1. Was "labor violence" inevitable and unavoidable? What factors played into causing much of the confrontation between unions and big business. 2. What were some of the different and mutual demands of the various national unions? What tactics did they employ to realize their demands? 3. When viewed from the perspective of the corporations, what do you think they were so adamant in opposing unions?

Fights and confrontations between labor unions and employers in the United States began happening since the mid 19th century as a response to the impact generated by the Industrial Revolution. One of the first unions began in the 1880s and from that moment on, they have been constant in U. S history. 1. One thing to know about labor violence in the U. S is that it could have been prevented if a) employers had answered to the needs of their workers instead of abusing them, b) if employers had worked hand in hand with unions instead of looking for constant ways to oppose them and destroy them and c) if in the effort to dissipate unions, strikebreakers and spies had not been used as a means to instigate much of the violence that ensued and that sought to muddy unions so as to seek a way to destroy them. Much of the problems that generated the strikes and favored the unions were the abuse in salaries and hours, the lack of conditions for workers, the high replacement rate of workers for cheaper labor without any consideration, among other things. 2. What unions wanted in general was an improvement of the conditions of workers, sanitary, salary and hour-wise, as well as protection against the high rotation of jobs. They wanted also to create a monopoly so that employers would not be able to replace union workers with cheaper labor from other sources. But each industry that had unions faced different demands, especially the Steel and Railroad industries, whose unions also wanted protection against the unhealthy and unsafe conditions in which they worked. The tactics that they used were the strikes and also violence against strikebreakers and guards. Sometimes, however, they would just rally peacefully and stop working altogether to force their employers hands. 3. Employers did not want unions because this meant a) that workers were organizing themselves and not just accepting their jobs, regardless of the conditions, b) because laborers were starting to demand changes in their working conditions, something that affected businesses and meant a change in their financial distribution and c) because this meant that they would be forced to select their workforce from the union and adapt to the unions' demands if they wanted to operate normally.