how could the emergence of corporations & the idea of fewer controlling more stifle free...
TRANSCRIPT
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How could the emergence of corporations & the idea of fewer controlling more stifle free competition?
What would you do if you were the government?
Sherman Antitrust Act
Read Section from packet 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act made it
illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries.
Why would it be difficult to enforce this? No clear definition of TRUST Companies could simply reorganize into
a single corporation
Southern Industrialization?
Not really, why? Devastated economy from Civil War North owned railroad companies
High transportation costs High tariffs on raw materials & imported goods
Why Form Labor Unions?
Why do you think laborers began to form unions? Worked 12 or more hours a day, 6 days a week No vacation, sick days reimbursement for injuries
on job. Injuries happened in dangerous factories 1882 an average of 675 labors were killed each week
Low Wages Women in workplace doubled from 1890-1910 Children, some as young as 5, worked full-time jobs What did these children sacrifice to help provide their
family?
Labor Unions Union: Worker organization aimed to improve
working conditions & wages Strike: Laborers refuse to work until their
demands are met. Arbitration: Workers & owners agree that
another person/persons hear both sides of the dispute and make impartial decision.
Lockout: Workers are ordered out of a business factory and the business is shut down.
• Collective Bargaining: Negotiation between reps from labor & management to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions.
Early Labor Organizations
NLU & CNLU National Labor Union & Colored National Labor
Union Formed in 1866 by William H. Sylvis Persuaded government to legalize 8 hour workday Focused on linking unions
• In 1869, Uriah Stephens Organized the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor
“An injury to one is the concern of all” Accepted workers of all race, gender & degree of
skill “Equal pay for men & women” Viewed strikes as a last resort, advocated
arbitration
Types of Unions
Craft Unionism: Skilled workers from one or more trades
AFL (American Federation of Labor) 1886 formed by Samuel Gompers AFL focused on collective bargaining AFL utilized strikes to earn higher wages & shorter
work weeks Industrial Unionism:
Unions include all laborers, skilled & unskilled in specific industry.
American Railway Union (ARU) led by Eugene V. Debs won a strike in 1894 for
higher wages
Socialism & IWW
Socialism- Government control of business and property & equal distribution of wealth.
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wobblies Headed by William “Big Bill”
Haywood Miners, lumberers, cannery & dock
workers
Strikes Turn Violent
Great Strike of 1877: Workers for Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad (B&O) Protest second wage cut
in 2 months Spread to other railroad
lines covering 50,000 miles
After a week of stoppage, federal troops ended the strike
Strikes Turn Violent Haymarket Affair: May 4, 1886
3,000 people gathered at Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest police brutality
As crowd dispersed, a bomb was thrown at the police.
Police fired on the protestors 7 police officers & several laborers
were killed Public began to turn against labor
movements, why?
Strikes Turn Violent
Homestead Strike: June 29, 1892 workers call for strike Frick hires Pinkertons to protect plant to hire
scabs Scabs: Strikebreakers to keep plant
operating. Workers forced Pinkertons out and kept mill
closed until… July 12, Pennsylvania National Guard arrived
Strikes Turn Violent
The Pullman Company Strike: 1894 Why?
3,000 workers laid off Wages cut by 25-50% Pullman refused arbitration
Result? ARU began boycotting Pullman trains Pullman hired Scabs, resulting in violence President Grover Cleveland sends in Federal
Troops Pullman fires most of strikers and blacklists them
from getting railroad jobs
Women Organize Although barred from many unions, supported better
working conditions, equal pay, an end to child labor
Mary Harris Jones: “Mother Jones” Organized United Mine Workers of America (UWM) Led 80 mill children on a march to President Theodore
Roosevelt’s home in 1903 Pauline Newman: Garment worker since 8 years old
At 16 organized International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU)
Remember the fire at Triangle Shirtwaist factory in NYC on March 25, 1911? One door was left unlocked, no sprinkler system, single fire
escape collapsed 146 women died Factory owners acquitted of any wrongdoing
Management & Government React
Management refuses to recognize unions: Forbade union meetings Fired union members Forced employees to sing “yellow-dog contracts”
Yellow-dog contracts- Swearing they wouldn’t join union Government Pressure:
Turn the Sherman Antitrust Act on unions Strikes & boycotts interfere with interstate trade State or Federal government issued injunctions
against the labor action Despite these actions, workers continued to see
unions as a powerful tool.