The industrial conflict between employers and employees continues to manifest itself through the various disruptive strategies employed by workers across the world. Some of these strikes and protests have often ended in casualties especially with the involvement of the government. Nonetheless, the government’s involvement is inevitable. With the rising cost of living, unemployment, the emergence of powerful and multinational corporations, the influence of labor unions continues to dwindle enormously. For the few that can are lucky to find employment, the working conditions, wages, and the working hours are oppressive. Worse still, competition among employers and the increased labor force continues to place both labor unions and employees at a disadvantage. The emergence of corporations managed to reduce the power level of labor unions and government involvement in their business process, and factors such as unemployment and harsh economic times discourage employees from participating in the labor strife while governments continue to side with employers.
By the end of the 19th century, the `United States and the world at large was generally an agrarian community with many people working in farms and as seamstresses for meager wages. It was during this period that the industrial sector started to develop and as a result, many people found themselves working in factories to run machines. Another significant element was the ongoing World War I, which meant that most men were unavailable for work. Instead, women, children and immigrants were forced to take work from these factories to sustain themselves and their families. Consequentially, there was a massive migration of individuals from agricultural cities towards the emerging urban cities to work in the mass production industries governed by steep hierarchies that mostly relied on low-skilled labor for relatively low wages. These circumstances later led to the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905 (Brueggemann, 2014). This union managed to improve the working conditions of the workforce tremendously, and it also influenced the nature of politics in the United States. One of its greatest achievements is the enactment of the New Deal in 1930, which required that factories serve the society’s interests along with their economic pursuits.
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Close to two centuries down the line, labor unions are hardly the influential force they used to be, and the service sector has since replaced the manufacturing sector. Employment is slowly shifting towards skilled workers with white collar jobs that require the mastery of computerized systems and computers, leaving behind a largely disadvantaged blue-collar sector. The market is no longer rigid as it once was, but instead, customers have become highly dynamic in need of highly customized goods and services (Domhoff, 2013). The end of World War II also marked the end of the prosperity era for Labor Unions, with its membership declining sharply along with a fast-declining manufacturing sector. Employers have learned clever ways to evade pressing issues such as low wages and competitions with the use of more flexible employment plans. Indeed, employers now avoid the long-term relationship with employees through ingenious employment plans and part-time job offers that the workforce cannot resist due to the rising percentage of unemployment across the globe. Both politicians and corporate organizations have joined hands to slow down the growth and influence of labor unions by restricting their activities. As a result, strikes and campaigns by labor unions are received with great animosity, rendering most labor unions almost powerless (Craver, 2010). Additionally, younger workers perceive Labor Unions as oppressive, and the divided nature of most employment sectors continues to leave them divided. Consequentially, there is a widening wage gap across the globe, with more people turning towards governments for resolve.
While most business owners continue to resist Labor Unions, the workforce wants the unions to defend them from what many perceive as oppressive employers. Employers seek financial protection against low pay and pay cuts, layoffs, long working hours, unconducive working conditions, and job security and among others (Brueggemann, 2014). As a result, there is a conflict of interest with most of these companies whose largest expenditure is spent on wages. Also, to remain highly profitable, these organizations must be in total control of their business activities and decisions. The ensuing class conflict has continued to manifest itself over the years through boycotts, demonstrations, strikes, and demonstrations in various parts of the world.
Despite the issues that continue to affect both employees and employers, in some instances, the nature of business might force the employer to encourage labor unions. First, if the replacement cost is relatively high, businesses are forced to allow employees to form unions to avoid making large losses. Companies that rely on highly-skilled manpower such as professional athletes cannot afford to lose their workforce, and therefore, they are allowed to form workers unions. Sequentially, these employees are well-paid and have strong unions. Also, companies with a fast turnaround time such as transport companies, for example, DHL, drivers will have strong unions because the replacement cost is high. In other instances, workers have been known to retaliate against the replacement guys, sometimes leading to fatalities. Secondly, employees can succeed in creating unions through government interventions. Governments achieve this by restricting employers from retaliating following disruptions by workers. Although the strategy favors workers, the government is usually not in support of them. Instead, the government uses such restrictions to stabilize the economy (Domhoff, 2013). Nonetheless, employees can gain an added advantage by siding with the ruling political party. In fact, governments that use such restrictions have some vested interests to protect. For example, during World War I and II, governments wanted to ensure that they had adequate resources.
Labor Unions first started in the early 19th century, and even then, they went under a different name. During the early 1800s, there were a few craftspeople, and there were crafts guilds and mutual aids who ensured that work guidelines were followed and restricted entry into the various professions. Later when industrialization set in, these guilds became more vigilant to protect their political, economic and social interests. As the jobs in the industrial sector continued to become more deskilled, the workers started to unite in large groups for effectiveness. During the 1830s, skilled personnel including canal builders, railroaders, building constructors and miners united in labor organizations to resist low wages and the long working hours (Brueggemann, 2014). Despite their best efforts to shun bureaucracy, the Great Depression of 1837 stalled them, until later after the Civil War. The Knights of Labor was the first to form, although, in essence, it was a revival of the crafts union by the garment cutters from earlier on. These early groups alienated from disruptive strategies, and instead focused on education, legislative changes, and persuasion, and by 1877, they had attracted a huge membership mostly of white men. This peaceful approach continued for a few years until 1877.
The fresh and prolonged wave of violence started when Baltimore announced that it was going to impose a 10% tax cut making it the third pay cut in 1877. Since the Depression of 1873, many companies had implemented pay cuts many times, but most people did not react because of their wanting financial situation (Brueggemann, 2014). The announcement by the Ohio department led to violent strikes in Virginia that lasted for some time. The city officials responded by calling the local militia, but since the workers were part of their community, the militia was reluctant to act. The government was then forced to ask for help from the federal troops, and in retaliation, the workers stopped rail transport and destroyed the rail property, further spreading the violence to other cities. The epitome of the violence was later caused by troops from Philadelphia who shot at the protestors and killed several people in the process. As a result, the workers responded by burning down 39 buildings, destroying 104 locomotives, and another 1,254 passenger and freight cars. The strike had finally acquired national status with the participation of an approximate 100,000 workers and stoppage of half of the nation’s transport system (Craver, 2010). Eventually, the governors had to call off their militia. The government also had to use government troops to quell the uprising which did not settle down until after two weeks.
Until then, strikes were perceived as a legitimate strategy of airing the grievances by workers, and governments had continued to respond with reasonable tolerance until then. Therefore, the ensuing violence was a shock for both employers and workers. Before, the only other strike that had resulted in a fatality was in 1850 when the police fired in the air to scatter tailors protesting pay cuts. Besides, Russia, The American Labor War of 1877 was rendered the most violent (Domhoff, 2013). This violence was a sign for the most diplomatic nation in the world to reconsider the decision to award business owners total control over their business processes. Worse still, the United States continued to witness such violent strikes for the remaining part of the century, and considering the huge number of casualties during the Civil War, most Americans perceived these incidences as rather normal. In summation, the United States witnessed 11 army strikes, an approximate 159 labor disputes, and mayors were occasionally forced to engage the police in maintaining public order between 1877 and 1900.
Nonetheless, the 1877 violence inspired many railroad corporations to consider improving working conditions for their employees. Although the relationship between employers and employees hardly changed, employees were awarded benefits such as pension and accident insurance. Besides these few benefits, most corporations focused on increasing their preparedness in the event of a similar happening. For example, corporations started focusing on stronger military units with some funding such units directly, and some corporations began using private security personnel to resolve labor disputes (Brueggemann, 2014). Later, strikes organized by the Knights of Labor ended in tragedy with police shooting at the crowd, and the group responding with a bomb. The famous Haymarket Riot soon turned tragic and ended in the complete defeat of the union. Four of the anarchists believed to be responsible for the riot were hanged while a fifth opted to commit suicide within the walls of his confinement. Within the next four years, the organization that had gained membership of hundreds of thousands lost close to 90% of its members. Although the incidence played a significant role in the decline of the organization, the unity of business owners against the growth of labor unions played a prominent role.
However, the failures and successes by the Knights of Labor set a stepping stone for the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The new federation was created in 1886, soon after the epic failure by the Knights of Labor. Owing to their hard-earned lessons, the AFL was able to bring business owners into a compromise in a bid to resolve the ever-present labor strife between employers and workers. The AFL first started off by dividing its membership into small groups based on their skills, after which these small groups proceeded to organize individual boycotts and strikes (Craver, 2010). Additionally, the AFL refrained from any political activity to avoid dividing its members. Besides the continued resistance from the employers, immigrants also made it difficult for the labor union to control the labor market. The only hope at increasing the wages was by reducing the amount of available labor.
The rise of corporations later changed the face of the labor markets. The purpose of corporations was to reduce the liability to business owners, increase profitability, and ensure the continuity of businesses after the death of the business owners. Another intention of these emerging corporations was to limit the power of employees and reduced the government’s involvement in their activities. The ensuing economic boom lead to improved relations between employees and employers, and also, a group of corporate conservationists also known as corporate moderators emerged. These corporate moderators signified to labor unions that they were willing to compromise to reduce the conflict between employers and employees. Employers also shielded themselves from increasing pay wages by organizing themselves into employer associations. The AFL had by then given up all hope of getting help from political leaders, and therefore, they welcomed the idea (Brueggemann, 2014). As a result, the National Civic Federation (NCF) was formed, comprising of leaders from both corporations and major trade unions. Both parties were convinced that the hope of economic prowess was embedded in reduced industrial strife. Although the move assumed the need to strike a balance between capital and labor, in essence, it was a bid by corporations to suppress labor unions. The ensuing collective bargaining would leave corporations at a vantage point having brought the influence of labor unions to manageable levels (Domhoff, 2013). Important to note is that the NCF failed to consider the unskilled labor force in its bargains. In spite of the envisioned success, their amicable cooperation only lasted two years. With time, the membership of the labor unions continued to grow along with their demands, an aspect that reignited the animosity between the corporate leaders and the union leaders. Corporations soon resolved to educational and welfare programs over the collective bargains. However, by 1910, labor unions had gone back to violence with dynamite attacks becoming more commonplace. President Taft was then forced to order the Commission on Industrial Relations to evaluate the industrial strife. World War later destabilized the power struggle to the advantage of unions, but their newly acquired position of power only lasted till the end of the two wars. The Great Depression during the 1930s played a major role in the first disruption (Craver, 2010). After the Second World War, labor unions had a huge membership, but governments such as the Regan governments were against such unions, and consequentially, they surprised them in favor of corporations. Other factors that have also diminished the power of labor unions across the world include the availability of cheap labor overseas and the emergence of powerful multinational corporations.
Conclusively, the powerful position of business owners and corporations has seen governments render their support to employers while labor unions and employees continue to suffer. Over the centuries, workers across the world have tried to improve their working conditions, but strong opposition by employers with the support of governments continues to diminish the power of labor unions. Among the critical issues affecting employees include poor pay, poor working conditions and long working hours. However, the most adversely affected employees are those without skills or those with low skills. Violence during protests and strikes is a common phenomenon mostly because employers are non-compromising, and since governments perceive such acts as damaging to the economy, they respond with military action which often escalates the situation. Besides the implementation of various acts, governments are not in support of the measures taken by labor unions. In essence, there is a continued conflict of interest between employers and labor unions that only the government can solve at the disadvantage of employees. Notably, the emergence of corporations has resulted in a sharp power shift in which corporations have reduced the power of labor unions and that of government involvement in their activities.
References
Brueggemann, J. (2014). The Role of Organized Labor in Civil Society. Sociology Compass, 8(8), 1033-1044.
Craver, C. B. (2010). The Impact of Labor Unions on Worker Rights and on Other Social Movements. ABAJ Lab. & Emp. L., 26, 267.
Domhoff, G. (2013). The Rise and Fall of Labor Unions in the US from the 1830s until 2012 (but mostly the 1930s-1980s).
