Labor and Union Studies the Term Paper

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The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was the nations' first major rail strike and witnessed the first general strikes in the country's history. The strikes and the violence it brought about temporarily paralyzed the country's commerce and led governors in ten states to mobilize sixty thousand militia members to reopen rail traffic. The strike would be broken within a few weeks, but it also helped set the stage for later violence in the 1880's and 1890's, including the Haymarket Square bombing in Chicago in 1886, the Homestead Steel Strike near Pittsburgh in 1892, and the Pullman Strike in 1894 (1877: The Great Railroad Strike, 2006).

There have been many protests in American history against corporations, industrialists, bankers, Wall Street and the economic devastation their unregulated activities including the 19th-century labor movement that featured thousands of strikes and protests. The current protest that can be compared to that of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 is Occupy Wall Street (Mullen, 2011). It never amazes to see how history always repeats itself.

While police and troops made those late 19th century strikes as violent as Occupy Wall Street protests have been peaceful, the two sets of events are inextricably bound by the same dynamic. In 1877 and 1886, the hundreds of thousands of striking workers were revolting against the robber barons and capitalists who tightly controlled their lives while today's demonstrations are a reflection of the despair most feel about reforming let alone fighting back against the financial institutions that are a in effect shadow government responsible for the ongoing economic downturn.

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The precursor to the 1877 strikes was the financial panic of September 1773, which was fueled by out of control stock market speculation. By 1874, a million workers were without jobs and some cities had unemployment rates approaching twenty five percent in the greatest depression up to that point in American history. The response of the robber barons and corporate chiefs was to make workers work longer hours for less pay, which weakened the substantial gains that labor unions had made after the Civil War (Mullen, 2011).

Times may have changed but the sentiment is the same. American workers are tired of being taken advantage of by big business. People want to have the right to pursue the American Dream. They want to be offered fair wages for a fair days work. Just like back in 1877, American workers do not feel that businesses care near as much about them as they do about making a profit. Making a profit is okay, in fact that is what our capitalist society is based upon, but business should not be able to make their profit while taking advantage of the American worker, or for that fact the American public as a whole. There needs to be rules and regulations in place that promote good for everyone, not just those in big business. Historically it has been this very notion that people have fought against for many years, and just as before there does not appear to be a clear solution.....

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