The modern concept of labor rights dates to the 19th century after the creation of labor unions following the industrialization processes.

Labor rights are a relatively new addition to the modern corpus of human rights. 19th century labor movements campaigned for an eight-hour day.

The Labor Movement of the 1830s and beyond attempted to drive workers' rights into the Constitution, and the Knights of Labor argued, following the Civil War, that the 13th Amendment's protections against involuntary servitude did not only apply to slavery, but extended legal protections to all workers against unsafe work conditions, long hours, inadequate pay and loss of Constitutional rights on the job. Corporate-friendly courts consistently refused to "find" workers in the Constitution, and refused to concur that the 13th Amendment was in fact a "Labor Amendment" that could fulfill the aspirations of the early Labor Movement.

Today, organized labor functions within the regulatory parameters of the National Labor Relations Board, which, under the Wagner Act, created a semi-judicial regulatory agency that permits workers to negotiate for wages, hours and working conditions within industry defined limits.

Aside from the right to organize, labor movements have campaigned on various other issues that may be said to relate to labor rights.

Many labor movement campaigns have to do with limiting hours in the work place. During the Reagan administration, labor unions were challenged and workers rights began to diminish, while cheap labor provided by a growing number of illegal immigrants began to undermine the stability of American workers. At the same time, the closing of many factories swept rural and industrial areas, as manufacturing jobs were moved overseas by corporations and businesses seeking higher profits.

PLEASE NOTE: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . Portions of this article were derived from and are modified versions of material published on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, pursuant to the GFDL. Permission is hereby granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this article under the terms of the GFDL.