World War I and the Domestic Casualty of the Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) worked in the early 20th century to organize all labor to collectively strive for the interests of labor and in order to create a more democratic society, in spite of possible resistance from the interests of capital and the repercussions that were to occur in reaction to organizing (Bird et al 1). Although, in a mostly defunct form, it still exists today as an international labor union, the height of the labor movement occurred towards the mid-late 1910’s, with the practical demise of its influence occurring during the time in which the United States entered into the First World War (Bird et al 4). Persecution and physical harassment by the federal government, the exercising of the force of legal rational authority by state governments, cultural hostility toward the IWW, and internal quarrels of leadership and indecision in the IWW were the key factors that lead to the downfall of the Wobblies. The burden placed on common workers at the turn of the century, whether in industry or agriculture, was great. A mass of surplus labor at this time, literally “millions of laborers”, (Bird et al 3) had created a situation in which the private owners of the means of production could exercise a great deal of economic power over individual workers. While jobs were relatively few, unemployed job seekers and drifters were many. Thus, using the capitalist values of the marketplace, the market value of the commodity of labor was generally very low, and the workers, each individually powerless against the strength of employers, were, when fortunate enough to land a job, given subsistence level wages while oft working under very hazardous work conditions. While owners were securing what is perhaps the greatest interest of capital, profit, workers were coerced by the situations of reality to sell their labor to merely attempt to survive. Under the desperate drive of many hungry stomachs and desolate lives, workers saw a need to organize, giving rise to labor several labor movements. One of the most prominent and perhaps most radical and revolutionary of the movements was the IWW. The Wobblies, as they would become more commonly known, were officially formed on June 27, 1905. (Bird et al 2) The IWW was founded in the aftermath
In response to intervention, thousands of groups of people became defiant. Laborers living off the bare minimum often assembled into organized groups to enforce their demands upon the government, making a notable push for reform (D) while educated men such as Henry Demarest Lloyd promoted virtue, not land, as the ideal focus of government (B). Dissatisfaction continued within the middle class. As new industrial machines emerged, designed for mass product...
Throughout the American labor movement, there have been consistent interest groups involved with instituting unions and those advocating for their destruction. No labor movement has succeeded without battle between groups that desire control. The early 20th Century is no different--with the massive influx of immigrants and quick birth of the industrial revolution, the years 1900-1920 truly exemplified the conflict between workers and companies. This essay plans to detail the motives and tactics of four central groups fighting for control of worker’s rights by using the text Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David von Drehle.
As many steel workers recognized, the underlying issue of the AAIS’ legitimacy and survival proved central to the 1892 Homestead Strike, one of the bloodiest labor confrontations to date. Ultimately, despite workers’ efforts, the strike brought about the destruction of the AAIS by the Carnegie Corporation, as its outcome revealed the vulnerabilities of union organization against corporate power during the Gilded Age. Thus, due to the AAIS’ capitulation to a combination of internal and external threats to its legitimacy and authority, the Homestead Strike ultimately failed to produce enduring advancement for the cause of American labor. This decisive failure was the result of the development of technological innovations contributing to workers’ loss of control over workplace conditions, the union’s later negative association with radical Socialist and anarchist forces, and lastly, its vulnerability to the Carnegie Co.’s strategy and moves to. Hence, due to the union’s debilitating setbacks at the workplace, in the company, and in the media, the battle o...
Ethics and the Unions - Part 1. Industrial Workers of the World. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/Dolgoff/newbeginning/1
The unions of disunion were not only a major detriment to increasing the socio-economic standards of the laborer from 1875 to 1900, but also served to backpedal on the progress laborers had already gained out of respect. Perhaps the cornerstone of the unions’ policies was the fight for the improved working hours, specifically and eight hour work day, and increased wages for the laborer. However, Historical Statistics of the Unites States on Hours and Wages of Industrial Workers from 1875 to 1891 proves that no such improvements truly occurred. In fact, only a nominal 3.3 cent increase in wages from 1875 to 1891 occurred, and while it some may argue that the unions are then successful in achieving some increase in wages it is crucial to realize that this nominal increase came at the cost of hundreds, if not thousands, of laborer lives. Certainly a meager 1% increase in wages does not justify such loss of life, and if it is claimed that it does then that is also to warrant the trusts right to pay their laborers so little, as anyone who condones such little increase at such high costs automatically degrades the value of the life of the worker and thus reinforces the trusts’ right to combat unions. Furthermore, it should be noted that the average price of wages through those sixteen years was a measly 161.8, a decline of 8 whole cents from the starting point. Thus we can see that unions did not really gain 3.3 cents in wages, but rather caused a net loss of 8 cents. To even attempt to claim improvement for the laborer would be a completely ludicrous notion. Unfortunately for the laborer, the unions of disunion’s extent of their plight did not stop at the ruining of the worker’s economic position through the loss of wages, but also thr...
Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.
“The Heart of Change,” by John Kotter and Dan S. Cohen can act as a diagram for any organization facing challenges that come with implementing change. In the 21st Century in order to stay competitive with your competitors you have to implement changes, new systems and approaches to keep the organization relevant. With changes there comes errors that a company may encounter, sometimes these errors if not fixed can make the change within the organization impossible. Employees are reluctant and can’t see the views or their leader, and this makes change unsuccessful. That’s where Kotter’s eight step change model can give an organization a guideline and understanding of some of the challenges that they may encounter with change. Comparing Kotter’s
With the ongoing expansion of technology, being “at risk” has become a common diagnosis that requires its own cycle of prescriptions and treatments. It’s almost like biomedicalization has become a disease like state in itself. Fosket uses this perspective to analyze the emergence of pharmaceuticals as credible strategies for breast cancer prevention and the analogous emergence of a group of women designated “high risk” for breast cancer and targeted for pharmaceutical interventions. These interventions include Chemoprevention, which is “the practice of ingesting pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals to prevent disease” (Fosket 331). This practice of Chemoprevention was also seen in many articles we read this semester, some of which is Dumit’s “Pharmaceutical Witnessing and Direct-to-Consumer Advertising”, where he mentions how people may experience things that may not be pathological, like heart burn, b...
While the Congress of Vienna largely achieved its goal of military peace among European states in the nineteenth century, ideological and social conflicts took shape within and among these states. Responding to the Industrial Revolution, writers of the time encouraged workers to unite against oppression and demand the rights they deserved. Though this call to action was widespread, not everyone shared the same vision of how these goals ought to be achieved. Specifically, while many sought to evade or destroy the influence of mainstream capitalist society in order to improve workers’ standards of living, in The Workers’ Union, Flora Tristan seems to imagine a workers’ revolution that would work within the current laws and use the existing political
During the latter part of the 19th century, many laborers faced numerous problems. Some of these problems included, “mechanization of industry, emergence of giant corporations, nationalization of labor, public sentiment greatly admired the ‘Captains of Industry,’ and immigration” (Farless). After years of knowledge, man was introduced to machines. When machines played a part in the latter part of the 19th century, it caused trouble with the laborers. These new machines would replace laborers, which meant more laborers were remaining unemployed and that there were lower wages (Farless). Another problem laborers faced were the introduction to immigrants. Immigrants were coming to the United States of America from foreign land to work. With these immigrants, it kept the wages low because the immigrants were new inexpensive labor (Farless).
Although, the growth of business was booming and consumption was extremely high during the 1920’s employers failed to equally distribute the benefits to its industrial workers who got the short end of the stick and did not see any profit from productivity. Since there was no law at the time established on how many hours a person was to work and get paid, employers would overwork and underpay the laborers. This became a major problem because it brought about high unemployment rates, which for laborers, the shortage of jobs meant strong competition among each other for finding and keeping a job, and low wages, which brought down consumption.
Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo, et al. "Developing Public Health Regulations For Marijuana: Lessons From Alcohol And Tobacco." American Journal Of Public Health 104.6 (2014): 1021-1028. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 June 2014.
“Marijuana Abuse.” National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Drug abuse and Addiction. NIH, n.d. Web. 4 Feb 2014.
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...
This paper will be broken down into six sections profiling each critical part of implementing and managing change in an organization. The sections included are; outline for plan creating urgency, the approach to attracting a guiding team, a critique of the organizational profile, the components of change, and how to empower the organization.