Final answer:
To gain leverage when negotiating with employers, workers formed labor unions to collectively bargain for fair wages, proper work hours, and better working conditions. Strikes were also used as a means to assert their demands effectively.
Step-by-step explanation:
Workers found that in order to gain leverage in negotiating with employers, it was necessary to organize into labor unions. Labor unions are groups of workers in a given trade or profession who collaborate to protect their rights and advance their interests. Key issues for these unions included collective bargaining, determining work hours, improving safety standards, ending child labor, negotiating health benefits, and establishing support programs for ill, injured, or retired workers.
Through collective bargaining, unions negotiate as a group with employers over wages and working conditions. When necessary, they may also resort to strikes, refusing to work until their demands are met. This collective action serves as a powerful tool in shifting the balance of power from employers to employees, thereby making the demands of workers more potent.