~ notes: labor debacle ~. what is my job? what do you find disturbing or unusual about the image?
TRANSCRIPT
What is a “Shirtwaist”?
• 19th and early 20th centuries, the shirtwaist blouse was regarded as the ‘model shirt’ for the independent, working woman. – A button-down blouse, the
functional shirtwaist was valued for its ready-to-wear, workplace appeal and its simple design, originally modeled on menswear shirts.
– It could be worn jacketless and fashionably tucked into the waistband of a skirt, and it was sold as both an individual piece and as an ensemble.
Average Shirtwaist
Worker’s Week
Average Shirtwaist
Worker’s Week51 hours or less 4,554 5%52-57 hours 65,033 79%58-63 hours 12,211 15%Over 63 hours 562 1%
Total employees, men and women 82,360
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Asch Building, 8th and 10th Floors
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Asch Building, 8th and 10th Floors
• Dark cramped shops made exhausting work still more difficult and dangerous. The end of a 10 or 12 hour day was only the beginning of a long walk or ride home to scant food and crowded rooms.
• The 240 employees sewing shirtwaists on the ninth floor had their escape blocked by back-to-back chairs and workbaskets in the aisles. The 75-foot long paired sewing machine tables obstructed essential
access to the windows, stairs, and elevators.
What was life like in factories?
-Who:
-How long:
-What:
EVERYONE EVERYONE (men, women, & children)(men, women, & children)
12 hours, 6 days a week12 hours, 6 days a week
Piecework … paid by how Piecework … paid by how much you produce = VERY much you produce = VERY
DEMANDINGDEMANDING
REACTIONS to conditions
1.) Labor unions = organization formed to protect workers’ interests
a.) American Federation of Labor
i. Samuel Gompers
ii. Organized skilled laborers
iii. increase wages, better hours and conditions
How the AF of L Would Help the
Workers
How the AF of L Would Help the
Workers× Catered to the skilled worker. Catered to the skilled worker. ****
× Represented workers in matters of Represented workers in matters of national legislation.national legislation.
× Maintained a national strike fund.Maintained a national strike fund.
× Evangelized the cause of unionism.Evangelized the cause of unionism.
× Prevented disputes among the many Prevented disputes among the many craft unions. craft unions. ****
× Mediated disputes between Mediated disputes between management and labor. management and labor. ****
× Pushed for Pushed for closed shopsclosed shops.**.**
Haymarket Riot (1886)
Haymarket Riot (1886)
McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.
2.) Strikes: stoppage of work
a.) Haymarket Riot – want 8 hour work day
i. scabs = people who work when everyone is on strike
ii. strikers fight scabs … bombs thrown at police riot
The Pullman Strike of 1894
The Pullman Strike of 1894
b.) Pullman strike – protest wage cuts & conditions
A “Compa
nyTown”:
Pullman, IL
A “Compa
nyTown”:
Pullman, ILi. Owners forced
workers to live in a company town & pay rent to the company (took all of the workers $)
Pullman CarsPullman Cars
A Pullman A Pullman porterporterii. at the height of strike company was shut down (stopped rail traffic and mail)
a. = interfered with interstate commerce (violates Sherman Anti Trust Act)
iii. government is brought in to end the strike … Sherman Anti-trust act = no trusts / monopolies (interfere with trade) & does not recognize unions courts say no STRIKES!!!
Government by injunction!Government by injunction!