Why did labor unions begin?

Answer 1

Labor Unions began because workers in the late 1800s received only 10 or so cents a day and they worked for long hours. Also, disasters such as fires happened in sewing shops, and all the doors would be locked. Workers decided to go on strike and request higher wages and better working conditions.

Answer 2

The history of labor unions goes back to the guild system in Europe. Members of a guild (a certain profession) tried to protect their guild by controlling who could become a member, a stage of apprenticeship, the cost of the merchandise, and advancement in the guild. A guild was the first attempt of workers organizing according to their own rules rather than the rules of the employer. Guilds were craft unions, made up of people that made one thing, or did one thing. Trade unions developed in the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the US. The trade unions were created to protect the workers and were not exclusive of any particular kind of worker. The first trade union in the US was the National Labor Union, founded in 1866. It failed and was soon replaced by the Knights of Labor, 1869. The Knights of Labor and the more successful American Federation of Labor (AFL), 1886, concentrated on the key issues of child labor opposition, demand for an eight hour day, and protection of the worker from unsafe working conditions and a decent wage.