American industrialization grew explosively following the Civil War, but serious social divisions, similar to what was found in Europemanifested. Pre-industrial United States had relative social equality, at least compared to Europe, but by the end of the 19th century, a widening gap separated the classes. In Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant near Pittsburgh, employees worked everyday except Christmas and fourth of July, usually for twelve hours a day. In Manhattan, the destination for many European immigrants, became full of overcrowded buildings with four families and two toilets on each floor. To some, the contrast was a betrayal of American ideals while others saw it as a natural outcome of competition and the “survival of the fittest.”
As elsewhere, such conditions were ripe for many labor protests, the formation of unions, and strikes, sometimes leading to violence. In 1883, when the eastern railroads announced a 10 percent wage cut for their workers, strikes disrupted rail service across the eastern half of the country, smashed equipment, and rioted. State militias and federal troops battled striking workers over the course of over two months in cities across the country. It was the bloodiest period of civil unrest since the Civil War, killing over two hundred people and tens of millions in damages. Class consciousness and class conflict were intense in the industrial America of the late nineteenth and early 20th century.
Unlike many European countries, however, no major political party emerged to specifically represent the interests working class. Nor the radical ideals of Marxism draw significant support although socialist ideals swayed many. Nevertheless only the labor wing of the National Union emerged as a prominent force during the Progressive Era, propelling reformer Theodore Roosevelt to the Presidency in 1904. Even during that time, they struggled with the moderate faction of the party and infighting among themselves. No united movement of workers emerged to champion industrial workers until the Great Recovery sparked by the Pacific War. How might we explain this distinctive feature of American industrial development?
One answer lies in the relative conservatism of the major American union organizations which continues to this day. The largest unions, such as the American Labor Federation focused on moderate skilled workers over more radical unskilled laborers. While it limited its power in politics and prevented a unified front from forming, it helped avoid the unions being labeled as dangerous revolutionaries by the american public. Furthermore, the United States is a nation of immigrants and there were much larger religious, ethnic, and racial divisions compared to the homogeneous populations of most European countries. Catholics and Protestants; English, RIsh, Germans, Slavs, Jews, and Italians; white and black; Californios and Anglos; these differences undermined the class solidarity of American workers, making it much more difficult to sustain a class-oriented political parties and a socialist labor movement. Many different labor organizations were a part of the labor wing of the National Union, who often had to cooperate with each other first before negotiating with the rest of the party. Finally, the country’s industrial growth generated on average a higher standard of living for American workers than their European counterparts experienced. By 1920, white collar workers in sales, services, and offices, outnumbered factory workers. While they were often members of these conservative unions, their middle-class aspirations dampered radicalism.
Other political challenges to the abuses of capitalist industrialization did arise. Populists who railed against banks, industrialists, monopolies, the existing currency system, and the political establishment found broad support from small farmers. The Progressives led by Theodore Roosevelt and backed by the unions pushed for specific reforms, such as wages-and-hours legislations, better sanitation standards, antitrust laws, and increased regulations. What cemented the power of the labor organizations in the economy and in the National Union was the recovery from the Great Depression. For a span of nearly twenty years from 1926 to 1942, the average unemployment rate consistently hovered around 10%. While the numbers of unions actually decreased during the Depression itself, it concentrated the remaining workers into a few labor unions. When the Great Recovery began, sparked by the declaration of war on Japan, the surviving labor unions were poised to greatly benefit from the influx of workers. From then on the conservative labor movement became the backbone of the American economy and the foundation of National Union.
The economic bust and boom had largely ended the previously fractured labor organizations, although racial divides were still present, especially in the south. Nevertheless by 1950, there were three major federations of multi-trade labor unions, the National Association of Labor, the Union of Industrial Organizations, and the Reform with Solidarity Coalition. Despite their fierce rivalries and disagreements on how labor should be organized, all supported the National Union and usually the same candidates. In 1965, the three organizations founded the United Congress of American Labor or UCAL, an organization consisting of representatives from the major labor groups to promote cooperation to pursue a common goal.
Today the labor organizations hold significant political power by their sheer size; it is estimated that over half of the workers in the United States are unionized. A typical unionized worker is part of a regional and a national trade union, which in turn, is a member of one of the three national federations. Since its formation, the United Congress has evolved into the political arm and the consensus-building body of the American labor movement. It is governed by an Assembly consisting of elected representatives from its member labor organizations who elects a Chairman who presides over the Assembly and an Executive Committee. Originally meant to be an advisory body, it now directs the member unions' general policies and activities for state and federal elections. As a result it is one of the most powerful political organizations in the United States today.
Since the 1976 Presidential Election, the National Congress has endorsed Presidential candidates or directly nominated a candidate to stand in the National Union Primary. For the 2016 Presidential election James Wallace was nominated by the UCAL Assembly for the primaries, denying President Norcross an official endorsement for a second term
Edited: 16 September