Changing Labor Force

Effects of the Industrial Revolution:- Laissez-faire capitalism led to poor working conditions- Wages were low because of a large, unskilled labor force- North saw more industrialization because of the presence of capital and labor

Working Conditions

-Small, crowded rooms

-Specialization made workers tired, bored, and more likely to be injured

-Managers paid less attention to working conditions

-Poorly lit and ventilated “sweatshops” were common

-Unsafe workplaces

-Long hours

-Low wages

-No job security

Child Labor

-Children as young as 4 were employed in production factories with dangerous, and often fatal, working conditions-Worked in factories, mines, hired as chimney sweeps and domestic servants-Children of the poor were expected to help towards the family budget-Earned only 10-20% of an adult male's wage

-In coal mines, children would crawl through tunnels too narrow and low for adults-Builders worked 64 hrs./week in summer and 52 in winter, while domestic servants worked 80 hr. weeks-2 million children under the age of 15 were employed in the U.S.

- Karl Marx/Frederick Engels wrote Communist Manifesto as an response to capitalism in 1848;

- Workers (proletariat) are exploited by factory owners (Bourgeoisie)- Workers should overthrow the capitalists and redistribute

wealth and property

Labor Unrest (1870-1900)

Knights of Labor- 1st labor union- Led by Terrence Powderly in 1877- Admitted all wage earners into their ranks, including women and blacks

-Skilled and unskilled workers

Knights of Labor-Eight-hour workday

-Worker-owned factories

-Abolition of child and prison labor

-Increased circulation of greenbacks

-Equal pay for men and women

-Safety codes in the workplace

-Immigration quotas

Haymarket Square Riot-May 1886; Chicago, IL

-Nation-wide union rallies demanding an 8-hour workday centered around the McCormick factory

-Rally became violent

-Anarchists were accused of throwing a bomb at the police, which killed 67 people

-Sensational trial that charged eight and resulted in four executions

-Result: Knights of Labor go into decline

AFL – American Federation of Labor

-Skilled workers-Limited membership (restricted women and

black laborers)-“Bread and Butter” labor

union

- Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886- “Craft union” (union in a manner that seeks to unify workers in a particular industry along the lines of the particular craft or trade that work in by class or skilllevel)

-By refusing to pursue a radical program for political change, Gompers maintained the support of the American govt and public opinion-Won half of their protests-Used collective bargaining (all workers acted collectively to negotiate with mgmt)

Great Railway/Railroad Strike of 1877: workers in WV drove engines into their roundhouse & refused to allow them to leave until the owners take back the 10% wage cut

- Wage cuts because of economic recession- First nation-wide strike against RRs- Violence used by strikers- Pres. Hayes sent the U.S. Army to end strike

Pinkerton Detective Agency

-Agents performed services ranging from security guarding to private military contracting work-Businessmen hired them to provide agents that would infiltrate unions, supply guards to keep strikers and suspected unionists out of factories, and sometimes to recruit “goon squads” to intimidate workers

Homestead Strike of 1892

-Steel strike in Pittsburgh against Carnegie-Pinkerton Secret Detectives held hostage after an armed battle- Assassination attempt on Henry Frick (Chairman of Carnegie Steel)-8000 state militiamen broke up strike after 4 mos.-The final result was a major defeat for the union and a setback for efforts to unionize steelworkers

Panic of 1893

-Philadelphia and Reading Railway failed →led to other businesses failing →stockholders lost faith and sold shares →many invest in gold instead (gold stores deplete) → Four major RR companies fail because of pulled investments →unemployment rises → Cleveland attempts tight money policy to curb gold depletion →

Coxey’s Army-Led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey

-The purpose of the march was to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893-Lobbied for the govt to create jobs which would involve building roads and other public works improvements

1st significant popular protest march on Washington, D.C. (500+ men)

Result: Coxey was arrested for trespassing on public property and the protestors dispersed

-Wanted workers paid in paper currency which would expand the currency in circulation

Labor Tactics

• Picketing: public protest against mgmt. practices that involves members marching and carrying signs at work site

• Strikes: walkouts - most effective

• Wildcat Strikes: striking without labor union leader authorization

• Boycott: refusing to purchase the products of a company

Business Owners/Management

Issues

• Granting any of the labor’s demands would cut into profits

• Large supply of labor meant workers could easily be replaced

• The U.S. govt showed no support for labor

• Press/media at the time wastypically biased or even paid toreport negatively about unionactivity

Tactics Against Labor

• Lockout: mgmt. closed the factory or place of employment

• Blacklist: record kept by companies of employees who shouldn’t be hired because of union activity

• Scabs: non-union, replacement workers hired during a strike

• Yellow dog contracts:employee agreement not to get involved in union activity (before hired)

A “CompanyTown”: Pullman, IL

-1,000 homes, public buildings, and parks -Yards, indoor plumbing, gas, and daily trash removal (rare amenities)-By 1893 had 12,000 residents-Workers, allowed only to rent their homes, could be evicted on short notice and faced random inspections by officials-Saloons and town meetings were banned and Pullman even had the final say on which books the library stocked and what performances the theater put on

Pullman Palace Car Strike of 1894- 25% pay cuts but no cuts in rent - “Wildcat strike” started in Chicago and spread nationwide (250,000 workers)- Union members refused to run trains containing Pullman cars- Strike leader Eugene V. Debs (I.W.W.) was arrested- Cleveland ordered federal troops (U.S. Army) to intervene and even deliver mail

-30 strikers were killed, 57 wounded-Property damage exceeded $80 mil.

President Cleveland

“If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card

will be delivered!”

Mother Jones: “The Miner’s Angel”

-Mary Harris

-Organizer for the United MineWorkers

-Founded the Social Democratic Party in 1898

-One of the founding members of the IWW in 1905

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

- Known as the “Wobblies”- Founded by “Big Bill” Haywood in 1905-Haywood believed in “direct action” rather than waiting for political change- Marxist and radical

-Believed that all workers should be united as a class and that the wage system should be abolished-Welcomed all workers including women, immigrants, African Americans and Asians-Rarely successful and later became anti-war

Favored Socialism: economy in which the factors of production are shared and divided among those who actually created the products

Eugene V. Debs – Socialist Party of America Candidate

in 1900

“Yes, I am my brother’s keeper.”

Union Security• Closed Shop: union

membership is a prerequisite to employment - later outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

• Open Shop: membership is voluntary

• Union Shop: hire members or nonmembers, but they must become members after a certain period of time or they have to be terminated

• Maintenance of Membership Agreement: must continue their memberships until the termination of the agreement