Free Paper Example on Greek-American Labor Activism: A Historical Perspective

The Greeks are thought to have migrated to America in the early nineteenth century. The main reason for emigration was the economic collapse during the Agrarian Revolution. Some factors led radicalization of the Geek in the US. However, American authorities set strict conditions for emigrants to be identified as Greek-American citizens (Karpozilos 80). The Greeks wanted social liberation—frequent accidents at work and low wages. Kritikos, an activist, explains how the Americans attacked vulnerable immigrant workers. Community leaders such as Louis Theos educated their people on their rights (Karpozilos 23). The faster spread of the information about the strike force energized settlers to radicalize. Greek workers were being forced to shop in certain stores that were connected to their employers.

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The Greek workers, therefore, wanted to achieve the ideological goal of getting recognition. The formation of Greek structures in the United States resulted in different opinions between settler elites and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Greek emigrants shared a robust religious tie that bound them together as people of one family. Such a bond championed them to consensually agitate for political rights in America (Papadopoulos 43). The Greeks formed strong social networks in America, which strengthened their patriotism to work and support each other (Papadopoulos, 101). The first immigrants who had well integrated with America felt that poor immigrants' big arrival threatened their social status. The newcomers felt that their labor contractors in America were exploiting them.

Activists such as Lawrence wanted freedom for any incomer to quit the job at their pleasure. Greeks felt that their appeals were not being considered, so they needed to seek better working conditions. They wanted some oppressors such as Leonidas Skliris to be expelled (Moskos 7). According to them, there was a need to neutralize the patronage system that mistreated Greek workers. They wanted to unite all workers in the US, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. The presence of more militant employees than resistant leaders made radicalization easy. The formation of the Industrial Workers of the World Organization IWW further advocated for the interests of the unskilled workers (Papazoglou and Petrakis 101). The anti-capitalistic voice and working-class rhetoric that the handwork must reward appealed to incomers, especially the Greeks. Emigrants worked for more than 56 hours per week, but wages were meager.

Works Cited

Moskos, Peter C. Greek Americans: struggle and success. Routledge, 2017. www.amazon.com/Greek-Americans-Struggle-Peter-Moskos-ebook/dp/B074vcxkld.Retrieved 09 December 2020

Papadopoulos, Yannis GS. "The role of nationalism, ethnicity, and class in shaping Greek american identity, 1890–1927." Identity and Participation in Culturally Diverse Societies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective 9 (2010). www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444328158.Retrieved 09 December, 2020

Karpozilos, Kostis. "Pre-communist Greek immigrant radicalism in the United States." Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora 30.2 (2004): 7-56. www.hellenic.princeton.edu/people/kostis-karpozilos.Retrieved 09 December, 2020