Organized Labor

Although not a novel idea, there is significant merit to the notion that organized economic groups play an important role in the process of economic and governmental adjustment. One of the most important of these groups, at least in the modern, industrialized world, and specifically the United States, is organized labor. The American Federation of Labor, for instance, has had the ability to draw together and organize several million people , grouping them into a political and economic force that must be accounted not only as an integral part of the electorate, but as a significant economic identifier and modification process (Childs, 1974, pp. 1-4).

This paper will begin with a brief examination of the phenomenon of organized labor and will then turn to a history of the labor movement in the United States. In looking at case studies in order to determine the economic impact of organized labor, the paper will deal with the wage theory problem, unionism and wages, and inflation and wages. In this analysis, the dichotomous relationship between union and nonunion labor will be addressed, particularly in reference to the scholarship of H. Gregg Lewis. Finally, the paper will conclude with a concise assessment of the role of organized labor in the American economy.

One scholar began his work with the notation that "the history of the American work force is a complex and fascinating story of the men and women who provided much of the physical and mental power essential to t

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was primarily by craft-units, leadership by nonworker intellectuals was resisted, and gains were to be won by the simple economic power of unions rather than by any legislative action. Economically, this was most in evidence in that workers organized in strong unions were more likely to have an economic power that constituted the most effective weapon for the achievement of specific labor goals. In the eyes of the early AFL, when the economic power of employers was matched by the economic power of labor, the worker would be in a far better position to demand and attain specific benefits for themselves (Lorwin, 1933, pp. 25-50, passim). Through the efforts of Gompers, and others, membership in American unions grew rapidly in the later part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. In fact, membership in labor unions increased quite steadily between 1897 and 1904, due, in large part, to the increase in the number of labor unions and the number of unions associated with the AFL. After 1904, the expansion of unions was largely a result of an increased membership in the existing unions, and, partially because of the increased economic stimulus caused by World War I, a peak membership of five million members was reached i

Category: History - O