Transcript Slide 1
Mr. Livingston: U.S. History
The Changing American Labor Force
Government and Business
• • •
Hands-off policy
– Government did not interfere with business in the late 1800s, but as corporations expanded and gained power, that policy began to change.
Controlling the giants
– The
Sherman Antitrust Act
was passed in 1890, making it illegal to form trusts that interfered with free trade. It prohibited monopolies and activities hindering competition. – The law was vague, however, and it was seldom enforced.
Workers
– The government paid less attention to workers, who scraped by on small wages. By 1890, 10 percent of the population controlled 75 percent of the nation’s wealth. The rich were very rich, and many industrial workers made less than $500 per year.
Industrial Workers
The workforce Working conditions
• Many factory workers were immigrants or rural Americans moving to the cities for jobs.
• The best jobs went to native-born whites or European immigrants.
• Less well-paying jobs were open to African Americans, as household help or laborers.
• By 1900, one in six children between the ages of 10 and 15 held factory jobs. • Most unskilled laborers worked 10-hour days, six days a week. • They had no paid vacation and no sick leave.
• • Speed of production led to terrible accidents. Injured workers were replaced.
Sweatshops
were common. These cramped workshops set up in shabby tenement buildings were common in the garment industry.
Child Labor
Child Labor
“Galley Labor”
Labor Unrest: 1870-1900
Workers Seek Change
Early organizing
In 1794, Philadelphia shoemakers formed a trade union. Over decades, unions formed for skilled trade workers, but they remained small and local.
Nation Unions
After the Civil War, things changed. The Knights of Labor formed in 1869. Under the leadership of
Terence V. Powderly
in the 1880s, they began to accept unskilled workers, women, and African Americans as members. They campaigned for reforms, such as eight-hour workdays and the end of child labor through boycotts and negotiations.
Knights of Labor
Terence V. Powderly
An injury to one is the concern of all!
Goals of the Knights of
Eight-hour workday.
Labor
Workers’ cooperatives.
Worker-owned factories.
Abolition of child and prison labor.
Increased circulation of greenbacks.
Equal pay for men and women.
Safety codes in the workplace.
Prohibition of contract foreign labor.
Abolition of the National Bank.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
After wage cuts, the first railroad strike occurred in 1877. Initial strikes quickly spread, and state militias were called out. Violence ensued, lives were lost, and costly damage was done. The arrival of U.S. Army troops put an end to the strike.
Management vs. Labor
“Tools” of Management
“scabs”
P. R. campaign
Pinkertons
lockout
blacklisting
yellow-dog contracts
court injunctions
open shop “Tools” of Labor
boycotts
sympathy demonstrations
informational picketing
closed shops
organized strikes
“wildcat” strikes
The Corporate “Bully-Boys”: Pinkerton Agents
A Striker Confronts a SCAB!
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Tournament of Today:
A Set-to Between Labor and Monopoly
The Haymarket Riot
• 1886 was a difficult year for labor.
• One of the worst clashes was at Haymarket Square in Chicago. A bomb was thrown in a crowd gathered to protest violent police action. Gunshots rang out, and eleven people were killed and hundreds injured before it was over.
• Foreign-born unionists were blamed for the violence, and the press fanned
xenophobia
. • Eight men were charged with conspiracy, but no evidence connected them to the crime.
• All eight were convicted and sentenced to death. After four hangings and one suicide, the last three were pardoned.
• • • • •
Haymarket Riot (1886)
1886 was a difficult year for labor.
One of the worst clashes was at Haymarket Square in Chicago. A bomb was thrown in a crowd gathered to protest violent police action. Gunshots rang out, and eleven people were killed and hundreds injured before it was over.
Foreign-born unionists were blamed for the violence, and the press fanned
xenophobia
. Eight men were charged with conspiracy, but no evidence connected them to the crime.
All eight were convicted and sentenced to death. After four hangings and one suicide, the last three were pardoned.
Haymarket Martyrs
The American Federation of Labor: 1886
• • Employers struck back at organized labor, forcing employees to sign documents saying they would not join a union.
Blacklists
of people deemed troublemakers were made and shared by employers, who refused to hire anyone listed.
• Striking workers were replaced with “scabs,” or strikebreakers. • Samuel Gompers led a group of skilled workers to form the American Federation of Labor in 1886.
• Using strikes and other tactics, the AFL did win wage increases and shorter workweeks.
Samuel Gompers
How the AF of L Would Help the Workers
Catered to the skilled worker.
Represented workers in matters of national legislation.
Maintained a national strike fund.
Evangelized the cause of unionism.
Prevented disputes among the many craft unions.
Mediated disputes between management and labor.
Pushed for closed shops .
Homestead Steel Strike (1892)
Unions made some gains, but conflicts continued. Carnegie Steel workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, refused to work faster, and the manager tried to lock them out. The workers seized the plant. Gunfire erupted when private guards hired by the company tried to take control. After a 14-hour battle and fourteen deaths, the governor called out the state militia. The steelworkers’ union withered within months.
The Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers
A “Company Town”: Pullman, IL
Pullman Cars
A Pullman porter
The Pullman Strike of 1894
President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
called in federal troops, and the strike collapsed.
If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered!
The Pullman Strike of 1894
• • After laying off a third of its employees in 1893, the Pullman Company cut the wages of remaining workers by 25 percent without lowering their rents. Workers went on strike with the support of
Eugene V. Debs
the American Railway Union. The government ordered the strike be called off, but the union refused. , the leader of • The late 1800s would remain an era of big business.
Government by injunction!
The “Formula”
unions
violence
strikes
socialists
anarchists = immigrants !!
Labor Union Membership
“Solidarity Forever!”
by Ralph Chapin (1915) When the union's inspiration through the workers‘ blood shall run, There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, But the union makes us strong! CHORUS: Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, For the union makes us strong!
Come On and Sing Along!!
“Solidarity Forever!”
Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite, Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong! CHORUS: Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, For the union makes us strong!
“Solidarity Forever!”
* * * * Through our sisters and our brothers we can make our union strong, For respect and equal value, we have done without too long.
We no longer have to tolerate injustices and wrongs, Yes, the union makes us strong!
CHORUS: Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, For the union makes us strong!