- the growth in industrialisation witnessed a growth in unions, notably the knights of labour (kol) and the american federation of labour (afl). the kol reached a membership of 700,000 by 1886 because of successful strike action, but membership fell following the violence of the haymarket affair and social divisions within the workforce. the position of workers was undetermined by the availability of african american labour after slavery ended (as african americans were paid less than white workers) and the arrival of european immigrants, and then by the homestead strike of 1892 and the pullman strike of 1894. by the first world war, little had been achieved. unions represented only 20 percent of the non-agricultural workforce and were divided by ethnicity, skill and gender. despite this, union membership had grown to over 2 million members by 1910.

	Created by izzy smith almost 8 years ago

notes on the position of trade unions and organised labour for the ocr history spec.