Trade Unions In The 19th Century

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Timothy S. Goodrich HIS-1-4-170 Discussion Paper #2 15February 2017 Discussion #2 The History and Influence of Government and Trade Unions in Western European Development The original labor unions were descended from Europe’s Artisan Guild’s and Craft Guild’s. Guilds were formed and existed to instruct and enhance members in all aspects of their chosen livelihood. The Guilds fostered proper and consistent training and education in the Artisan aspect of their trade and instilled professionalism throughout each step of their career, guided from Apprentice and Journeyman levels as workers to Master and Grandmaster levels and business owners in their own right. Guilds also provided support for members when traveling in search of work. …show more content…

A distinct 2-class system developed in England. It was demanded that the lower, working class citizens would defer to the upper class as their betters (3); even something as minor as tipping of hats for gentlemen and their ladies on the street to stepping aside for the same to let them pass if they met on a street or sidewalk was an everyday expectation. While in itself relatively minor, it was this resentment among others-poor and often unsafe working conditions in the mills and mines that led to the need for, and fueled the eventual forming of Labor Unions to get proper treatment and conditions. Government involvement came into being early on, with Labor Unions being prohibited upon severe penalties. An example of the government’s one-sided stand was in 1834, with seven men from Tolpuddle, England being sentenced to 7 years hard labor in Australia which was then a prison colony, for their swearing oaths to a Union (4). Upper classes had had the ear of the parliaments from early on and were near violently vocal in their opposition to unions, with newspapers giving voice and backing that feeling. Labor Unions did form but initially they were by the highly skilled, workers-specialist occupations such as coachmakers (5). Upperclass driven oversight in parliament had favored anti-union regulations and laws for decades. By 1824 British anti-labor union laws had started to be successfully challenged (6), but that by no means ended the strife between factory owner class and the laborer classes. The collaborated early writings of early socialists Karl Marx and Frederick Engels(7) promoting the working class gave voice to this underclass, and often threatened to turn pro-union protests violent. Their message of workers rights and solidarity threatened the established class system of the european monarchies, which may have

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