The Knights of Labor score their greatest…

The Knights of Labor score their greatest victory is in the Union Pacific Railroad strike in 1884.

Union Pacific had been entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872, that involved bribing congressmen and stock speculations.

Its early troubles had led to bankruptcy during the 1870s, the result of which was reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880, with its dominant stockholder being Jay Gould.

The Knights primary demand is for an eight hour day; they also call for legislation to end child and convict labor, as well as a graduated income tax.

They are eager supporters of cooperatives.

In 1869, seven members of the Philadelphia tailors' union, headed by Uriah Smith Stephens and James L. Wright, had established a secret union under the name the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor.

The collapse of the National Labor Union in 1873 had left a vacuum for workers looking for organization.

The Knights had become better organized with a national vision when they replaced Stephens with Terence V. Powderly.

The body had become popular with Pennsylvania coal miners during the economic depression of the mid-1870s, and has grown rapidly.

As membership expanded, the Knights had begun to function more as a labor union and less like a fraternal organization.

Local assemblies have begun not only to emphasize cooperative enterprises, but to initiate strikes to win concessions from employers.

Powderly opposes strikes as a "relic of barbarism," but the size and the diversity of the Knights affords local assemblies a great deal of autonomy.

The Knights of Labor attract many Catholics, who are a large part of the membership, perhaps a majority.

Powderly is a Catholic.

However, the Knights' use of secrecy, similar to the Masons, during its early years concerned many bishops.

The Knights use secrecy to help prevent employers from firing members.

In 1882, to mollify the concerns of Catholic members and the bishops who want to avoid any resemblance to freemasonry, the Knights end their membership rituals and remove the words "Noble Order" from their name.

Though initially averse to strikes as a method to advance their goals, the Knights have aided various strikes and boycotts.