UnionsUnions: Aging Dinosaur or Sleeping Giant? The workers' movement and trade unionism Context and brief history Higher wages! Shorter working days! Better working conditions! These famous words echoed throughout the United States starting in “1790 with the skilled craftsmen” (Dessler, 1997, p. 544). Over the past two hundred years, workers in all industries have been fighting for their rights and “seeking ways to improve their standards of living, working conditions, and job security” (Boone, 1996, p.287). As time passed, these individuals came to the conclusion that if they worked together collectively, they would become stronger to get answers to their requests. This inspired what we know today as unions. “A union is an organized group of workers whose purpose is to raise wages and influence other working conditions for its members” (Parkin, 1998, p.344). These unions can be divided into two types: artisan unions and industrial unions (World, 1998). A craft union is “a union whose membership is limited to workers who possess an identifiable skill” (Robinson, 1985, p. 69). These members tend to be more educated and trained and more united due to common interests (World, 1998). An example of a craft union is the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (World, 1998). On the other hand, an industrialized union “is a group of workers who have different skills and types of work but work for the same industry” (Parkin, 1998, p. 344). Unions of this type include the United Steelworkers, the United Auto Workers, and the United Transportation Union (Boone, 1996). History 1870 to 1900. The first national union founded in Philadelphia in 1869 in the pre-Civil War period was the Knights of Labor, which “intended to include all workers” (Encyclopedia, 1996, p. 630). For a decade, this organization grew slowly due to the fact that it operated in secret until the failure of the railroad strikes which increased membership to over 700,000 in 1886 (Robinson, 1985). Their progress and efforts had persuaded the legislature to enact the following laws: “abolition of prisoner-made goods, creation of labor statistics bureaus, and prohibition of the importation of European indentured labor” (Encyclopedia, 1996, p. 630 ). By 1890, the membership of the Knights of Labor had dwindled to just 100,000 members and the membership continues... mid-paper... honest in an attempt to destroy organizational plans compared to those of a decade ago. That said, Sweeney called on all unions to keep up and spend more on organizing (AFL-CIO Sets Aside…, 1999). Sweeney also called on members to give less to political parties and more to organizational effort, hoping that registering a target of 4 million new household union voters will restore Labour's political clout (Germond & Witcover, 1997). In addition to putting more money where it belongs, Sweeney is also taking steps to appeal to minorities and women. He increased the AFL-CIO's executive council to 54 members, up from 35 members. In doing so, he appointed many women and minorities, expanding their share of the Executive Council from 17% to 27%. In addition to reaching women and minorities, it is also reaching young people. His administration recruited over a thousand young adults for “Union Summer” internship programs where they developed skills and expertise on work-related issues (Milkman, 1998). Add to this the $40 million spent on new “feel good” commercials aimed at improving the appearance of unions to the general public (Zapenski, 1997), and it appears that Sweeney is doing all the.: 4630