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The United States Grows
(1865-1900)
 Labor Unions

Labor Unions
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.99

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    despite, violent, refused, victory, union, working, powerful, however, business, against, power, easy, certain, deal, meeting, legal
     content words:    Noble Order, Terence Powderly, Even African Americans, Samuel Gompers, American Federation, African Americans

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Labor Unions
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     Working in a factory was not easy. The hours were long and the pay was very low. Workers wanted better working conditions. They began to join together and form labor unions.
 
2     The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor was started in 1869. At first, only skilled workers were invited to join. The meetings were held in secret. Workers were fired if it was found out that they joined a union.
 
3     In 1879, Terence Powderly was elected president. He wanted more members in the union. He said that anyone could join. It didn't matter if the workers were skilled or unskilled, men or women. Members included everyone from factory workers to farmers. Even African Americans were invited to join.
 
4     The Knights had many goals. The union wanted to end child labor, have a shorter workday, and equal pay for men and women. These were big goals for the time period.
 
5     The leaders of the union did not want to use strikes to achieve their goals. They thought that using rallies and meetings to win support was better. Members did not always agree with not using strikes.

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