Transcript ah-chapter-14-section

Chapter 14
Industrialization
Section 4
Unions
Working in the United States
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B/w 1865 & 1897, the U.S. experienced
deflation, or a rise in the value of money.
Relations b/w workers & employers were
difficult.
Deflation caused prices to fall and
companies to cut wages.
Worker felt the only way to improve this
was to form unions.
Working in the United States
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Workers faced:
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Monotonous work
Dangerous conditions
Uneven division of income b/w wealthy & working
class.
Early Unions
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Two types of workers in industrial America:
Craft workers – had special skills and paid
more.
Common laborers – had few skills and
received lower wages.
Early Unions
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1830s – craft workers formed trade unions,
which were limited to people with specific
skills.
By 1873 – 32 trade unions in the U.S.
Largest & most successful were:
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Iron Molders’ International Union
International Typographical Union
Knights of St. Crispin
Industry Opposes Union
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Employers opposed industrial unions,
which united all craft workers and common
laborers in a particular industry.
Companies began to have workers take
oaths or sign contracts promising not to join
a union.
They would also hire detectives to identify
union organizers.
Industry Opposes Unions
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Workers who organized a union or strike
were fired and put on a blacklist.
Once blacklisted, a worker could get a job
only by changing trade, residence, or
name.
Industry Opposes Unions
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If a union was formed, companies used a
lockout to break it.
Workers went without pay and were locked
out of the property.
If the union did strike, employers would hire
strikebreakers, also known as scabs.
Political and Social Opposition
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Marxism, the ideas of
Karl Marx, was
popular in Europe.
Marx felt it was the
class struggle b/w
workers & owners that
shaped society.
He believed workers
would revolt and gain
control.
Political and Social Opposition
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After a revolution, Marx believed a socialist
society would be created in which the
wealth was evenly divided, and classes
would no longer exist.
Many labor supporters agreed, and some
supported anarchism.
Political and Social Opposition
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Ideas of Marxism and anarchism spread
throughout Europe.
Tens of thousands of immigrants arrived in
the U.S.
People began to asociate Marxism and
anarchism with immigrants, and became
suspicious of unions as well.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
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1873 – sever recession forced many
companies to cut wages.
Resulted in the 1st nationwide labor protest
in Martinsburg, West Virginia, as workers
walked off their job and blocked tracks.
Included 80,000 workers in 11 states.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
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Violence erupted
President Hayes ordered the army to stop
the strike.
100 people died and millions of dollars in
property were lost.
Knights of Labor
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Failure of the RR strike showed a need for
better organized laborers.
Knights of Labor became the 1st nationwide
industrialized union.
Supported arbitration, process where an
impartial 3rd party helps mediate b/w
workers and management.
Knights of Labor
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Demands:
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8 hour workday
Gov’t bureau of labor statistics
Equal pay for women
End to child labor
Worker-owned factories
Haymarket Riot
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Haymarket Riot – 1886 – undermined the
Knights’ reputation, and the union rapidly
declined.
Strike was called to show support for the 8
hour workday. One striker was killed.
Next evening a meeting was called to
protest the killing.
Haymarket Riot
Haymarket Riot
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During the protest, someone threw a bomb.
In the end, 7 police and 4 workers were
killed.
One man was arrested from the Knights of
Labor.
This hurt their reputation and people
started dropping out.
The Pullman Strike
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1893 – RR workers created the American
Railway Union (ARU).
They unionized the Pullman Palace Car
Company in Illinois.
After the company cut wages, the workers
went on strike.
It tied up the RR’s and threatened the
economy.
The Pullman Strike
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To end the boycott, U.S. mail cars were
attached to Pullman cars.
Refusing to handle a Pullman car would
result in a violation of federal law.
After an injunction, or formal court order,
stopped the boycott, the strike and the ARU
ended.
American Federation of Labor
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1886 – delegates from over 20 of the
nation’s trade unions organized the AFL.
1st leader was Samuel Gompers.
Goals:
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Get companies to recognize unions & agree to
collective bargaining.
Push for closed shops – only hire union
members.
8 hour workdays
AFL
*Don’t Write*
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By 1900 the AFL had
over 500,000
members.
The majority of
workers were still
unorganized.
Working Women
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By 1900 women made up more than 18%
of the labor force.
Most unions excluded women.
Women’s Trade Union League
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WTUL was the 1st national association
dedicated to promoting women’s labor
issues.
Set up by Mary Kenney O’Sullivan &
Leonora O’Reilly.
Mary Kenney O’Sullivan
End of Section 4
Next: TEST #2