Labor Unions During The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age was a period in American history full of industrial and economic growth. Railroads and other businesses increased which created many technological advancements during that time period. Eventually, the industry was dominated by a few powerful individuals. People in higher classes, such as owners of wealthy businesses, were not negatively affected by the industrial system. On the other hand, lower class workers faced terrible conditions in the workplace and even in their communities. The rise in industry influenced the Gilded Age by causing a demand for more workers, creating labor unions, and allowing big companies to have too much power.
The rise in industry caused a demand for more cheap workers, specifically immigrants. Immigrant workers were crucial to the workforce because they would work for lower wages than most other people. Because of the large influx of immigrants, there were many crowded tenements in the lower parts of …show more content…
Labor unions were formed when workers joined together to protest the existing working conditions in the workforce. The Knights of Labor is an example of one of the labor unions created during the Gilded Age. In the Knights of Labor Constitution, they state that their reason for forming the union was to educate and direct the power of the industrial masses (Document G). They wanted to unite industrial workers together to boycott in order to make changes. Some of the issues that the Knights of Labor fought for were shorter work days and better wages for the work that was completed. Some people felt that they were being robbed by the people in higher classes who had control over businesses (Document I). Wealthy business owners continued to decrease wages for their workers, even though the companies made enough money to increase wages. Issues in the workplace caused people to unite together in labor unions to fight unfair and even dangerous