Labor Unions
to fill the demanding schedules that factory owners required. Various industries—such as the meat packing industry of the 1900s (memorialized by Upton Sinclair in The Jungle)—were notorious for unsafe working environments. There were no child labor laws in effect nor any wage laws. Workers were often expected to put in long workdays, which led to overwork and an increase in workplace accidents (Schultz, 2018). From 1865 to 1940, the development of labor unions was generally a positive force leading to economic stability and the implementation of necessary laws that made businesses safer and promoted job growth. By 1871, workplace conditions in factories were… Continue Reading...