Walking the Line: The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas

Abstract

The task of organized labor is to persuade employers to recognize unions and to share more of their wealth. Also-during much of our state and national history beginning in the 183os-labor called for a reduction in hours per day and days per week. In that early era, 14-16 hours worked were common over six, sometimes seven, days per week. By the late 19TH century, health and accident compensation were vital goals in more dangerous jobs, notably in the railroad, mining, and lumber industries. Railroad brotherhoods began as benevolent organizations, becoming somewhat less dependent on corporations and legislation than timber workers and miners. But all unions in the private and public sectors benefited from state and federal legislation, as well as strikes for wages, hours, and benefits, beginning in the Gilded Age (mid-18oos to 1900) and accelerating in the Progressive Era (1901-1918). Legislation, however, was often inadequate and sporadically enforced.