Labor in America

Term Paper # 105023

Labor in America

An analysis of the change in the relative bargaining power of factory and industrial workers from the 1800s to the present day.

1,242 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper explains the reasons for the relative bargaining power of American workers in the 1800s and the decline of this power in the latter half of the 19th century. The paper explores what then changed in the 1930s until 1946, by which time the nation was thoroughly accepting of labor unions. The paper goes on to discusses why, from that time to the present, there has been a steady decline in union membership until today.

From the Paper:

"There are a number of ways to analyze the change in the relative bargaining power of the factory and industrial worker from 1946 to the present day. One method would be to understand the relative scarcity, as represented by the movement in real wages, of the factory worker from 1800. At that time, the US was growing fast, immigration was relatively low, and European capital continued to pour in to the US during the entire 19th century in order to chase better returns and stronger growth than on the Continent. American productivity climbed as capital poured in, partly due to the universal education that was part of the founding principles of the United States."

Sample of Sources Used:

Dukofsky, M., Dulles, F. R. Labor in America: A History . Wheeling: Harlan Davison, 1999.
Fantasia, R., Foss, K. Hard Work: Remaking the American Labor Movement. London: University of California Press, Ltd., 2004.