Chronology of Labor in the United States

Organized labor did not become a reality in the United States until a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1842 essentially made it legal to form unions. The first successful national union was the International Typographical Union, which was formed in 1852 following a series of meetings that began in 1850. Labor unions in the United States were seen as vehicles for better wages, not as instruments for achieving social change as in Europe. This chronology deals primarily with the history of American labor unions and their interactions with industry. The introduction discusses how labor (and manufacturing) developed in the United States before 1850, when early attempts at organizing labor failed. The chronology begins in 1850 with the beginning of talks to form the International Typographical Union. The topics covered in the chronology and in the appendices include the gradual shift of the workforce from farming to manufacturing to service occupations, women in the labor force, child labor, the average work week, unemployment compensation, the minimum wage, safety in the work place, and educational issues.