 
the workers improved their conditions by carrying out the saying "in unity 
there is strength." 
for example, an individual workingman may go to the factory manager and 
beg for a wage increase. 
the manager refuses. 
the worker has to accept the manager's decision or quit. 
the manager does not care if the worker quits because the worker is only 
one out of a thousand. 
the manager can quickly hire another person to take the dissatisfied 
worker's place. 
now suppose that all the workers join together and ask for a raise. 
the manager will think twice before refusing. 
if all the workers walk out, the factory will shut down and there will be 
no profits. 
when the workers unite, they have more power to get what they want from 
the management. 
this is the reason why workers join labor unions. 
a labor union is an organizaton to which workers belong to better their 
conditions. 
men called union organizers, who tried to get workers to join the unions, 
said, "the only way that the worker can get a fair deal from big business is 
to organize big unions." 
naturally, this did not make these men popular with the bosses, and they 
were often handled roughly by the factory guards. 
nevertheless, as we shall see, the union movement grew, and today labor 
unions are an important part of american life. 
in the early 1800's various craftsmen formed local unions. 
they included unions for shoemakers, tailors, bricklayers, and carpenters. 
then, in 1834 a number of these craft unions (for skilled workers) joined 
together to create a larger national trades union. 
later, other national unions were founded. 
