What factors spurred the growth of labor unions and major strikes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

• A. Poor working conditions, low wages, long hours, child labor, and safety concerns.
• B. Government incentives to factory owners to resist collective bargaining.
• C. A shift toward entirely agrarian economies with fewer factories.
• D. Rapid automation eliminating most workers' jobs.

Answer: (A)

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rapid industrial growth created harsh conditions for workers, leading to organized effort to improve them. People faced poor working conditions, low wages, extremely long hours, child labor, and serious safety hazards, all of which made collective action appealing. Unions formed to demand better pay, shorter hours, safer workplaces, and protections for workers, often using strikes to pressure factory owners when individual workers had little bargaining power. The other scenarios don’t fit as well: government incentives to resist collective bargaining would work against union growth; a shift toward a largely agrarian economy reduced factory jobs and isn’t what spurred unions; while automation did change employment, the primary impulse for unionization at the time was the need to address the conditions workers actually faced day to day.