Union timeline- APUSH

By dazedpisces
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    Union Work

    APUSH

  • National Trades Union

    Around the 1930s economic hardship drove employees of urban wage earners to unionize to receive better accommodations and wages. By 1836 as many as fifty local unions had formed and many went under the umbrella of the ‘National Trades' Union, established in 1834 to organize these small union communities.

  • Commonwealth v. Hunt

    The Supreme court case which set a precedent for Union decisions for a long time afterward. It ruled that, despite former rulings, if a Union was made legally, then it was legal. The first time a Union was acknowledged in the public sphere.

  • Knights of Labor

    The Knights of Labor or Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor was the first real prominent group in organized Labor. Founded in 1869 after the National Labor Union collapsed. It was made to fill in that space and work to settle all rights in many different fields of labor, working for better hours, wages, and treatment. However, after they Haymarket Square Bombing, many of its members left and the whole group dissolved by 1890.

  • Haymarket Square Bombing

    On May 4th 1886 there was a labor protest rally occurring in Chicago at Haymarket square, where someone threw a bomb at police and started a small skirmish between police and the laborers. In the end, the Knights of Labor would be heavily blamed for the incident that occurred and many of their members would proceed to leave due to the stigma of the group.

  • American Federation of Labor

    A national Union set up in 1886 and only accepted skilled laborers into it’s ranks. It split off from the Knights of Labor who had started to get a bad reputation, especially after the Haymarket Square bombing. They wanted better wages, working hours, and better working conditions overall for workers, even though they were selective with their members.

  • Sherman Antitrust Act

    The first Antitrust statute in history, it was seen as a monumental gain for labor unions at the time. However, they would soon see it turned on themselves, as the Antitrust act was used to disorganized unions, saying that they had the monopoly on labor and who worked and who wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t be until Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and the Clayton Antitrust act that this legislation would be put to proper use.

  • Scab Workers

    Often Immigrants, these were workers who did not belong to unions and were used to easily replace other workers, so the name scab. They were seen as lowlifes and unhelping of the union cause, many times they were harassed or even attacked by their union brethren who were upset at how easily they were replaced.

  • Homestead Strike

    A strike known by many names such as the Pinkerton rebellion or the Homestead massacre, this strike occurred at one of Carnegie's steel plants beginning on June 28th and ending on July 6th 1892. After being locked out for days, the Unionists stood for their rights, but the owners were going to bring in nonunion workers or what they would’ve been called, Scab Workers, but on July 6th a mass fight broke but in the end Unionists lost and created a huge setback for unionizing steel.

  • Eugene Debs

    A radical unionist who was known for organizing strikes and rallies to stand up to big businesses in the late 19th to early 20th century. Most notably, he led the Pullman strikes to garner better pay for railroad workers and to support controlled railway fares. He also helped to found the Industrial Workers of the world and ran in the Country’s socialist party for president five times.

  • Pullman Strike

    A strike on May 11th, 1894 where Union workers stopped working on the rails to demand better pay. It was led by union leader Eugene Debs and was so striking that the U.S. Military had to be sent in because the mail wasn’t being sent through, which was a federal offense. Eugene Debs would later tell organizers in other train strikes not to touch mail cars and to assist them through.

  • Theodore Roosevelt

    During his two terms as president, Theodore Roosevelt made drastic measures to secure rights for workers and return fair competition back to the capitalist market. He created the Department of Commerce and Labor and acted in favor of unionists at the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902.

  • Anthracite Coal Strike

    A coal strike in 1902 at coal mines in Pennsylvania, held by United mine workers of America, for higher wages and smaller workdays. The owners of the plant refused to negotiate with the workers, and so the United States government had to step in due to a lack of coal and power. But this was the first time Government stood up for Union workers as Theodore Roosevelt Sent in troops to run the coal mine until the owners relented and came to an agreement with the miners.

  • Bureau of Corporations

    Created by Theodore Roosevelt, it was an investigatory branch on monopolies and trusts as a part of Roosevelt's Square Deal and plan to reign in trusts who were out of control. One huge trust it broke up was Standard Oil in 1911 who had a complete monopoly over oil in the country at the time.

  • National Child Labor Committee

    Formed by Edgar Gardner Murphy, this organization fought to end and expose child labor, hiring photographers and garnering membership of elites such as Grover Cleveland. It was created in 1904 during Roosevelt’s presidency when labor issues were coming into the light and books such as The Jungle were making light of the poor conditions workers lived in.

  • Industrial Workers of the World

    A Union started in Chicago in 1905, it was a specific union established by members of the Western Federation of Miners who separated form the AFL. It had driving founders such as Eugene Debs and William Haywood.

  • The Jungle

    A novel by Upton Sinclair about the meat packing industry in Chicago, published in 1906 it aimed to show the poor conditions of the workers inside these factories and described their injuries and conditions with excruciating details. What came of this was the food and Drug act and the meat inspection act of 1906 after President Roosevelt gave his Muckraker speech.

  • Muller V. Oregon

    A state victory against women’s rights in the Supreme Court, the decision was made that women should have limited working hours because it was a risk to their health. While it helped to lessen working hours, it also justified sex discrimination in jobs. The case was filed against an Oregon business man by the name of Curt Muller who made his female workers work for more than ten hours at a time.

  • Clayton Antitrust act

    This act in 1914 was an addition to the Sherman Antitrust act in 1890, which was used to control trusts as was in Roosevelt’s economic Square Deal policy. It was said to reduce anti-competitive businesses and bad trusts which hurt the market and economy. It covered up loopholes that were in the original Sherman Antitrust act.

  • Adamson Act

    The first piece of legislation to regulate the hours of workers to 8 hours in private companies. It also established overtime work and helped to avoid strikes by railroad employees especially.

  • Workingmen’s Compensation for federal employees

    The Federal Employees Act provided financial aid to federal employees who were injured at work, or workers compensation as the act name suggests. It help them to also rehabilitate though medical assistance. It was the beginning of giving back to workers and taking care of them rather than using them.

  • Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

    The first African American inclusive group created by the AFL. Pullman Porters who worked in trains to do menial labor were dissatisfied by a Chicago based company (do I see a trend?). They were dissatisfied at the fact they were paid less because of their skin color and began some of the first signs of the civil rights union by protesting this fact.

  • Francis Perkins

    First woman to be appointed to the position of the United States Secretary of Labor and the first woman to be appointed to a position in the United States Cabinet.

  • Wagner Act

    This 1935 act allowed for Unions to be formed and business owners had to bargain collectively with those organizations. Along with that, the National relations board was also created to be a kind of labor police and to assist Unions. The Wagner act was mainly to help with this enforcement problem that Congress felt they had with Unions and employers.

  • National Labor relations board

    This board acted as an enforcer to the rules and rights that Unions had in regards to joining and striking in one, plus negotiations with employers. There were to be three members on it, all president appointed that would act with Majority rules on issues, very much like a court police hybrid.

  • Taft-Hartley Act

    The Taft-Hartley Labor Act established reign over issues on labor and unions while establishing a new basis by enlarging the National Labor Relations board and creating stricter guidelines to help keep union and employer agreements easy and controlled rather than having them be long and drawn out processes.

  • Equal Pay Act

    This law in 1963 banned wage discrimination in the United States based on gender, though wage discrimination based on gender is still a big issue moving forward.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    This bans racial, ethnic, religious, or gender discrimination when hiring someone for a job. Somewhat like Affirmative Action, which was also formed under Johnson.

  • United Farm Workers Organizing Committee

    César Chávez formed the AFL-CIO United Farm Workers Organizing Committee to help support Latino farmers, giving them support in a racially charged society. It helped to ease some discrimination against Latino farmers.

  • Occupational Saftey and Health act

    This was a safety act enacted to require employers to keep workers protected or away from hazards such as toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, heat, cold, stress, and other harms in the work environment.

  • Pittston Coal Strike

    United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) strike on Pittston Coal Group in Virginia spurs non violent protest across the eastern coalfields involving 50,000 miners in eleven states. After a nine month struggle, the miners finally won a contract.

  • NAFTA

    NAFTA eliminated tariffs between Mexico, The United States, and Canada to increase prosperity, trade, and economic growth between the countries in North America. While it didn't impact Canada, America and Mexico gained from the agreement.

  • Lilly Ledbetter Act

    This act allows women to sue over pay discrimination in the work place, suing for discrimination and loses in the workplace against employers