The Rise of Organized Labor

The Second Industrial RevolutionMr. RiddlebargerAmerican History 10

Gilded Age

Government & Business

The Government maintains a hands-off attitude toward business

● Laissez-faire● Business leaders & politicians claim

regulation would hurt the economy

Sherman antiTrust Act (1890)

● Made it illegal to form trusts that interfere with trade

● Prohibits monopolies & activities that hinder the marketplace

There will be little enforcement of this law for years

Industrial Workers

Large numbers of workers required much labor

● The workforce○ Many are immigrants○ Many are from rural America

■ Came to cities seeking jobs● WHY?

■ Native-born and European immigrants get priority● African-Americans get labor or household

work○ Paid less

Child Labor I. Many industrial workers are childrenA. By 1900, 1 in 6

children between 10 and 15 years of age hold job outside home

B. Even as young as 5 must sometimes work

Child Labor

Working ConditionsI. Unskilled Labor

A. Average: 10 hours/day, 6 days/week1. No benefits2. Injuries/accidents on the job-

replacement3. Cramped work conditions4. Some garment workers work out

of their homea) They pay rent and for heat &

light

Sweatshops“In [the tenements] the child works unchallenged from the day he is old enough to pull a thread. There is no such thing as a dinner hour; men and women eat while they work, and the ‘day’ is lengthened at both ends far into the night. Factory hands take their work with them at the close of the lawful day to eke out their scanty earnings by working overtime at home.”

- Jacob Riis

Workers Seek Change

By late 1800’s, conditions are so bad, increasing numbers of workers begin organizing

What do they seek?

How does this action help their cause?

Early OrganizingI. Early Labor Movement

A. Mostly Small and local

II. National UnionsA. National Labor Union (1866) small

federation of local unions pushed for 8 hour day. Folded in 1872

B. Knights of Labor (1869)1. Accepted unskilled, women,

African-Americans, even employers2. “An injury to one is a concern of all”;

700,000 strong by 18863. Pushed 8 hour day, end to child labor

and equal pay for equal work4. Early on, discouraged strikes; prefer

negotiation and boycott

“To secure to the toilers [workers] a proper share of the wealth that they create; more of the leisure that rightfully belongs to them; more society advantages...in a word, all those rights and privileges necessary to make them capable of enjoying, appreciating, defending and perpetuating the blessings of good government.”

- Preamble to the Constitution of Knights of Labor

The Great Railroad Strike

1st major strike (1877)

A. Several railroads cut wages during hard times

B. Workers for several train companies block train lines in protest1. similar actions spread around country for a

week stopping most traffic

C. Many governors call out militia to put down strikes1. Baltimore: 10 killed after shots fired into

crowd2. Pittsburgh: 20 killed, including 3 children

a) Violent response does $4million damage

D. US Army puts an end to Great Railroad Strike1. Over 100 died

The Haymarket Riot

● Chicago, 1886● Wage cuts cause worker strike● Gathering caused by police violence at

protest○ A bomb goes off○ Gunfire ensues in the panic○ 11 dead; 100+ injured

● Foreign-born blame○ Xenophobia- fear of foreigners○ Nativism

● 8 arrested and charged with murder○ Foreign names

● No evidence existed but sentence to die○ 4 hanged; one commits suicide; 3

later pardoned.

The American Federation of Labor

I. Haymarket Response by employersA. Increasing force workers to not

join unions1. Blacklists created of those

seen as trouble2. “Scabs” replace those who

strikeB. Samuel Gompers & AFL

1. Formed by skilled workers in 1886 (Columbus, OH)

2. Used strikes and other tactics to win wage increases and shorter work weeks.

Homestead Strike ● Carnegie Steel Co. strike in Homestead, PA (1892)

● Manager wants to break union & locks workers out

● Workers seize plant● Private guards try to re-take plant

& violence ensues● 14 hour battle leaves 16 dead● Governor brings in state militia● Steelworker’s union will fizzle

Pullman Strike● 1893- Pullman Co. lays of ⅓ of workers● Remaining workers have wages cut

25% but rent remains the same○ Most live in company-owned

dwellings● Eugene V. Debs, head of American

Railway Union, support worker strike● Government steps in saying strike

interferes with US Mail delivery● Workers still striking are jailed● President Grover Cleveland calls in

military and strike ends● Workers not quitting ARU were fired or

blacklisted