Union Renegades

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana M. Caldemeyer
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Gilded Age ◽  
Labor Organizations ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
Economic Needs ◽  
Workplace Leaders ◽  
Wage Earners ◽  
Rural Industries

Union Renegades follows the individuals who did not see the value of following union orders in the Gilded Age. As unions grew more centralized to combat worker grievances in the workplace, leaders were shocked to find that workers were often reluctant to fully follow labor organizations. Although union leaders were quick to cast these individuals as nonunion workers who were “indifferent to their own interests,” this book argues that workers’ decisions to follow or reject unions was based on their own assessment of what course would be most beneficial to them and their families. As corporations sought to increase capitalist gain, rural workers applied these same capitalist mindsets to their own economic needs. It looks closely at the seasonal work patters of rural industries like farming and coal mining to show how workers moved between occupations, causing many to see themselves as business-minded investors rather than as wage earners. This continuous effort to increase income caused farmers and laborers to form their own understandings of unionism that did not always fit with what union leaders envisioned. Workers’ decisions to break away from formal unions, then, did not come from an inability to look after their own interests as some union leaders claimed. Instead, it came from the belief that the union did not offer the surest means to secure their economic, social, and political needs.

Undermined

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-66
Keyword(s):  
Labor Unions ◽  
Gilded Age ◽  
Profit Motive ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
Labor Organizations ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
Personal Incomes

This chapter looks at the capitalist endeavors rural workers and farmers pursued in the Gilded Age. Although they condemned their employers for cutting costs to increase their profit, rural workers often pursued capitalist gain in ways similar to their bosses. Farmer and laborers' decisions to work extra jobs, purchase stock shares, or jointly own small companies often caused rural workers to see themselves as businessmen or capitalists. As with corporations, profit motive quickly undermined collective agendas, sometimes even with cooperatives run by labor organizations. Workers took shortcuts, accepted less pay, undercut their coworkers, and broke neighbors’ strikes all because these actions increased their personal incomes. Ultimately, this need to earn greater profit shaped worker relationships with labor unions. In some cases, workers worked lower than union wages. In other instances, union leaders, concerned about the sustainability of their organizations, ordered workers to accept wage reductions rather than strike. This stance frequently angered laborers who cared more about securing their immediate incomes than reaching their union’s long-term goals.

Wolves

2020 ◽  
pp. 139-162
Keyword(s):  
Gilded Age ◽  
National Election ◽  
Organized Labor ◽  
American Federation Of Labor ◽  
Knights Of Labor ◽  
Labor Organizations ◽  
American Federation ◽  
Rural Farmers ◽  
Union Leadership ◽  
Union Leaders

Chapter 6 explores the numerous fights between union leaders in the Gilded Age to show that “organized labor” was far from unified. Historians have long noted that these fights, such as those between and within the American Federation of Labor and the Knights of Labor, weakened unions during this period. This chapter, however, argues that the fights between union leadership in the Gilded Age were part of a large but disorganized effort to “purify” labor organizations of corrupt and complacent leadership. The tumult this created tore unions apart, created rival organizations like the Independent Order of the Knights of Labor, and caused workers to doubt which leaders and organizations were trustworthy. This confusion became even more pronounced during the Populist push in the 1896 national election, when rural farmers and laborers, disillusioned with the organizations and individuals who claimed to help them, could not agree on which candidate would best look after their interests.

Unsettled

2020 ◽  
pp. 119-138
Keyword(s):  
Return To Work ◽  
Gilded Age ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
Grassroots Activism ◽  
Coal Miners ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
United Mine Workers ◽  
United Mine ◽  
Mine Workers

This chapter examines the differences between union leaders and workers regarding union goals. As the 1893 depression set in, rural workers in multiple occupations mobilized to change the economic structures of Gilded Age society. The American Railway Union went on strike, and marchers across the country joined Jacob Coxey and other leaders in a populist push for social and economic change. Their efforts coincided with the centralization efforts of organizations like the United Mine Workers, which sought to capitalize on the grassroots activism by organizing nationwide strikes. Nonunion coal miners heartily joined strike efforts like the 1894 United Mine Workers coal strike, but they soon discovered that the union assumed more authority than the rank and file was willing to accept. As the officers reached a settlement and called off the strike without seeking approval from the rank and file, strikers refused to obey the order to return to work. Their refusal indicated that while workers were willing to use unions to achieve goals like earning higher pay, they rejected union leaders making decisions on their behalf.

Epilogue

2020 ◽  
pp. 163-170
Keyword(s):  
Gilded Age ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Union Leaders

The epilogue summarizes the books arguments, emphasizing the importance of looking past categories like farmer or laborer or union and nonunion. Doing so provides a clearer picture of worker fluidity in the Gilded Age that allowed workers to seamlessly change occupations and fall in and out of union ranks. It also causes unofficial contributions of individuals such as miner wives and Mother Jones’s early organizing career to be overlooked in historical records because they were not official members of the organizations they helped. Closely examining the workers’ worlds and their relationships to each other, their families, and their neighbors, can lend greater understanding to how they interacted with the various organizations and ideas they encountered. Looking closely at the miners’ relationships with their communities indicates that even though union leaders did not always understand their reasoning, workers were continuously guided by their desires to look after their own interests.

“Judases”

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-92
Keyword(s):  
Gilded Age ◽  
Local Union ◽  
Union Leadership ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
Union Decline ◽  
United Mine Workers ◽  
United Mine ◽  
Mine Workers

Chapter 3 examines the reasons that caused workers to leave or reject unions. Scholars normally associate union decline with workers disillusion with unionism. This chapter, however, argues that workers’ faith in unionism did not waver as much as their faith in union leaders did. As Gilded Age unions like the United Mine Workers implemented a more centralized hierarchy, local union autonomy waned. As a result, workers doubted whether union leaders made decisions with the workers’ interests in mind, and they left the union when it seemed their leaders went astray. Rather than abandoning unionism altogether, however, many of these individuals formed local unions that rivaled the national unions, indicating that workers had more problems with union leadership than they did with unionism itself.

scholarly journals O SINDICALISMO DE TRABALHADORES RURAIS COMO OBJETO DE DISPUTA E COMO AGENTE DE CONSTRUÇÃO DE CENTRAIS SINDICAIS NO BRASIL (2003-2017)

Caderno CRH ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 021004
Author(s):  
Ellen Gallerani Corrêa
Keyword(s):  
Labor Movement ◽  
Mots Clés ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Mouvements Sociaux ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Fierce Competition ◽  
Rural Social Movements ◽  
Article Analyse

<p>Durante os governos do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), o número de centrais sindicais cresceu no Brasil e uma acirrada competição por representatividade se estabeleceu entre elas. Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar como essa concorrência se manifestou no movimento sindical por meio do estudo de caso do sindicalismo de trabalhadores rurais, enfatizando as mudanças ocorridas na Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Rurais Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares (Contag), a principal entidade sindical desse segmento. A investigação foi realizada por meio de entrevistas com dirigentes e assessores sindicais, análise de documentos e imprensa sindical e observação de eventos de entidades selecionadas. Concluímos que a criação de novas centrais sindicais e a possibilidade de obter o seu reconhecimento legal nos anos 2000 estimularam alianças e rupturas no sindicalismo de trabalhadores rurais, as quais levaram à formação de novas entidades rurais e retroalimentaram o processo de criação de centrais.</p><p><strong>RURAL WORKERS’ UNIONISM AS AN OBJECT OF DISPUTE AND AS AN AGENT FOR THE CREATION OF UNION FEDERATIONS IN BRAZIL (2003-2017)</strong><br /><br />During the Worker’s Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT) governments the number of union federations grew in Brazil, establishing a fierce competition<br />for representation between them. This article analyzes how this competition manifested in the labor movement by the case study of rural workers’<br />unionism, emphasizing the changes that occurred in the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Rurais Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares (Contag), the main union entity in this segment. The study comprised interviews with union leaders and advisors, analysis of documents and union press and observation of events from selected entities. We conclude that the creation of new federations and the possibility of obtaining their legal recognition in the 2000s promoted alliances and ruptures in rural workers’ unionism, leading to the formation of<br />new rural entities and fed back into the process of creating union federations.</p><p>Keywords: Union Federations. Rural Unionism. Rural Workers. Rural Social Movements. PT Governments.</p><p><strong>LE SYNDICALISME DES TRAVAILLEURS RURAUX </strong><strong>COMME OBJET DE DISPUTE ET COMME </strong><strong>AGENT DE CONSTRUCTION DES CENTRALES </strong><strong>SYNDICALES AU BRÉSIL (2003-2017)</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Sous les gouvernements du Parti des travailleurs (Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT), le nombre de centrales syndicales a augmenté au Brésil et une<br />concurrence féroce pour la représentation s’est établie entre elles. Cet article analyse comment cette concurrence s’est manifestée dans le mouvement<br />syndical à travers une étude de cas du syndicalisme des travailleurs ruraux, en soulignant les changements survenus au sein de la Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Rurais Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares (Contag), la principale entité syndicale de ce segment. La recherche a été menée par le biais d’entretiens avec des dirigeants et des conseillers syndicaux, d’une analyse de documents et de la presse syndicale et de l’observation des événements des entités sélectionnées. On conclut que la création de nouvelles centrales syndicales et la possibilité d’obtenir leur reconnaissance légale dans les années 2000 ont stimulé les alliances et les ruptures dans le syndicalisme des travailleurs ruraux, ce qui a conduit à la formation de nouvelles entités rurales et a alimenté « en retour » le processus de création de centrales.</p><p>Mots-clés: Centrales Syndicales. Syndicalisme Rural. Travailleurs Ruraux. Mouvements Sociaux. Ruraux. Gouvernement du PT.</p>

scholarly journals Health surveillance and agribusiness: the impact of pesticides on health and the environment. Danger ahead!

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 4709-4718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias Nasrala Neto ◽  
Francisco Antonio de Castro Lacaz ◽  
Wanderlei Antonio Pignati
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
The People ◽  
Statutory Duty ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
Health Institutions ◽  
Institutional Relations ◽  
Rural Producers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Impact Of Pesticides

Pesticides are abundantly used in agribusiness and can be damaging to health and the environment. Society in general and agricultural, environmental and health institutions in particular have a legal and statutory duty to supervise their use. To identify and analyze these actions, interviews were conducted with managers of the municipal offices and union leaders representing the workers and farmers. Managers and rural producers were of the opinion that pesticides are essential to productivity and do not generate any impact on health and the environment. No policies or institutional relations monitoring pesticide use were identified or being considered. Rural workers' unions do not take any political initiatives to benefit the health of the workers themselves, their families and that of society in general. The conclusion draws is the pressing need to develop a model for sustainable agriculture, healthy and free of pesticides and that organized society and responsible institutions must undertake actions that meet the needs of the people who working on the farms or consume the agricultural products harvested there, especially controlling risks and consequences that can and must be avoided.

Deceived

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-42
Keyword(s):  
Gilded Age ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Knights Of Labor ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Rural Farmers ◽  
Stock Investment ◽  
National Federation

Chapter 1 examines the grievances many rural farmers and laborers faced, including exploitation, workplace dishonesty, and questionable stock investment procedures in the Gilded Age. Workers cast a wary eye at their bosses, bankers, stockbrokers, lawyers, and government officials, who rural workers viewed as dishonest individuals looking to take advantage of hardworking farmers and laborers. This mistrust at times extended to union organizers and officers of organizations like the Knights of Labor and the National Federation of Miners. When the leaders of these two groups tried to merge to create one large miners’ union, workers wondered whether the union representatives truly cared about the workers’ interests.

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