Labor Force Distribution

1870-1900

The Changing American

Labor Force

“Galley Labor”

Labor Unrest: 1870-1900

Management vs. Labor

“Tools” of Management

“Tools” of Labor

“scabs” P. R. campaign Pinkertons lockout blacklisting yellow-dog

contracts court injunctions open shop

boycotts sympathy

demonstrations informational

picketing closed shops organized

strikes “wildcat” strikes

The Corporate “Bully-Boys”:

PinkertonAgents

A Striker Confronts a SCAB!

Knights of Labor (1869)

Terence V. Powderly

An injury to one is the concern of all!

ù Sought to unite all of America’s workers

ù Accepted Farm hands Factory workers Women African Americans Immigrants

ù Excluded Gamblers Lawyers Bankers Doctors Liquor dealers

Goals of the Knights of Laborù Eight-hour workday.

ù Workers’ cooperatives.ù Worker-owned factories.ù Abolition of child and prison labor.ù Increased circulation of greenbacks.ù Equal pay for men and women.ù Safety codes in the workplace.ù Prohibition of contract foreign labor.ù Abolition of the National Bank.

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 First nationwide strike

Baltimore & Ohio RR cut wages by 10% BUT gave a 10% dividend to stockholders

Brakemen in WV walked out on strike Strike spread quickly along the rail routes Strikers halted all train traffic Unemployed and workers in other industries joined the

protest Mobs defied militia sent to disperse them

Rioting persisted for about a week President Hayes called out the army to suppress the

strike Federal troops fired into a crowd in Pittsburg, killing 20 By the end of the strike over 100 were dead

Result: Weakened railroad unions Damaged reputation of labor unions because of the disruption

and failure

Haymarket Riot (1886)

• McCormick Reaper workers demand 8hr workday

• Police harassment of workers/strikers killed 4 strikers the day before, called for a meeting in Haymarket Square

• Police ordered people to disperse, bomb was thrown (killed 6 officers, 67 injured)

• 8 anarchists convicted of murder, unjust trial, they were scapegoats– 7 sentenced to death 1

suicide, 4 executed, 2 terms to life in prison

Haymarket Riot (1886)

McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.

Workers McCormick Harvesting Machine Company of Chicago go on strike (spring) Workers demanded

an 8hr workday 60-hour work

weeks were common.

The company locked out the workers and hired strikebreakers, a common practice at the time.

Haymarket Riot (1886) May 1, 1886 – nationwide general strike

for 8hr day 45,000 workers parade down Michigan Ave in

support May 3 – protest outside the McCormick

plant resulted in violence May 4 – A mass meeting to protest what

was seen as brutality by the police Number of radical and anarchist speakers addressed

a crowd of approximately 1,500 people. Meeting = peaceful, BUT the mood became

confrontational when the police tried to disperse the crowd.

Bomb thrown at police Police fired into crowd

Haymarket Aftermath Provoke fear & anger

toward: Anarchist Labor unions Strikers Immigrants Working class

Eight men tried = ALL guilty 4 executed 1 suicide 3 prison sentences

The American Federation of Labor

(1886)ù Loose federation of 100+ craft unions Organized skilled worker.

ù Represented workers in matters of national legislation.

ù Used strike to gain higher pay & better working conditions

ù Maintained a national strike fund.ù Mediated disputes between

management and labor.ù Pushed for closed shops.

Big Corporate Profits!

Homestead Steel Strike

(1892)

The Amalgamated Association of

Iron & Steel Workers

Carnegie want to crush Union

Refuses to allow Union to negotiate for non-union workers

Workers strike Frick builds a fence, locks

strikers out & hires Pinkertons

Conflict b/w workers & Pinkertons led to violence

PA governor send in national guard

Attempted Assassination!

Henry Clay Frick Alexander Berkman

Public attention turned against workers Linked anarchism & unions Workers gave up Union leaders blackballed 12hr day, lower wages and 500 fewer jobs

The Pullman Strike of 1894

A “Company Town”:

Pullman, IL Wages cut by 28% Pullman refused to lower

rents 90% of Pullman workers

strike American Railway Union

(ARU) joins boycott of Pullman cars Boycott spread to 15 RRs

& 27 states

President Grover Cleveland

If it takes the entire army and navy to

deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card

will be delivered!

Cleveland called in Army

Violence erupted Troops killed 25

workers and wounded 60+

Debs arrested for violating court injunction

ARU, boycott & strike defeated

Significance Courts & gov’t side

with industrialists

Labor’s Weaknessesù Principal labor organizations represented

only a small percentage of the industrial work force. ONLY 4% of industrial workers belonged to a

Union in 1900.ù Reasons for not organizing:

Immigrants — make some money in America and return home

American workers —believed they were not going to be part of a permanent working class They or their children would become a higher

position in society. ù People rather low paying jobs than no jobsù Middle Class resented unions = believed

radical workers at heart of all problems

Labor Union Membership

Workers Benefits Today

The Rise & Decline of Organized Labor

Right-to-Work States Today

Unionism & Globalization?