A free wage labor market emerged in the artisan trades late in the 18th century. The earliest recorded movement occurred in 1768 when New York tailors protested the wage reduction and wanted better working conditions. The formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers in Philadelphia in 1794 marks the beginning of sustained trade union organization among American workers (“Labor Movement”). People were not happy with low wages at their jobs. The result, as early labor leaders saw it, was to raise up “two distinct classes, the rich and the poor.”(“Labor Movement”). The rich and poor classes rose up to strike and benefit all workers. Although physical strikes didn’t help the cause of independence, the ideas, such as protection for workers, became part of our American culture (A brief history of
A free wage labor market emerged in the artisan trades late in the 18th century. The earliest recorded movement occurred in 1768 when New York tailors protested the wage reduction and wanted better working conditions. The formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers in Philadelphia in 1794 marks the beginning of sustained trade union organization among American workers (“Labor Movement”). People were not happy with low wages at their jobs. The result, as early labor leaders saw it, was to raise up “two distinct classes, the rich and the poor.”(“Labor Movement”). The rich and poor classes rose up to strike and benefit all workers. Although physical strikes didn’t help the cause of independence, the ideas, such as protection for workers, became part of our American culture (A brief history of