National Labor Union
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The National Labor Union (NLU) is the first national
labor federation Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
in the United States. Founded in 1866 and dissolved in 1873, it paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the AFL (
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
). It was led by William H. Sylvis and Andrew Cameron.


Organizational history

The National Labor Union (NLU) followed the unsuccessful efforts of labor activists to form a national coalition of local trade unions. The NLU sought instead to bring together all of the national labor organizations in existence, as well as the "eight-hour leagues" established to press for the eight-hour day, to create a national federation that could press for labor reforms and help found national unions in those areas where none existed. The new organization favored
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over
strikes Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
and called for the creation of a national labor party as an alternative to the two existing parties. The NLU drew much of its support from construction unions and other groups of skilled employees but also invited the unskilled and farmers to join. On the other hand, it campaigned for the exclusion of
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workers from the United States and made only halting, ineffective efforts to defend the rights of women and Black people.
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
workers established their own Colored National Labor Union as an adjunct, but their support of the
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and the prevalent racism of the citizens of the United States limited its effectiveness. The NLU achieved early success, but one that proved less significant in practice. In 1868,
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
passed the statute for which the Union had campaigned so hard, providing the eight-hour day for government workers. Many government agencies, however, reduced wages at the same time that they reduced hours. While President Grant ordered federal departments not to reduce wages, his order was ignored by many. The NLU also obtained similar legislation in a number of states, such as
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and
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, but discovered that
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in the
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made them unenforceable or ineffective. In early 1869, the Chicago Tribune boasted that the NLU had 800,000 members; Sylvis himself put the figure at only 600,000. Both of these figures turned out to be greatly exaggerated.Philip Foner History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Vol. 1: From Colonial Times to the Founding of the American Federation of Labor. New York: International Publishers, 1947. Cloth ; Paperback Page 377 It collapsed when it adopted the policy that electoral politics, with a particular emphasis on monetary reform , were the only means for advancing its agenda. The organization was spectacularly unsuccessful at the polls and lost virtually all of its union supporters, many of whom moved on to the newly formed Knights of Labor. The depression of the 1870s, which drove down union membership generally, was one of the final factors contributing to the end of the NLU, the other being the dismantling of policies instituted during Radical Reconstruction.


See also

* Labor federation competition in the U.S. *
International Workingmen's Association in America The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1872) in the United States of America took the form of a loose network of about 35 frequently discordant local "sections," each professing allegiance to the London-based IWA, commonly known as ...


Footnotes


Further reading

* Philip S. Foner ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Vol. 1: From Colonial Times to the Founding of the American Federation of Labor.'' New York: International Publishers, 1947. {{Reconstruction Era Defunct trade unions in the United States 1872 disestablishments in the United States Anti-immigration politics in the United States National trade union centers of the United States Trade unions established in 1866 1866 establishments in the United States Trade unions disestablished in the 1870s