AGENDA•Do Now• “Work Place & Labor Unions” Notes•Collective Bargaining Activity•Primary Sources

•Homework:– DBQ Essay due Monday– Industrialization Test Friday 12/12

DO NOW:•What conditions are necessary for

you to be a successful student?– Think environmental– Resources– Climate

Work Place & Labor Unions

American HistoryDecember 5, 2014

Changes in America• Only a few

entrepreneurs became rich

• Machines replaced skilled labor

• Work became monotonous

Women making teddy bears

Working life• Highly repetitive tasks• Little pride in work• Poor conditions

– Unhealthy• Breathed in lint, dust, and toxic fumes

– Dangerous • Machines lacked safety features

Time for Change•Workers decided they needed to

organize– Create a union

•Goals– Improve working conditions– Better wages

Opposition to Unions•Problems in

organizing:– No laws that allowed

them to organize– Courts usually ruled

against workers who went on strike

– Might be fined or jailed

•Unions had to work against perception– Capitalism vs. Marxism

• Immigrants were bringing in these ideas

•People were suspicious of Unions

•Eventually courts, police, and even the army were used to break up Unions

Opposition to Unions

Struggle to Organize•Early Unions only were made

of highly skilled workers– Factory owners needed their

skills, so they were able to negotiate

•Owners of large corporations were particularly opposed to:– Industrial Unions

• United all craft workers and common laborers in a particular industry

Struggle to Organize• Unions were less successful as industry

grew• Companies used techniques to prevent

Unions from forming– Required workers to sign contracts promising

not to join a Union– Hired undercover detectives– Fired workers who unionized

• A created a list of “Trouble Makers• “Black Listed” workers

• If a Union did form:– Companies locked out workers– Refused to pay them– Hire replacement workers

Struggle to Organize

American Federation of Labor

•Most early large scale industrial Unions failed

•Trade unions however did find some success

•Created the American Federation of Labor or the AFL

•First AFL leader, Samuel Gompers– Felt Unions should stay out of politics– Wanted to negotiate before a strike

American Federation of Labor

• The AFL had 3 goals:1. Convince companies to recognize

Unions and agree to collective bargaining

2. Create closed shops only hire union workers

3. Promoted an 8 hour work day

American Federation Of Labor

•By 1900 AFL was the largest Union– 500,000 members

•Only represented 15% of the workforce

•Only 18% of working population belonged to a Union

•As the 1900s began most workers were unrepresented and unions were relatively weak

Women in the Workplace

• Types of Jobs:– 1/3 worked as domestic servants– 1/3 worked as teachers, nurses, sales

clerks, and secretaries– 1/3 worked in light industrial jobs that

were deemed appropriate, mainly garment and food industries

• Women were paid less than men

Women in the Workplace

•Created the WTUL Union– 8 hour work day– Minimum wage– Abolition of Child Labor

Collective Bargaining• In groups of 6 or 7

– Split group in ½ 3 people are owners, 3 are laborers

• Read through confidential information – Determine the demands you will make in

negotiations– Make a plan and bargaining strategy

• Negotiations– 15 - 20 mins

• Once you come to an agreement you must write out a contract, signed and agreed by both sides

Contracts Must Address…•Wages•Working Hours•Vacations•Benefits•Health/Safety Conditions•Anything else you deem important