Labor unions affect the daily lives of many citizens, though often indirect and hidden ways. Everyone from blue-collar factory workers, white collared accountants, soccer moms, and business owners are affected every day be the organized labor movement. Fewer, however, understand the legal and historical role labor unions have played and continue to play in the economy, politics, and culture.
From the Teamsters to the National Education Association, labor unions figure prominently in national and local and global politics and have a dramatic effect on everything from the price of a new care to education for children.
A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages, terms and conditions of employment .Historically, government has taken three approaches to labor unions: the criminal conspiracy approach, the free market government neutral approach, and the compulsory unionism approach.
For much of American history, labor relations went largely unregulated by government; they were considered private matters best settled directly between employers and employees. In the nineteenth century, however, this "government-neutral" view of the workplace began to change. Employees acting together to address workplace issues increasingly drew the attention of the United States courts.
American labor was a powerful force in American society for many decades. The first national strike in United States history took place in 1894, when railway workers struck the Pullman Company. George Pullman, manufacturer of the railroad cars that still bears his name, built a "company town" to house his workers. Before the strike, he cut his workers" hours, but not their rent, resulting in economic devastation for most of the work force. They organized and went on strike, first in Pullman, but the strike spread until all the railway workers in the United States walked out.