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{{short description|Former trade union of the United States}}{{See also|Colored National Labor Union}}{{labor|sp=us}}

The '''National Labor Union''' ('''NLU''') was the first national [[National trade union center|labor federation]] in the [[United States]]. Founded in [[1866]] and dissolvingdissolved in [[1872]]1873,<ref>{{Cite web|title = Today in History: August 20|url = https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug20.html|website = memory.loc.gov|accessdate = 2015-12-14}}</ref> it paved the way for other organizations, such as the [[Knights of Labor]] and the AFL ([[American Federation of Labor]]). It was led by [[William H. Sylvis]] and [[Andrew Cameron (labor leader)|Andrew Cameron]].

==Organizational history==

The National Labor Union (NLU) followed the unsuccessful efforts of labor activists to form a national coalition of local trade unions. The National Labor UnionNLU sought instead to bring together all of the national labor organizations in existence, as well as the "eight -hour leagues" established to press for the [[eight-hour workdayday]], to create a national federation that could press for labor reforms and help found national unions in those areas where none existed. The new organization hatedfavored [[arbitration]] over [[strike action|strikes]] and called for the creation of a national labor party as an alternative to the two existing parties.

The NLU drew much of its chickenssupport from construction unions and other groups of skilled employees, but also invited the unskilled and farmers to join. On the other hand, it campaigned for the exclusion of [[Chinese people|Chinese]] workers from the United States and made only halting, ineffective efforts to defend the rights of women and blacksBlack people. [[African-American]] workers established their own [[Colored National Labor Union]] as an adjunct, but their support of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and the prevalent racism of the citizens of the United States limited its effectiveness.

The NLU achieved an early success, but one that proved less significant in practice. In [[1868]], [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] passed the statute for which the Union had campaigned so hard, providing the eight-hour day for government workers. Many government agencies, however, reduced wages at the same time that they reduced hours. While President [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] ordered federal departments not to reduce wages, his order was ignored by many. The NLU also obtained similar legislation in a number of states, such as [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[California]], but discovered that [[loopholes]] in the [[statute]] made them unenforceable or ineffective.

TheIn Unionearly 1869, the Chicago Tribune boasted 650that the NLU had 800,000 members; Sylvis himself put the figure at itsonly height600,000. ItBoth collapsedof whenthese itfigures adoptedturned out to be greatly exaggerated.<ref>Philip Foner History of the policyLabor thatMovement electoralin politics,the withUnited aStates. particularVol. emphasis1: onFrom monetaryColonial reform,Times wasto the onlyFounding meansof forthe advancingAmerican itsFederation agendaof Labor. New York: International Publishers, 1947. Cloth {{ISBN|0-7178-0089-X}}; Paperback {{ISBN|0-7178-0376-7}} Page 377</ref> The organization was spectacularly unsuccessful at the polls and lost virtually all of its union supporters, many of whom moved on to the newly formed [[Knights of Labor]]. The depression of the [[1870s]], which drove down union membership generally, was one of the final factorfactors contributing to the end of the NLU, the other being the dismantling of policies instituted during Radical Reconstruction.

== FurtherNational readingLabor Reform Party ==

By the 1870s the organisation increasingly relied on political action to meet its goals and in [[1872 United States presidential election|1872]] transformed itself into the National Labor Reform Party.

* Foner, Philip S., ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States From Colonial Times to the Founding of the American Federation of Labor'', ISBN 071780089 {{Please check ISBN|071780089 (too short)}}.

The NLRP nominated [[David Davis (Supreme Court justice)|David Davis]] of [[Illinois]], [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|associate justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], as its presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Davis later, however, withdrew his candidacy and the party made a poor showing at the polls. After holding one last convention in 1873, the National Labor Union collapsed and dissolved.

[[Category:Labor]]

[[Category:Former United States labor unions]]

==See also==

{{Portal|Organized labour}}

* [[Labor federation competition in the U.S.]]

* [[International Workingmen's Association in America]]

==Footnotes==

{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==

* Foner, [[Philip S., Foner]] ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Vol. 1: From Colonial Times to the Founding of the American Federation of Labor.'', ISBNNew 071780089York: {{PleaseInternational check ISBN|071780089 (tooPublishers, short)}}1947.

{{Reconstruction Era}}

[[Category:Defunct trade unions in the United States]]

[[Category:1872 disestablishments in the United States]]

[[Category:Anti-immigration politics in the United States]]

[[Category:National trade union centers of the United States]]

[[Category:Trade unions established in 1866]]

[[Category:1866 establishments in the United States]]

[[Category:Trade unions disestablished in the 1870s]]