was widespread fear–almost hysteria–among more established Americans that a
revolution might break out in the United States. In response to this fear, the
federal government launched a series of raids which resulted in the arrest and
sometimes the deportation of aliens who were members of socialist, anarchist or
communist organizations. About 500 aliens, including Russian-born anarchist
“Red Emma” Goldman, were deported during this period. A number of them, like
Goldman, rejected Bolshevism as they experienced it in the Soviet Union and
later returned to the United States.
Meanwhile, workers were striking for higher wages all over the United States.
Many Americans believed that these strikes were led by communists and
anarchists. During the Progressive era, the public had sympathized with labor.
Now the public became hostile to it. Employers encouraged anti-union movements,
or created company unions that they sought to control. Courts found legal
openings in the Clayton Act and issued rulings against union activity. The
courts also found ways to use the Sherman Anti-trust Act against unions.
Opposed by public opinion, business and the courts, union membership fell. The
number of AFL members dropped to 2,770,000 by 1929. This decline took place even
though the number of workers in industry rose by almost seven million.
For most Americans, the 1920s were prosperous years. But in October 1929, the
New York stock market “crashed,” and the value of stocks went way down. The
crash, part of a worldwide economic decline, led to the worst economic
depression in the nation’s history. People lost their jobs, their farms and
their businesses. By 1932, 13 million men and women were unemployed. This was
one out of every four in the work force. Many more workers had only part-time
jobs. In the cities, jobless men stood on long lines for a handout of bread and
soup. Many of them lived in shanties near garbage dumps. Men and boys roamed
the country, hoping to find work.
In the past, depressions had usually hurt unions. Unemployment meant a sharp
drop in workers’ dues. Then unions became almost powerless to prevent decreases
in wages or long working hours. But in the Great Depression of the 1930s,
unions actually benefited. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, promised
Americans a “New Deal.” He pledged to help the “forgotten man”–the worker who
had lost his job, or the farmer who had lost his land.
Under Roosevelt, Congress passed laws to revive business and create jobs. To
help labor, Congress passed the Wagner Act. It guaranteed workers the right to
join unions and bargain collectively. The law created a powerful National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB). The Board could order elections in which workers voted
for the union they wanted to represent them. (Workers could vote against joining
any union, if they wished.) The NLRB could also order a stop to unfair
practices used by employers against unions.
Union leaders hailed the Wagner Act. It provided a great opportunity to increase
union membership. But the drive was delayed at first by a dispute within the
American Federation of Labor. The AFL was made up mainly of skilled workers
organized into craft unions. But millions of unskilled workers were in giant
industries like steel, autos, rubber and textiles. Some labor leaders believed
that a single union should represent all the workers, skilled and unskilled.
One big industrial union would be much stronger than a dozen different craft
unions, they said.
FROM THE CIO TO TAFT-HARTLEY
Most leaders of the AFL were opposed to the idea of industrial unions. They made
no effort to organize them. Finally Lewis and other union leaders broke away
from the AFL. They formed a new labor organization that became the Congress of
Industrial Organizations (CIO).
One of the first targets of the CIO was the auto industry. Workers at the
General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan, eagerly joined the CIO’s United
Automobile Workers (UAW) union. They demanded that the company recognize the
UAW. But officers of General Motors refused to meet with union representatives.
This was a violation of the Wagner Act. In January 1937, the UAW called a strike
against the company.
The tactics used by the auto workers took the company by surprise. The workers
refused to leave the factories. Instead, they put away their tools and sat down.
They did this to prevent strikebreakers from taking their jobs. At night the
men slept on the seats of new cars. Food was passed to them through windows by
their families.
General Motors tried to force the workers out. The company shut off the heat in
the factories. It was winter, but the workers stayed. Police tried to break
into one of the factories. The strikers drove them back by throwing soda
bottles, coffee mugs and iron bolts. Then the police charged with tear gas bombs.
This time the workers drove them back by turning fire hoses on them.
Finally General Motors went to court and got a ruling against the strikers. The
workers were ordered to leave the GM factories by February 3. The National
Guard (militiamen) was alerted to enforce the order. Everyone expected a big
battle on February 3, but it didn’t happen. Governor Frank Murphy refused to
order an attack on the strikers. Instead, he ordered General Motors officers to
hold peace talks with the UAW. President Roosevelt also asked for a peaceful
end to the strike. A week later General Motors recognized the union and agreed
to bargain with it. The UAW and the CIO had won a major victory.
Within two years, the CIO organized 3,750,000 industrial workers. The AFL met
the challenge of the CIO with an organizing drive of its own. By the end of
1937, the AFL had 3,400,000 members.
During the 1930s, Congress enacted other reforms that benefited labor:
The Social Security Act of 1935 created a system of government-sponsored
unemployment insurance and old-age pensions.
The Fair Labor Standards Act regulated wages and hours. Minimum wages were
established to help workers maintain a decent standard of living. Hours were
shortened to give them more time for leisure. The law also forbade the labor of
children under 16 in most occupations.
Unemployment in the United States remained high until the United States entered
World War II in 1941. Then, defense industries boomed, and millions of men
entered the armed forces. By 1943, unemployment ended and industry was faced
with a shortage of labor. During the Great Depression, women were urged not to
take jobs. Now they were encouraged to go to work. Before long, one out of four
workers in defense industries was a woman.
During World War II, labor cooperated with government and industry. Its spirit
was expressed by John L. Lewis, president of the CIO. “When the nation is
attacked,” he said, “every American must rally to its defense.”
When peace came, a wave of strikes for higher wages swept the nation. Employers
became alarmed. They said that the Wagner Act had given labor too much power. A
majority in the United States Congress agreed with them. In 1947, Congress
passed the Taft-Hartley Act. It contained a number of provisions to limit
organized labor. One of them outlawed the “closed shop” agreement which required
employers to hire only union members. It also permitted the states to pass
“right to work” laws. These laws forbade agreements that required workers to
join a union after they were hired.
Labor leaders bitterly denounced the Taft-Hartley Act. They said it was meant to
destroy unions. Despite their fears, membership in unions continued to grow. By
1952, it had increased to 17 million.
Leaders of the AFL and the CIO merged their organizations in 1955. The combined
organization became the AFL-CIO.
LABOR TODAY
In recent years there has been a steady decline in the percentage of workers who
belong to labor unions. In 1945, 35 percent of the work force were union
members. In 1988, less than 17 percent of the labor force–or 17 million
workers–were unionized. There are several reasons for this, including:
The decline of heavy industry (once a stronghold of unionism) and the increase
of advanced-technology industries.
Automation and other technological changes that have displaced many blue-collar
workers. Foreign competition, which has depressed some United States industries
and increased unemployment.
The transition to a “post-industrial” economy in the United States. Ever
increasing numbers of workers are employed in service-providing businesses,
such as hotels, restaurants and retail stores.
Despite the decline in members, organized labor in the United States remains
strong and conditions of America’s labor force have steadily improved. The
length of the work day has been shortened. Many agreements between employers
and wage earners now call for less than 40 hours of work a week. Most agreements
have generous “fringe” benefits. These include and seasonal farm workers.
By the early 1990s, the work force was changing. First. the pool of workers was
no longer expanding as rapidly as in the past. And, second, the composition of
the labor force was different, consisting of a larger percentage of minorities
and women than before. Employers are adapting to this work force diversity in
several ways. Some sponsor education and training programs for potential
recruits. Many, in an attempt to attract and accommodate insurance, pensions and
health care plans. As the number of union members has decreased as a percentage
of the total work force, unions have responded by broadening their organizing
efforts to include employees of federal, state and local governments as well as
other professionals. Organizers have also waged long campaigns to unionize and
win better conditions for such diverse groups as public school teachers women
workers, provide on-site child care, and flexible hours. Others make special
arrangements so they can hire more handicapped workers. One hotel chain, for
example, uses lighted telephones and vibrating beepers so they can hire more
hearing-impaired people.
As the work force has changed, so have some–but not all–labor-management
issues. Unions now want laws to strengthen their right to strike by prohibiting
companies from hiring permanent replacements for striking workers. Employers
want the right to test workers for drug use. There is also growing sentiment
that all employers should be required to provide adequate health insurance to
their workers–which most, but not all, already do. Many workers are fighting
for the right to take unpaid leave when they have babies or when a family member
is ill and needs extensive care. And, as the unemployment rate has climbed
(over 6 percent in 1990), there is growing sentiment that the government should
help create jobs–through public works programs, job training programs and tax
credits for employers in areas of high unemployment.
Suggestions for Further Reading
Brody, David. Workers in Industrial America: Essays on the Twentieth Century
Struggle. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Fink, Gary M., ed. Biographical Dictionary of American Labor. 2nd ed. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press, 1984.
Fink, Gary M., ed. Labor Unions. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977.
Kessler-Harris, Alice. Out to Work: A History of America’s Wage-Earning Women.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Morris, Richard B., ed. A History of the American Worker. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1983.