Labor unions were declining as firms promoted company unions and provided increased benefits to workers under what was known as "welfare capitalism." Strikes had declined after the post-World War I strike wave.
There were 3,000 strikes in 1919 because employers didn't want to give employee raises and didn't want employees to join unions. In spite of the gains made by coal miners, the 1920s hurt the labor movement badly, causing union membership to drop from over 5 million to around 3.5 million.
