Which radical union aimed to unite all workers across trades and often supported broad social change?

Study for the U.S. Immigration, Labor, and Political Movements Test of the late 1800s to early 1900s. Learn with comprehensive questions and detailed explanations. Master your exam preparation!

Multiple Choice

Which radical union aimed to unite all workers across trades and often supported broad social change?

Explanation:
The main idea is industrial unionism—the push to organize all workers across trades into one solidarity that can challenge the workplace as a whole. The Industrial Workers of the World, formed in 1905, pursued what they called a One Big Union: uniting skilled and unskilled workers, across industries, regardless of race or nationality, to gain power through broad, collective action. They also advocated sweeping social change and often framed their goal as transforming the economic order, not just securing incremental gains. That radical, cross-trade approach is what sets them apart from other groups: the AFL organized by crafts and focused on bargaining for better wages and conditions within specific trades; the Knights of Labor aimed for inclusive reform but never maintained the same cross-trade, militant program; and the War Industries Board was a government agency during WWI, not a workers’ union.

The main idea is industrial unionism—the push to organize all workers across trades into one solidarity that can challenge the workplace as a whole. The Industrial Workers of the World, formed in 1905, pursued what they called a One Big Union: uniting skilled and unskilled workers, across industries, regardless of race or nationality, to gain power through broad, collective action. They also advocated sweeping social change and often framed their goal as transforming the economic order, not just securing incremental gains. That radical, cross-trade approach is what sets them apart from other groups: the AFL organized by crafts and focused on bargaining for better wages and conditions within specific trades; the Knights of Labor aimed for inclusive reform but never maintained the same cross-trade, militant program; and the War Industries Board was a government agency during WWI, not a workers’ union.

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