GET IT DONE!

How could the emergence of corporations & the idea of fewer controlling more stifle free competition?

What would you do if you were the government?

Sherman Antitrust Act

Read Section from packet 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act made it

illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries.

Why would it be difficult to enforce this? No clear definition of TRUST Companies could simply reorganize into

a single corporation

Southern Industrialization?

Not really, why? Devastated economy from Civil War North owned railroad companies

High transportation costs High tariffs on raw materials & imported goods

Why Form Labor Unions?

Why do you think laborers began to form unions? Worked 12 or more hours a day, 6 days a week No vacation, sick days reimbursement for injuries

on job. Injuries happened in dangerous factories 1882 an average of 675 labors were killed each week

Low Wages Women in workplace doubled from 1890-1910 Children, some as young as 5, worked full-time jobs What did these children sacrifice to help provide their

family?

Labor Unions Union: Worker organization aimed to improve

working conditions & wages Strike: Laborers refuse to work until their

demands are met. Arbitration: Workers & owners agree that

another person/persons hear both sides of the dispute and make impartial decision.

Lockout: Workers are ordered out of a business factory and the business is shut down.

• Collective Bargaining: Negotiation between reps from labor & management to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions.

Early Labor Organizations

NLU & CNLU National Labor Union & Colored National Labor

Union Formed in 1866 by William H. Sylvis Persuaded government to legalize 8 hour workday Focused on linking unions

• In 1869, Uriah Stephens Organized the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor

“An injury to one is the concern of all” Accepted workers of all race, gender & degree of

skill “Equal pay for men & women” Viewed strikes as a last resort, advocated

arbitration

Types of Unions

Craft Unionism: Skilled workers from one or more trades

AFL (American Federation of Labor) 1886 formed by Samuel Gompers AFL focused on collective bargaining AFL utilized strikes to earn higher wages & shorter

work weeks Industrial Unionism:

Unions include all laborers, skilled & unskilled in specific industry.

American Railway Union (ARU) led by Eugene V. Debs won a strike in 1894 for

higher wages

Socialism & IWW

Socialism- Government control of business and property & equal distribution of wealth.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wobblies Headed by William “Big Bill”

Haywood Miners, lumberers, cannery & dock

workers

Strikes Turn Violent

Great Strike of 1877: Workers for Baltimore and

Ohio Railroad (B&O) Protest second wage cut

in 2 months Spread to other railroad

lines covering 50,000 miles

After a week of stoppage, federal troops ended the strike

Strikes Turn Violent Haymarket Affair: May 4, 1886

3,000 people gathered at Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest police brutality

As crowd dispersed, a bomb was thrown at the police.

Police fired on the protestors 7 police officers & several laborers

were killed Public began to turn against labor

movements, why?

Strikes Turn Violent

Homestead Strike: June 29, 1892 workers call for strike Frick hires Pinkertons to protect plant to hire

scabs Scabs: Strikebreakers to keep plant

operating. Workers forced Pinkertons out and kept mill

closed until… July 12, Pennsylvania National Guard arrived

Strikes Turn Violent

The Pullman Company Strike: 1894 Why?

3,000 workers laid off Wages cut by 25-50% Pullman refused arbitration

Result? ARU began boycotting Pullman trains Pullman hired Scabs, resulting in violence President Grover Cleveland sends in Federal

Troops Pullman fires most of strikers and blacklists them

from getting railroad jobs

Women Organize Although barred from many unions, supported better

working conditions, equal pay, an end to child labor

Mary Harris Jones: “Mother Jones” Organized United Mine Workers of America (UWM) Led 80 mill children on a march to President Theodore

Roosevelt’s home in 1903 Pauline Newman: Garment worker since 8 years old

At 16 organized International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU)

Remember the fire at Triangle Shirtwaist factory in NYC on March 25, 1911? One door was left unlocked, no sprinkler system, single fire

escape collapsed 146 women died Factory owners acquitted of any wrongdoing

Management & Government React

Management refuses to recognize unions: Forbade union meetings Fired union members Forced employees to sing “yellow-dog contracts”

Yellow-dog contracts- Swearing they wouldn’t join union Government Pressure:

Turn the Sherman Antitrust Act on unions Strikes & boycotts interfere with interstate trade State or Federal government issued injunctions

against the labor action Despite these actions, workers continued to see

unions as a powerful tool.

So What Do You Think?

Were unions an effective tool during the end of the 19th century into early 20th century? Explain!

Are unions necessary today? Explain!