Labor Union History in California
The various labor movements in California have been among the most important in our nation. As a state with a tremendously diversified economy, California's workers are employed in every industry imaginable; from our huge agriculture base, to our docks, to aerospace, to construction, to the entertainment industry-the list is endless. And in each industry, workers struggled to organize themselves into collectives to shape the labor landscape of California. Some of California's labor movements have represented significant political events on a national if not a global scale-as in the historic struggle of labor activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The gains made be the United Farm Workers inspired workers every where to fight for living wages and reasonable working conditions, and it proved that poor people can claim their rights when they organize and speak in one voice. In a word, labor unions equal POWER. But it didn't start with Chavez. In 1894, California held its first strike organized by San Francisco and Sacramento Carpenters who pushed for a whole sixteen dollars a day. Well, they settled for fourteen. However, a year later the first official union was organized in California, the San Francisco Typography Socie
Nevertheless, unions remain strong in its struggle against injustice. In retrospect, labor movements and unions have greatly contributed to the prosperity in California, the United States and even the world. Labor movements have become the window for achieving reasonable wages and working conditions and even remedies posed by revolutionary changes in the nature of work and the composition of the workforce. As AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka once put it, "While we are always willing to negotiate as equals, the era of union busting, contract trashing, and strike breaking is at an end. Today, we say that when you pick a fight with any of us, you pick a fight with all of us! And that when you push us, we will push back!" All workers benefit tremendously through a stronger labor movement. Whether it be a $3,000 raise, or ten, labor movements play a critical role in prompting a flourished society for all. With a new millennium just around the corner, unions and their objectives can lead society into the right path of progress. Some say, unions equal PROGRESS and POWER for all, no matter what race, religion or creed you are. Well, amen to that. Consequently, this spawned a drastic increase in membership in unions in the early 1930s and 40s. Of all this, California especially procured the
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Approximate Word count = 878
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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