The Labor Movement In The Late 19th Century

As workers were mistreated during the late 19th century, the labor movement was then created to have better working conditions, such as reducing their hours, forming workplace protections, and increasing wages. Since workers were being mistreated, they came together to form labor unions such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor. With the creation of labor organizations, the involvement of corporate power, as well as the idea of nativism, it affected the formation of the labor movement to have more regulations in the work environment, increase their wages, work less hours, and to have same treatments between people with different backgrounds. Labor organizations affected the labor movement because these organizations allowed workers to fight for better working conditions by organizing protests and strikes. The Knights of Labor was formed around the 1880s to have men and women who were unskilled to be a part of this union. Although they were in favor of having African Americans being part of this labor union, the Knights of Labor were strictly Anti-Chinese. In addition to the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor was a union for skilled workers, yet consisted mainly of white males. These labor organizations were created to …show more content…
There was a barrier between corporations and their workers because of how those in charge would mistreat their workers. Workers in the Pullman Company were completely dependent on Pullman because of how he treated his workers. Since he decreases his worker’s wages, workers protested against their decrease in wages, known as the Pullman Strike. In the Statement from the Pullman Strikers, the workers said, “His competitors in business, to meet his, must reduce the wages of their men. This gives him the excuse to reduce ours to conform to the