Labor market in the USA on the turn of 19th century

My Bachelor work is devoted to the problems of deformations of labor market under the influence of institutions such as labor unions, federal government of the US and a judicial power. Most importantly it aspires to answer questions as: Why do employees join labor unions? Are labor unions beneficial for the economy? Do the government regulations have anticipated results? I consider this field of economics to be ever actual and very important. First of all I will make an effort to identify what made the workers join the unions, what ways the employers implied to prevent them and if union activities could be marked as economically beneficial. After that I will try to analyze government interventions into the labor market, at what extent they were successful and what their true intentions were if different to the proclaimed ones. In the last part I will make use of the American Federation of Labor as a case study. I will point out the reasons why it did not fall apart in contrast to other labor unions, resp. role it was fulfilling and the development of it intercrossing with politics and its relations towards government interferences. In conclusion I will attempt to summarize the consequences of the activities of unions, employers and government on the labor market.