Labor relations have changed tremendously throughout the course of American history. Until the late 19th century, Americans tolerated a system in which slave labor was sanctioned. The Industrial Revolution gave rise to a new type of slavery, in which manufacturing interests took precedence over the well-being and safety of workers. Railroads hired Chinese laborers to work for next-to-nothing; coal mines hired immigrants for similar reasons. Labor movements started to emerge in the late 19th century in response to the gross injustices perpetrated by business and government. In fits and spurts, labor gained political ground. Shorter work weeks, wage security, safe working conditions, and the ban on child labor were all significant but hard-won victories of the early labor movement in America. During the Great Depression, labor relations intensified. New Deal programs largely supported the rights of laborers, and set the stage for what would become relatively fair labor-management relations.
However, management also won some of the labor relations battles. Unions grew politically stronger, influencing blocs of voters. A backlash against labor ensued throughout the late 20th century but especially during the 1980s, when the American political and economic philosophies changed dramatically under Reagan. The open and free market economies proved successful from a management perspective, and government supported the primacy of the profit motive.
The consequences of these fluctuations has been a system that favors management in the United States. Labor unions have been systematically ridiculed socially, lumped together with communism and therefore derided by the American public. Similarly, labor unions have lost their political clout to a certain degree, and management has secured political power over laborers. Wages have remained deplorably low, so low that income disparity in the United States resembles that of Third World nations. Income disparity in the United States is the steepest of any other industrialized nation. Countries with strong labor laws such as the nations of northern Europe tend to be more egalitarian societies with fewer class distinctions and less of a wealth gap. The American model allows unbridled business growth at the expense of social justice.
References
Freeman, R. (1996). Solving the new inequality. Boston Review. Retrieved April 13, 2007 at http://bostonreview.net/BR21.6/freeman.html
