US unions defended craft privilege rather than posing the hegemonic question.

Evidence

The struggle taking place in America, as described by Philip, 358 is still in defence of craft rights against “industrial liberty”. In other words, it is similar to the struggle that took place in Europe in the eighteenth century, although in different conditions. American workers unions are, more than anything else, the corporate expression of the rights of qualified crafts and therefore the industrialists’ attempts to curb them have a certain “progressive” aspect. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1067