The Labor Unions in the Post-Civil War Period

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National Labor Union Knights of Labor American Federation of Labor
Members Farmers, laborers, reformers Low skilled workers, railroad workers, steel workers, immigrants Workers, semiskilled, skilled and unskilled workers
Leaders William H. Sylvis and Andrew Cameron Terence V. Powderly, Alley Thomas Samuel Gompers, John McBride, William Green, George Meany
Goals Improving work conditions via legislative reforms; to reduce 10-hour working day to 8-hour Inclusivity in work, promoting social and cultural uplift of workers, including Black Americans and women. Better working conditions, such as shorter working hours, higher wages;
To convince companies to recognize unions and agree to collective bargaining
Tactics Forming a party called National Labor Reform Party; bringing all labor organizations together Forming mass organization; use of strikes and elections Use of strikes to implement policies and reforms
Outcomes The congress reached the establishment of an eight-hour working day but employers also cut the wages. So the outcomes were not practical. In 1873, it disappeared due to failure in 1872 elections. It campaigned an eight-hour working day, the abolition of child labor, improved safety conditions at workplace, and equal pay for men and women; The campaigns were mostly unsuccessful due to the lack of support form legislature. Overall, the organization was successful as they completed various acts, such as Social Security Act and Fair Labor Standards Act; but it failed due to its Chinese exclusion policy in

The National Labor Union was the first national labor federation that aimed to address the problems of working class. It gave a start to future labor organizations that are the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor (Labor Movement, 2020). It can be said that those three organizations had the same origins. Moreover, these three organizations had the same main goal which is to improve working conditions of working class. However, the National Labor Union had political aims as opposed to the American Federation of Labor since it created a party, while the latter was not intended to have a political goal but simply to reduce working hours and increase wages.

At some levels the organizations also seek for equal rights. For example, for both the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor equal rights for women and men was one of their main objectives (Knights of Labor, n.d.). Moreover, members of those three organizations were different skilled workers. Yet they differed in terms of gender and race. The National Labor Union did not welcome Black Americans and women as its members, while two other organizations welcomed them. The Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor also accepted the membership of immigrants. One more similarity of those organizations is in their use of strikes to achieve their goals. The National Labor Union formed a party to influence legislative decisions, while other two organizations were providing reforms and polices to solve the issues (Labor Movement, 2020). There were numerous strikes from those labor unions but only few of them were accepted and had practical implication. For example, the National Labor Union achieved an eight-hour working day in some industries but in practice, employers cut the wages of employees, causing more dissatisfaction rather than solving the problems of working class.

With regards to the success of the national labor organizations, it can be said that only the American Federation of Labor was successful in its purposes. At the earlier stages, both the National Labor and the Knights of Labor were doing great regarding their membership as their members increased sharply, yet they experienced a decline whenever their strikes were not passed. The National Labor Union failed in its mission and transformed into the Knights of Labor after the elections in 1872 where it lost its political chances to enter the legislative body. Additionally, the labor union did not solve the problem of working hours, as such, it was an unsuccessful project (Labor Movement, 2020). The Knights of Labor started to fail in 1886 when its members joined the American Federation of Labor because the former was not adaptive and supported the old norms of industrial capitalism (American Federation of Labor, n.d.). The American Federation of Labor that was emerged after two previous organizations was the most successful of labor movements at the national level. Yet, it failed due to its problems related to racism and sexism as it supported the Chinese Exclusion Act (Labor Movement, 2020). Although it never had a strong gender exclusion policy, it excluded women from workforce and prevented them from joining the labor unions (American Federation of Labor, 2020). Therefore, the American Federation of Labor had been unsuccessful in its way of treating workers with different backgrounds.

References

American Federation of Labor- Ohio History Central. (n.d.). Ohio History Central. Web.

Knights of Labor  Ohio History Central. (n.d.). Ohio History Central. Web.

Labor Movement. (2020). History. Web.

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