The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century gave rise to social problems related to the treatment of factory workers, fair wages, child labor, and working conditions, all giving rise to the creation of unions. Songs became a major means of creating solidarity among workers uniting to improve their lot. Early examples of the use of popular songs to carry the labor message are “Eight Hour Strike,” by Billy Pastor, intended to spread the idea of the eight hour work day (1872), and “The Worker’s Anvil,” with lyrics by Laura M. Griffing, celebrating “the cause of labor” (1878).

Songs of Unionization, Labor Strikes, and Child Labor

Laments of the Treatment of Workers

John Prine & Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Grandpa Was A Carpenter

 

Dick Gaughan – Handful of Earth The Workers Song (Live at Harvard, 1982)

Songs Of Protest and Anger

Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (Official Video 2019)

JOAN BAEZ – We shall overcome – March on Washington – Live 1963

Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome (Version #02), Berlin, DDR (GDR), 1967

PETE SEEGER Which Side Are You On? (Live in Sweden 1968)