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First Labor Union
The First major labor union (Knights of Labor) formed in the mid 1880s -
AFL is Founded
American Federation of Labor is founded and plays a key role in organization of strikes and on the political side of labor -
New Deal
Labor unions benefit from the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt -
Wagner Act
Wagner Act is passed and it protected the rights of labor unions to organize and protest -
Harvard Trade Union Program
labor education programs such as the Harvard Trade Union Program created by Harvard University professor John Thomas Dunlop sought to educate union members to deal with important contemporary workplace and labor law issues of the day -
Control in Congress
Pro-business conservatives gained control of Congress -
Taft Hartley Act
The Taft Hartley Act is passed (still in effect today) it restricted the unions from calling strikes that “threatened national security” and to expel communist union labor union leaders (later changed after the Supreme Court found it to be unconstitutional) -
Workers Peak
the percent of workers in a union peaked at 35% -
Unions Merge
the two largest unions The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) merged -
Most members
the total amount of workers in a union peaks at 21 million members -
Study today
A study in the Economic History Review found that the rise of labor unions in the 1930s and 1940s reduced income inequality