Laboring 102011

The industrial revolution of the 19th century was hardly a bloodless revolution.  Similarly to the 21st century technological revolution the industrial revolution generated great wealth to the few, robber barons and their political supporters.  The revolution also modernized serfdom for the many, cheap labor from poor whites, freed blacks Irish, Eastern Europeans and Chinese immigrants.

The western world’s industrial great leap forward came at a steep price of starving families, maimed and dead workers.  Workers had no protections, no safety standards and no security.  Children received no education often entering the coal mines and factories at six years old, their few pennies the margin of life for the family.  Workers who questioned conditions were beaten, fired and replaced by even cheaper labor.   By the turn of the 19th century labor movements emerged around the globe. 

Management met labors calls for reforms with evictions, lockouts and guns.  Management demonized workers as anarchists, communist and played to xenophobic fears.  Management played power politics using thugs and official force to gun down labor leaders, even entire work forces.  A few industrial giants, like Henry Ford, came to realize it cost money to train skilled workers and well paid workers bought the products they produced and slowly reforms came to be accepted. 

Child labor laws were enacted, safety standards established but mostly it was the draw on a limited pool of skilled labor that advanced labor’s cause.  Labor movements still had to fight many bloody battles throughout the first half of the 20th century.  Workers were on the verge of victory but poorly chose their labor leaders. The open battles between labor and management conditioned labor leaders to warfare.  Management however shifted its strategy to leverage its wealth to political power.

Legislation gave reforms and at the same time limited labor’s ability to organize.  In 1938 the American Supreme Court upheld labor’s right to strike but added that employers had the right to permanently replace strikers.  Labor was slow to realize that its back was broken but the latter half of the century saw its hard earned bargaining power slowly erode.

Labor is again under assault of money and power.  Corporations leveraged its wealth into favorable legislation and court decisions that limits unions ability to support candidates but allows business to use its wealth to support business friendly candidates.

This is not lost on politicians and want-a-be who by dictate or anti-labor legislation are moving to bury the last vestiges of a century’s labor benefits.  Pensions, health insurance, job security and collective bargaining are rapidly disappearing.   Emboldened by prospects of cheap labor from an army of unemployed, deep pocket Corporations are funding renew labor demonization and elected officials who will repeal worker protections.  “Look for the union label,” is museum nostalgia filed alongside the buggy whip industry.