While some states passed protective legislation business owners fought back claiming that such laws deprived them of their property. Courts often sided with businesses and ruled that social legislation violated a workers freedom of contract. Labor unions joined progressives to improve work conditions. Closed shop: a workplace where all employees must be a union member. Open Shop: nonunion workplace. Most workers and labor unions did not want to eliminate capitalism and the American way of life. They just wanted to improve how workers were treated.
Some workers did not want to change capitalism and they favored socialism.
Socialism: government owns most factories, transportation and utilities. Progressivism #81 The major labor union was the AFL led by Samuel Gompers. Only included skilled workers as….