The Impact of Labor Unions on the U.S Economy in the Late 20th Century

The 20^th century a considerable growth in labour unions, especially after the second world war. The world war had left most of the globe with little resources which necessitated hard work and sacrifice. The wages offered to people working in industries such as the steel and automobile industry were minimal. Furthermore, the working conditions were also dangerous and several people were injured and died on the job. As a result, different employees banded together to fight for their rights. Different employees in different industries formed labour unions that were focused on enhancing the working conditions as well as increase the wages of the workers. The labour unions formed were effective in enhancing the voice of employees and giving them a seat at the table with the big corporations. Labor unions provided employees with power to advocate for and fight for better employee rights.

What caused the development of labor unions in the 20^th century

The labour unions were developed to enhance the working conditions and the wages of workers within the American society. In fact, the emergence of the trade union movement in the mid-20^th century directly contributed to the advancement of civil rights in the late 1900s. Labour unions demonstrated that people can come together and fight for their rights. After the second world war, several unions emerged in several industries in response to the dismal working conditions and the minimal wages that were offered. The section will focus on highlighting the dismal working conditions that led to the development of labour unions in early industries such as the steel industry. The resources utilized will highlight some of the strikes that occurred due to the poor working conditions. As Smemo et al (2017) observe the steel strike of the mid 20th century, was one of the longest strikes in recorded history. The strike also had one of the highest employee number in recorded history. The strike was organized due to the dangerous working conditions and little wages. The steel strike further highlighted the importance of labour unions since the unions was successful in increasing the wages of the workers and improving their working conditions. Furthermore, they also maintained their bargaining power within the company.

How did labour unions improve working conditions in the 20^th century

The unions improved the working conditions by maintaining bargaining power with the companies they were in bed with. For starters, the labour unions of different industries were retained to advocate for the interests of the workers in the union. Therefore, there were constant meetings where these unions could negotiate for better wages and control of the working floor. The focus of the paper is to identify the strategies that were utilized to advocate for employee rights. The resources used will demonstrate the strategies that labour unions utilized to maintain control of the working floor and to continuously enhance the rights of employees in the U.S (Wright, 2014). Furthermore, these resources will also analyse the benefits and risks of the power that was accumulated by the labour unions. Even though these unions were effective in enhancing the rights of employees, increased power eventually led to the collapse of the unions, which is explored further below.

What factors caused the collapse of labor unions by the end of the 20^th century?

The Steel Strike of 1959 exemplifies labor union efficiency in the mid-to-late 1900s, paving the stage for the civil rights movement, eventually leading to the collapse of the unions. The steel strike of 1959 was the country’s largest employee strike. The walkout, which lasted 116 days and involved half a million steel workers, lasted 116 days (Smemo, et al., 2017, p. 40). The strike was called by the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), the labor union of the time, in response to the company’s attempts to regulate working rules. In spite of the economic implications, the USWA was able to stand its ground through activism. They demonstrated that people could come together, form a movement and fight for their perceived rights. A few years later, the civil rights movement occurred on the same basis. In the same way, African Americans gathered together to seek equal rights and treatment in their society. Minorities were emboldened to fight for their rights once the civil rights act of 1964 was passed. According to MacLean, “They could file complaints with the new Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) and sue employers for violating their right to fair treatment” (MacLean, 2014, p. 20). Initially, African-American workers were not protected from employment discrimination. However, after the act was passed, it provided the black community with a legal means to fight workplace discrimination based on race. The act not only benefited the black community, it was also helpful to other minorities such as Latinos and even women. Activists, like labor unions before them, were at the forefront of the late-twentieth-century civil rights struggle. Minorities benefited financially as well as legally as a result of the rise of activism. The focus of this section will be to demonstrate both the rise and the fall of labor unions. The rise of labor unions will have been explored effectively. However, understanding the power accumulated is the first step towards understanding how the power was misused by the end of the 20^th century. The resources in this section will focus on highlighting the collapse of the labor unions by the end of the 20^th century. The unions had done a tremendous job of enhancing the rights of employees over the years.

Conclusion

Analysing the progression of labor unions through the 20^th century highlights how civil rights movements came to be developed. These unions were the first bodies that enabled people to come together and advocate for their rights. Even though the unions collapsed eventually, they were effective for most of the 20^th century.

References

MacLean, N. (2014). The Civil Rights Act of 1964: The difference a law can make. Labor Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, 11(3), 19-24. https://doi.org/10.1215/15476715-2687682

Phillips-Fein, K. (2007). “If business and the country will be run right:” the business challenge to the liberal consensus, 1945–1964. International Labour and Working-Class History, 72(1), 192-215. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0147547907000610

Smemo, K., Sonti, S., & Winant, G. (2017). Conflict and consensus: The steel strike of 1959 and the anatomy of the New Deal order. Critical Historical Studies, 4(1), 39-73. https://doi.org/10.1086/690968

Wright, G. (2014). Title VII in economic-historical perspective. Labor Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, 11(3), 37-41. https://doi.org/10.1215/15476715-2687664