inherently different

Archive for February 22nd, 2004

If one wanted to explore the history of Organized Labor Unions in the United States, you’d have to begin with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The phrasing used most often in defending the advent of organized labor is in “pursuit of happiness” which sought to cut work hours and gain higher pay. A ragtag collection of printers were the first to go on strike, in New York in 1794; cabinet makers struck in 1796; carpenters in Philadelphia in 1797; cordwainers in 1799. To be sure, it was poor living and working conditions and the unrepentant pursuit of profit by factory owners that pushed the working man to seek to improve the workers’ conditions, through either negotiation or strike action, that set the tone and need for such organizations.
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