Unionizing In The Workplace

Faced with poor working conditions, unionizing was a way to gain something together. Workers felt the need to protect their common interests; better wages, reasonable hours, safer working conditions, and health benefits for families, and some died trying to change America (Falcon, 2003). Unfortunately, employers often fought back with power and money against the union through lawsuits and legislation, but sometimes with an armed mob of mercenaries (Grabianowski). Interestingly, The Pinkerton Detective Agency discovered there were profits to be made as mercenaries. Their job would be to escort scab workers to the company, intimidate strikers, and prevent strikers from damaging property. And, sometimes things turned deadly. On one standoff in 1892, in Homestead, PA, it became a battle scene with fires, a cannon, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and ending with three Pinkerton employees and ten strikers dead (Grabianowski). …show more content…
It was not just better wages and working conditions, but, he wanted to spread a message of dignity, respect, and justice for farm workers (Tavaana). When a union’s demand is not met by management, the weapon workers have against employers is a strike (Grabianowski). And so, in September 1965, a grape picker’s strike started in California, followed a national boycott of California grapes in September 1967. It was not until July 1970, when the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee signed a contract that ended the grape strike/boycott