History of Organized Labor in the United States 1900-Present

I. Introduction
A. Organized labor improves economic status of workers
B. There are union’s representatives
C. Union representatives volunteer in their communities
II. Body
A. The national labor union
i. National union labor was the earliest organized labor entity in US
ii. The union changed to National Labor Reform Party
iii. It achieved great success
B. Knights of labor
i. It was the most significant labor union in the 1880s
ii. The union acquired more followers in 1877
iii. Due to this union there was the formation of a federal Bureau of Labor and legislation
C. American Federation of Labor
i. AFL was formed in the year 1886
ii. Samuel Gompers was the president of this movement
iii. This union was not very successful in the development of the organized labor.
D. Unskilled Workers
i. Skilled and the unskilled laborers wages was on the rise in 80s and 90s
ii. The 20th century brought about considerable industrial growth.
iii. There were considerable improvements in laborers working conditions
E. Depression
i. The great depression that took place in the year 1930
ii. Approximately one-third of the American labor force was jobless
iii. Many unions lost membership
F. Congress of Industrial Organizations
i. CIO was organized under John L. Lewis leadership
ii. CIO is a charitable union
iii. Its mission entails providing the America’s labor-force with socio-economic justice
G. World War II
i. Was among the most significant economic event in the 20th century
ii. The war positively ended the great depression
iii. The war’s damaged every main economy in the globe apart from the US,
H. United Farm Workers
i. The rise of organized labor was typified by the America’s UFW
ii. The oldest and the leading union of agricultural manual worker in the nation
iii. The United Farm Worker’s leadership sustained its powerful antipesticide position
I. Female membership in labor unions
i. Long ago women were not adequately represented in organized labor union
ii. Efforts to organize women in these unions were seen as a squander of resources
iii. Female membership was however increased and this move shed light on sex issues
III. Conclusion
IV. References
Introduction
An organized labor is a workers’ organization that is united as one, a representative body functioning to improve the economic status of the workers and their working conditions through shared negotiation with the employers. Unions’ representatives volunteer in all stages of the United Way operations, they partake in their annual-round committees, partake in yearly United Way movements as part of the movement leadership arrangement, and talk to the union associates the significance of the movement and the bureaus involved. Organized labor union members get involved as volunteers in their communities offering services to these communities; organized labor in US is not an exemption.

Organized Labor in United States from 1870 through the present
The national labor union
The national union labor was the earliest organized labor entity in US that got in touch with its Europe counterparts. In the year 1872, the union changed to National Labor Reform Party thereafter falling into decline. Back then NLU achieved great success but proved less important in the practice.
Knights of labor
Knights of labor was the most significant labor union in the 1880s. After the violence that took place in 77s, this union acquired more followers. Unlike other unions, knights of labor was extremely centralized and integrated all professionals. Nonetheless just like the national labor union, this union declined rapidly. The heritage of the knights of labor however built-in the formation of a federal Bureau of Labor and legislation that regulated the settlement of rail-road smacks.
American Federation of Labor
AFL was formed in the year 1886 and Samuel Gompers was the president of this movement; he provided conservative headship. Instead of striving to restructure the primary institutions of the US life like other fundamental union activists were striving to do, AFL was trying to secure its members high wages, improved working conditions and lesser working hours. Because this union did not try to systematize unskilled workers, it did get lot of gains in the 1920s and this is when the economy growth occurred in the mass-production businesses (Moreno, 2006).
Even though Gompers’ leadership assisted the AFL become the biggest and the most influential union compared to other years, they were not very successful and their membership went down dramatically. The AFL-CIO was at that time leading labor organization but this accomplishment was already being destabilized by transformations in the US economy and the labor force. In the year 1945, almost one-third of the American employees belonged to this union however by the year 1990 this number had gone down to below one-fifth; this union was not very successful in the development of the organized labor.

Unskilled Workers
Unskilled workers in long-established industries mostly went through so many difficulties. In the 80s and 90s the gap between the skilled and the un-skilled laborers wages was on the rise. While US workers near the end of 90s looked back on a decade of developing prosperity born of well-built economic growth and low cases of unemployment, many did not feel very sure about their future. However the nineteenth the twentieth century brought about considerable industrial growth.
Numerous Americans left their farms and the small townships to work in industrial units, which were arranged for mass-production and typified by steep chain of command, a dependence on unskilled labor and poor wages. In this setting, the labor unions slowly developed clout. Finally, they won considerable improvements in their working conditions. They also transformed the politics of US; mostly allied with the Democratic Party, these unions signified a central constituency.
Depression
The great depression that took place in the year 1930 altered the attitudes of American’s toward unions. At the lowest points of this depression, approximately one-third of the American labor force was jobless, a confounding figure for a nation that in ten years they had benefited from full employment. In the first twenty years of the 20th century, attitude toward work force started to change. States started passing rules regulating working conditions and lessened child labor. Communists that sought power in these unions challenged convectional leadership during this period.
In 1929 when this depression hit US, the organized labor was not well prepared. The effects of this war were diverse and extensive. The war positively ended the great depression. The federal regime came from the war as a strong and powerful economic actor with the ability to regulate the economic activities and to some extent control the financial system via expenditure and consumption. Many unions lost membership but when President Franklin D. was chosen the rebirth of the organized labor signaled. Unemployment was the major problem that rose after the great depression. Many workers lost their job because of the incredible changes that come up after this event.

Congress of Industrial Organizations
In the year 1935, American Federation of Labor convection, reformers commanded that the work force in the mass-production industrial units be organized. When a large number refused this idea, the dissenters organized the CIO under John L. Lewis leadership. Lewis forcefully strived to organize workers in some industries especially those working in the automobile and steel industries. Bloody aggression took place and by 1911, the significant industrial units were unionized (Fletcher, 2008).
The AFL and the CIO is at the moment a charitable union of NLU representing more than thirteen million workers. Its mission entails providing the America’s labor-force with socio-economic justice via political and legislative designation. The AFL-CIO operates largely to endorse fair-trade legislation, reasonably priced health-care, excellence public education, just wages ample enough to maintain a family, job security and retirement benefits and retirement fund program.
World War II
When the US came into World War 2, the organized labor played a significant role in making sure that the production remained stable. Not many strikes took place even though the ones which did weakened the support of the unions. During the World War II, unions were faced with a challenge of raising the number of females and African-American in getting into the labor force. The World War II was among the most significant economic event for the Americans in the 20th century.
The effects of this war were diverse and extensive. The war positively ended the great depression. The federal regime came from the war as a strong and powerful economic actor with the ability to regulate the economic activities and to some extent control the financial system via expenditure and consumption. The American industrial unit was re-energized by this war. The organized labor campaign, made stronger by the war turned out to be a major offset to the government industry and also the private industrial unit.
The war’s hasty science and technology transformations went on and strengthened trends commenced during the organized labor depression and built a stable expectation of sustained novelty on the part of several officials of government, scientists and citizens. The war’s worldwide scale harshly damaged every main economy in the globe apart from the US, which as a result enjoyed extraordinary political and economic control later than 1945 (Alexander, 2008).
United Farm Workers
The rise of organized labor was typified by the America’s UFW. This is the oldest and the leading union of agricultural manual worker in the nation, and its power on ecological public policy, functions and laborer conditions. The National Farm Workers Association, forerunner to the United Farm Workers, was cofounded in nineteen sixty two by César E. Chávez and Dolores Huerta. Their ultimate obligations were to win acknowledgement and deference, improved wages and secure working conditions for farming workers in California and somewhere else.
The United Farm Workers turned out to be the first manual labor union that demanded government fortification for farm laborers and others from hazardous pesticides, together with plane-sprayed compound drifts. After the anticipated death of Chávez in the year 1993, the United Farm Worker’s leadership sustained its powerful antipesticide position by going on with their support regarding the fortification of the farm laborers and others who toil and live near farming fields.

Female membership in labor unions
When the manufacturing industries that represented the strong-point of the American Labor campaign went down like the auto-mobile and the steel industrial unit, the expansion of the service sector started to see considerable growth. Some administrative vocations in the service sector involve secretarial personnel, nurses, social laborers and teachers, and are mostly occupied by the female workers.
Long ago women were not adequately represented in organized labor union because of the belief that the woman nature was to be a faithful office wife and not be disloyal by getting into a union. For this reason, efforts to organize women in these unions were seen as a squander of resources. Female membership was however increased and this move shed light on sex issues, family matters and other female’s issues getting more authenticity in the place of work. With a lot of support, unions that have large women membership have started to include family matters in negotiating like maternity leave.
Conclusion
Organized labor has continued to be a significant political and socio-economic strength nowadays, but its power has decreased markedly. Manufacturing has gone down in relative significance, but the service sector has developed. More laborers hold managerial office jobs instead of unskilled, manual factory jobs. Newer manufacturing industries, in the meantime, have sought extremely experienced workers who can become accustomed to incessant changes produced by computers and other new-fangled technologies. Organized labor, anchored in industries like steel and heavy technology, but has had problem in responding to this revolution. Unions thrived in the years that immediately followed World War II, but in the afterward years, after the number of laborers employed in the conventional manufacturing industries went down, union membership declined.
References
Alexander. J.R. (2008). A history of organized labor in Panama and Central America. New York. ABC-CLIO
Bill Fletcher (Jr.). (2008).Solidarity divided: the crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice. University of California Press
Moreno. P.D. (2006). Black Americans and organized labor: a new history. Chicago.LSU Press

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