It was about intimidation. Don't cross the line.
It wasn't about money, it was about power (being able to demand changes to working conditions, benefits, protection against being let go, etc.).
Have you ever read any of the history of that period and the way workers were treated, it was like indentured servitude. Not pretty. Of course I think we are heading back down that path with free trade. What people don't say about free trade is that we are competing with people who will work for much much less than us. The only way we can stay competitive is if our standard of living decreases.
Of course the powers that be won't come out and say this, because, I think, most americans if told that there children were not going to live as good as them, would forment another revolution.