only for shop owners who could pay that wage
- 2. Start of “industrialization” and the creation of mass production laid the foundation for unskilled labor unions
C. Post Civil War
1. Factories and mills opened needing unskilled labor
2. Women and immigrants supplied cheap labor for factories
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CHAPTER 2: PRIVATE SECTOR LABOR RELATIONS: HISTORY AND LAW
LABOR NEWS: HOLLYWOOD WRITERS GUILD STRIKE
END of outline material (page 2-42 in the provided transcript)