Worker's Rights and Strikes Through Time

Workers’ rights have been an important topic for centuries. Workers’ rights are important because society is built on the back of the common worker. In most societies a select few hold most of the power and have control over the inner workings of the society, whereas common workers hold extraordinarily little power and are vulnerable to the changes made by the powerful. Because of this power imbalance workers have little direct control over their work, life, and society. However, the common people have one large advantage over the rich and powerful, they are many. This is the purpose of the strike, use collective bargaining power to make a group of people who have little power alone immensely powerful by acting together. Strikes are an important part of workers’ rights and political reform because they both force change and promote public awareness. This public awareness is an important aspect of strikes. Strikes by design put injustice in the spotlight and create large waves of disruption that force both the government and society as a whole to address the problem. Strikes turn a private and centralized dispute into a public showcase of injustice. Strikes generate so much bad press that they force change. Strikes are so good at forcing change because they have such a significant impact on the working of our society that they force the government and society to take some form of action whether good or bad. Strikes are a vital tool for workers’ rights, but they have many faults and failures throughout history.

Death and Defeat

The Homestead Strike

The Homestead Strike took place on July 6th, 1892, in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The workers of the Carnegie Steel Company were unhappy with attempts to break their union, wage cuts, and firings at the steel plant in Homestead. When a force of Pinkerton Detectives arrived to break the strike, the workers fired upon them and a gunfight ensued. At least 10 people died and many more were injured but the Pinkertons eventually surrendered. The Pinkertons were beat and harassed after they surrendered which would eventually sour public favor for the strikers. The national guard eventually came to break the strike, and the strike ended. The strike left behind a legacy of blood and controversy and ended in failure.

Injustice and Injunctions

The Pullman strike

The Pullman Strike occurred from May 11th to July 20th, 1894. It was a railroad strike near the company town of Pullman. The workers at Pullman had their wages cut but the prices of the towns rent and items was not decreased, so they went on strike. The strike quickly gained widespread support among the working class and expanded rapidly. The strike also got backed by the American Railroad Union (ARU). As the strike continued, militia forces were sent further angering the strikers. Eventually a federal injunction was passed that banned the ARU and its leaders from communicating or supporting the workers. This change however, had an unintended consequence, the leaders of the ARU who had been encouraging peace could no longer communicate with the strikers. After the injunction, federal troops were sent to the strike, angering the strikers even further. Soon striking turned to rioting, and violence broke out. The violence and destruction caused by the strike soured the public’s favor of the strike and ended any hope of change. There was however one positive change to come from the strike, Labor Day which was created amidst the chaos to appease the strikers.

One Step Forward

The Wagner Act

The Wagner Act (also known as the National Labor Relations Act) was created in 1935. It gave nonagricultural or domestic workers the right to organize or join labor unions and bargain as a group with their employers. It set up a National Labor Relations Board that could certify unions and prevent or correct problematic labor practices. It was highly contested and opposed by the Republicans, and its constitutionality was barely upheld (5-4) by the Supreme Court. It was an especially important step in workers rights, but it was flawed and could be undermined by legislature, as seen in the next section.

Two Steps Back

The Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin Acts

These two acts were created to amend the Wagner Act. These required unions to provide 60 days advance notice of a strike, authorized federal injunctions, which prevented strikes, and granted greater freedom to the states to decide what labor relations could occur in their borders. This was created through the Republican majorities in Congress, to remedy “union abuses” in the Wagner Act.

Conclusion

Successfully striking is a difficult task. Strikes often fail, and they have to overcome negative legislation and powerful enemies. However, strikes are an important tool in the world of workers' rights, and they give workers a way to express their wants and fight for their rights. There have been numerous failures in the struggle for workers’ rights, but strikes have brought successes as well.