The first official Union was formed in 1794, for journeyman cordwainers, I believe in New York.
The national labor union was formed in 1866 and is the first official call to congress to regulate to an 8-hour workday.
The first example I know of on a national scale that voluntarily promoted an 8 hour day, 40 hour work week was Ford in 1914 and realistically, that is exactly what you stated, an attempt to undercut other automakers / factories of the time for labor. Not because he was being altruistic.
I’m sorry you’ve had bad experiences with unions. I am certainly biased, because I grew up in a Union household and have been apart of them myself, but I’ve only had good experiences. Yeah, there are some bad eggs, admittedly, but I think collectively they have benefited the working person.
[–] howunfortunate 2 days ago
[–] Viliam1234 2 days ago
In your opinion, is the 8-hour workday an exclusive benefit for the insiders, or the invisible cost for the outsiders?
I've actually had personally great experiences with unions! But I try to not let my anecdotal data color my views too much.
I think this is part of the reasons unions are insidious - their benefits are quite visible and concentrated to those who are in them, and their costs are spread out and invisible (until you put an empirical lens on them at scale).