What were the main tools used by labor unions to get owners to give into their demands?

Answer 1

The tenor of your question indicates that you think that it was all one way. It wasn't. The union and management would enter into negotiations; give and take until an agreement that both sides could live with was achieved.

Obviously, management had it all their own way before collective bargaining. This resulted in grossly unfair wages and practices. Some of the worst were in the mining industry. Basic safety procedures were ignored by management because it affected, in the most miniscule way, their bottom line. And to its shame, the government sided with the owners rather than its citizen workers.

They would send in troops to break up strikes. The companies would hire thugs to descent upon workers and beat them up and terrorize them into submission.

The bean counters reasoned that it was easier and cheaper to hire another mine worker after an unnecessary death, than it was to implement safe working practices. Much like the auto industry does when it discovers a safety problem in one of their cars. The bean counters crunch the numbers to determine how much a recall would cost the company as opposed to paying out compensation for a pre-calculated number of deaths as a result of the safety problem. It all comes down to the bottom line.

Fortunately, thanks to industry watch dogs like Ralph Nader and Phil Edmunston, and whistle blowers who leaked auto industry private papers, the companies were taken to task and have cleaned up much of their act.

But, don't kid yourself, they are still only acting in their own self interest; not out of any sympathy for the auto buying consumer.

The road to collective bargaining was not a smooth one. Now a days, when a contract agreement between management and the union is due to expire, they will enter into collective bargaining with the implied threat of a strike as one of their tools to help coerce management to bargain in good faith. If an agreement is not achieved, then a strike is called. Usually, negotiations will continue. If both sides dig in, then a non partisan arbitrator is appointed to help grease the wheels and get the negotiations moving forward.

If all else fails, and the general public is affected, the government will reluctantly legislate the workers back to work. They do this at their peril though, as workers have long memories and will demonstrate their wrath in the polling booth at the next election.