Labor Unions

During the late nineteenth century there were several attempts at organizing a national labor union. They included the National Labor Union, the Knight’s of Labor, and the American Federation of Labor. All three of these unions fought for similar goals, but only the American Federation of Labor was able to survive the ninetieth century.

The National Labor Union was the first attempt to organize workers throughout the country. It was founded in 1866, as a federation of national and local unions as well as city federations. It grew quickly, within two years it had close to two thirds of a million members. The NLU attempted to organize all workers, they included skilled as well as unskilled laborers, and these laborers consisted of both agricultural and industrial workers. They sought higher wages and an eight hour workday. The NLU also championed several issues of social reform. The NLU worked for rights of women and blacks, worker cooperatives, and monetary reforms. The leadership of t

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The Knights of Labor made strides for similar goals to those of the NLU. The AF of L was a more exclusive labor union than The Knights of Labor and the NLU were, because they were only open to skilled workers. The NLU came to an end in 1877 after several unsuccessful strike attempts.

The third major labor union during this time was the American Federation of Labor. Powderly wanted to settle labor disputes through arbitration rather than through strikes. Powderly that the Knights of Labor moved from a secret fraternal society to a public labor union in 1891. he NLU emphasized political actions; these actions alienated a large number of its members, who only wanted reform in the workplace.

The first two unions failed because they wanted to work with a too large group of people, this led to failures within the group that destroyed the unions. These local organizations often decided to strike on their own. At the start of the twentieth century the American Federation of Labor was the largest labor unions in the country, with over 1 million members. It was founded by Uriah Stephens in Philadelphia. The leaders’ motives combined with a large and diverse membership lead to divisions and splits within the organization itself. But it was under the leadership of Terence V. Because the AF of L was focused on improving economic goals through collective bargaining, rather than being involved in a political nature they were able to become more successful and last for a long time.

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