LABOR MOVEMENTS AND SOCIETAL MOVEMENTS
Labor movement in a country can’t be thought independent from societal movements. Labor movement can be defined as an organized movement which is structured for improving the rights, conditions, wages, working hours, safety, and more issues of working people. Working people are one of main cluster/class of a society and their demands, interests, expectations, needs, and problems are directly related with the societal context. When the history of labor movement in US is investigated, it is possible to see that labor movement mostly stemmed from the story of people who sought to find balance between the interest of employers and employees, and many historical events formed the US labor relations (Carrell and Heavrin, 2010). The relationship between societal movements and labor movement can be seen that labor movement is one of the results of societal movements (1) and labor movement has a high impact on social welfare, democracy and equality (Friedman, 2007). As mentioned by Dr. King, the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standard of millions, labor lifted the whole nation (Murray, 2013).
The history of labor movement in the US enlightens the minds concerning the societal movements as the roots of American Labor Movement (Carrell and Heavrin, 2010). Immigrations after the American Revolution (1765–1783), the Civil War (1861–1865), the Depression of 1873, and the strikes of this period are the significant examples of the societal movements behind the development of the labor movement in US. The words of “If the negro wins, labor wins” (King, 1962) attracted attention to the African American people as an entire working class and the importance of their needs which are identical with labor’s needs (King, 1962). It made a powerful connection between labor and a social group. Moreover, Foner (1987) points that labor achieved advances during the World War 1. However, they did not receive what they were entitled as a result of their wartime sacrifices. It directly caused and pushed the working class to struggle for their rights. By the way of conclusion, it is clear to make a strong correlation between labor movement and societal movements. The history of last 175 years is full with the examples of the idea that supports that the labor movement can receive and provide benefit to the other societal movements.
References
Carrell, Michael & Heavrin, Christina (2010), Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining, 10th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Foner, P. S. (1987). History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Postwar Struggles, 1918–1920 (Vol. 8). International Publishers Co.
Friedman, Gerald (2007), Reigniting the Labor Movement, Routledge, London.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1962) “If the Negro Wins, Labor Wins’’, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Published Speech, Document ID 620212–000.
Murray, Matt (2013), Today We remember The Man and The Labor Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., NH Labor News, https://nhlabornews.com/2013/01/we-remember-the-man-and-the-labor-leader-dr-martin-luther-king-jr/
