Over time, employers during the Industrial Revolution demanded longer hours of work from their employees for less pay. Workers in factories wanted better working conditions, but negotiating better work conditions and better pay on their own was impossible.
They thought that if they could join together form a union, they could try to collectively bargain together to get better wages and better working conditions. With the power of a union behind them, workers could demand better work conditions and pay. If their employer refused to negotiate with the Union, they would all decide to quit working together and go on strike. By striking together, workers could stop factories from operating until the owners compromised.
In the 1830s, workers in the United States started forming local labor unions. These early unions formed in northern US cities that had lots of factories such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
Workers organizing and striking came to an abrupt end in 1837. That year of the United States had its first economic depression. Call the panic of 1837, the economic downturn lasted until the mid-1840s. Jobs were scarce for working class people. Efforts at organizing unions did not start up again until after the Civil War.