Eugene V Debs Research Paper
Employee and Labor Relations MG 216-44
The US Department of Labor Hall of Fame
Eugene V. Debs & John L. Lewis
Professor Juliet Grant Rachel Frederick Date: 9/24/2013 Monroe College- 2013 Spring Semester
Eugene V Debs Any discussion on the life of Eugene V Debs quickly raises certain critical questions in the development of the American Labor Movement – Craft …show more content…
So the ARU remained as an example of the superior type of union organization which united workers by industry rather than by interests of craft or skill. Though Debs was no longer a union leader this did not mean that his continued interest in workers’ rights would be expressed only in political activities. Wherever and whenever workers were in confrontation with owners, Debs was likely to show up to offer support and encouragement. As you can see Debs rightfully deserved his position in the U.S Department Hall of Fame he was important in Labor Relation’s history. An uncompromising, heartfelt fighter for economic and social justice, he was brilliant, powerful and eminently …show more content…
Lewis once said “I have pleaded (labor 's) case, not in the quavering tones of a feeble mendicant asking alms, but in the thundering voice of the captain of a mighty host, demanding the rights to which free men are entitled”. John Lewis was an eloquent spokesman for working people throughout the United States (United States Department of Labor, 2013). He was born in Lowa on 12th February 1880. At fifteen years he found work as a miner in Illinois. He then jointed the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and eventually was elected branch secretary in 1911; Lewis left the mines to become an organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL). In 1917 he was elected vice president of the UMWA. Three years later he became president of what was then the largest trade union in America (Simkin J, 1997) .Lewis was a great labor leader who inspired millions to join America’s new industrial unions. The 1920’s were seen as a crisis period for the movement. The postwar prosperity coupled with completing their economic shift to mass production, left U.S bureaucratic firms in a dominant position. Workplaces therefore with large craft unions became overshadowed by workplaces with unskilled and unorganized industrial workers and the United Mine Workers was one such industrial union emerging from its leadership in 1924 where John Lewis became the next giant in history of the American Labor Movement. However in 1920’s some labor leaders viewed Lewis as a ruthless autocrat who was
The US Department of Labor Hall of Fame
Eugene V. Debs & John L. Lewis
Professor Juliet Grant Rachel Frederick Date: 9/24/2013 Monroe College- 2013 Spring Semester
Eugene V Debs Any discussion on the life of Eugene V Debs quickly raises certain critical questions in the development of the American Labor Movement – Craft …show more content…
So the ARU remained as an example of the superior type of union organization which united workers by industry rather than by interests of craft or skill. Though Debs was no longer a union leader this did not mean that his continued interest in workers’ rights would be expressed only in political activities. Wherever and whenever workers were in confrontation with owners, Debs was likely to show up to offer support and encouragement. As you can see Debs rightfully deserved his position in the U.S Department Hall of Fame he was important in Labor Relation’s history. An uncompromising, heartfelt fighter for economic and social justice, he was brilliant, powerful and eminently …show more content…
Lewis once said “I have pleaded (labor 's) case, not in the quavering tones of a feeble mendicant asking alms, but in the thundering voice of the captain of a mighty host, demanding the rights to which free men are entitled”. John Lewis was an eloquent spokesman for working people throughout the United States (United States Department of Labor, 2013). He was born in Lowa on 12th February 1880. At fifteen years he found work as a miner in Illinois. He then jointed the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and eventually was elected branch secretary in 1911; Lewis left the mines to become an organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL). In 1917 he was elected vice president of the UMWA. Three years later he became president of what was then the largest trade union in America (Simkin J, 1997) .Lewis was a great labor leader who inspired millions to join America’s new industrial unions. The 1920’s were seen as a crisis period for the movement. The postwar prosperity coupled with completing their economic shift to mass production, left U.S bureaucratic firms in a dominant position. Workplaces therefore with large craft unions became overshadowed by workplaces with unskilled and unorganized industrial workers and the United Mine Workers was one such industrial union emerging from its leadership in 1924 where John Lewis became the next giant in history of the American Labor Movement. However in 1920’s some labor leaders viewed Lewis as a ruthless autocrat who was