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Immigrants, women, and children significantly expanded the labor force Machines increasingly replaced skilled artisans Large bureaucratic corporations dominated the American economy Corporations developed national and even international markets for their goods For workers, industrialism was a double-edged sword Standard of living was up but at the expense of deteriorating conditions in the workplace

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U.S. population triples in the late 19 th c. 1850 23.2 million 1900 76.2 million Growth fueled by immigration Push Factors: poverty, overcrowding, joblessness, religious persecution Pull Factors: economic opportunity, reputation for political & religious freedom, cheap transportation Labor Contract Law allowed businesses to pay in advance for the passage of workers Willing to work for low wages Tension between foreign workers and American labor grew

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Old Immigrants New Immigrants Came before the Civil War (pre-1860) From Northern & Western Europe (Britain, Ireland, Germany) Protestant English-speaking High level of literacy & occupational skill Perceived to have blended more easily Came after the Civil War (post-1865) From Southern & Eastern Europe (Italy, Russia, Poland) Not Protestant Jewish, Catholic, etc. Poor and illiterate Unaccustomed to Democratic traditions Settled in poor ethnic neighborhoods in Northern cities 25% = birds of passage

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Work was routine & impersonal 10-hour days, 6 days a week Increasing use of women & children Scientific management lowered need for skills; also transferred control form workers to managers Textile industry = largest employer of women

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Many families could not survive without additional income from women & children These groups considered vulnerable to exploitation and injury Their labor was increasingly viewed as a social problem

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38 states passed child- labor laws but most were ineffective and/or poorly enforced

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The workers response to these problems mirrored their employers tactics they attempted to form combinations in a search for control.

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Tools of Management Tools of Labor scabs P. R. campaign Pinkertons lockouts blacklisting yellow-dog contracts court injunctions open shop boycotts sympathy demonstrations informational picketing closed shops organized strikes wildcat strikes

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Strong-arm tactics used by management Public view of unions as un- American and in league with anarchists Government support of business Only represented small % of national labor force Divisions among labor itself on goals and tactics Ethnic tension& mobility of the workforce made unionization difficult A striker confronts as scab

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First attempt at a national labor union Tried to organize ALL workers in ALL states Skilled, unskilled, agricultural, industrial 1868 640,000 members] Fought for better wages & an 8-hour workday Won 8-hr day for government employees Had a broad social program Equal rights for women & blacks Monetary reform Worker cooperatives Lost support after the Panic of 1873 & unsuccessful strikes in 1877

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Radical and violent group Their terror tactics turned public opinion against the union Blamed for murder, brutal assaults, arson, and sabotage in the coal mines of Pennsylvania James McParland Pinkerton agent who infiltrated the Molly Maguires

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RRs companies announced a 10% wage cut Strikers stopped rail service, destroyed equipment, and rioted in several cities President Hayes used federal troops to restore order

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Terence V. Powderly Began as a secret society

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Moderate union Under Powderlys leadership, membership peaked at 730,000 in 1886 Grew rapidly because of their open- membership policy, continuing industrialization, and growth of urban population Welcomed ALL workers; women immigrants, and African Americans Broad social program Believed they could eliminate conflict between labor and management. Wanted to create a cooperative society in which laborers, not capitalists owned the industries in which they worked

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Eight-hour workday. 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.

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80,000 Knights show up for May Day Labor Movement in Chicago Also wanted to lend support to strikers at the McCormick Harverter Company Bomb thrown at policemen killing 7 Police open fire on the crowd killing 4 more Middle-class America horrified 8 anarchists convicted of murder on the basis that their statements incited the bomb thrower

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Anarchism became the new threat to social order and private property Was linked to the labor movement in Americas mind Spelled the demise for the Knights of Labor

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unions strikes violence socialists anarchists = immigrants !!

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Alliance of skilled workers in craft unions Concentrated on bread-and-butter issues Higher wages Shorter hours Better working conditions By 1901, largest union in the U.S. Samuel Gompers, Founder

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Nicknames Wobblies Strove to unite ALL workers Embraced the rhetoric of class warfare and endorsed violent tactics An injury to one is an injury to all Never had more than 150,000 members Collapsed during WWI

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Union at Andrew Carnegies steel plant went on strike after wages were cut Plant manager & Carnegie saw this as a chance to break the union Frick locked out the workers and hired Pinkertons to protect the strikebreakers Henry Clay Frick

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After battling workers, Pinkertons surrendered and ejected from the town Company asked the National Guard to step in and protect its property & strikebreakers Union was successfully broken

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Panic of 1893, led Pullman Company to cut wages while maintaining rents and prices in the company town at the same level 12,000 workers lived in this town Workers went on strike

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Eugene V. Debs, leader of the American Railway Union, has his union join the strike Substantial portion of American RR commerce shut down

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Court issues injunction against prevented transportation of mail Debs & other union leaders arrested Cleveland orders federal troops in If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered! Strike crushed

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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!

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Come On and Sing Along!!

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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!

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* * * * 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!

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