LABOR UNIONS IN THE GILDED AGE

What’s a union?Why unions?The rise of unions

Major unions Major events Women in the labor movement

OVERVIEW

WHAT’S A UNION?

Groups of workers in the same industry

Elect leaders to negotiate with employers

Engage in collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions

Sometimes launch strikes to enhance bargaining power

WHAT’S A UNION?

Strike: when a group of workers refuses to work in the hopes of getting better pay, benefits, or working conditions

STRIKES

WHY UNIONS?:WORKING

CONDITIONS IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA

More people start working for wages

Work becomes much more unpleasant for many

Low-wage, low-skill jobs makes workers easier to replace less bargaining power

INDUSTRIALIZATION

Long hours Low payMost family members had to workExtremely difficult manual labor, often with no

restDangerous work

1880-1900: 35,000 deaths/year in factory/mine accidents

500,000 - 1 million more injuriesPanic of 1873 leads employers to lay off

workers and cut wages

WORKING CONDITIONS

Strikebreakers (“scabs”): workers hired by companies to replace striking workers Immigrants African Americans

Intimidation/firingSabotage/infiltrationPinkerton guards

Pinkerton National Detective Agency: founded 1850 in Chicago

Private security and law enforcement firm Frequently hired by factory owners to intimidate union

activists and protect strikebreakers Reputation for violence

RETALIATION

Many small, local, trade-specific unions and guilds July 1877: railroad unions organize strikes to protest

wage cutsViolent confrontations between strikers and police

huge impact on rail travel and shippingWorst violence in Pittsburgh

July 21: State troops fire on demonstrators, killing 10 Mob sets railway property on fire, burning 2,000 train cars Troops shoot their way out, killing 20 more Rutherford Hayes sends federal soldiers

Strikes collapse thanks to imbalance of force, weak economy (more strikebreakers), and lack of central leadership

Spurs workers to organize across trades

THE RAILROAD STRIKES OF 1877

UNION MEMBERSHIP, 1900-2000

THE RISE OF UNIONS

Founded 1869Terence V. PowderlyIncluded skilled +

unskilled, women, immigrants, black workers

Ultimate goal: workers’ cooperatives

Generally opposed to strikes, but engaged in some militant action

THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR

May 1, 1886: general strike for an 8-hour day led by all unions in Chicago

3 days of peaceful demonstrations; police shoot and kill two union members while breaking up a fight on May 3

May 4: rally to protest police violence in Haymarket Square Police approach to break up the orderly rally Someone in the crowd throws a bomb 7 killed, 67 injured

Mass arrests of anarchists and union activistsResult: public becomes suspicious of labor

unions; destroys the Knights of Labor

THE HAYMARKET AFFAIR

Founded 1886Samuel GompersGenerally moderateConcrete goals:

wages, hours, collective bargaining

Generally excluded unskilled workers, immigrants, women, and African Americans

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR

June 1892: Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steelworkers (AA) negotiating with Carnegie steel plant in Homestead, PA

Henry Frick closes plant and hires Pinkertons to protect strikebreakers

July 5: Firefight between workers and Pinkertons

State militia called in to break the strike and protect new, non-union employees

July 23: Anarchist attempts to assassinate Frick

Impact: setback for AFL; loss for strikers

THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE

Pullman, Chicago: a “company town” for workers building Pullman railway cars

1894: Pullman lays off workers and cuts pay, but does not lower rents

Eugene V. Debs travels to Pullman and recruits factory workers to the American Railway Union (ARU)

The ARU calls for a boycott of all trains carrying Pullman cars

THE PULLMAN STRIKE: CAUSES

June 26, 1894: ARU members begin refusing to work on trains carrying Pullman cars

125,000 workers walked off the job within the next four days

Huge disruption to transportation, shipping, and the economy in much of the country

Rail traffic shut down in 27 statesRailroads hire strikebreakers (“scabs”), including

black workersViolence by some union supporters angers the

public and increases calls for federal intervention

THE PULLMAN STRIKE: BOYCOTT

President Cleveland directs the government to shut down the strike

Federal troops protect strikebreakers and force an end to the boycott

30 strikers killed, 57 wounded

$800 million in property damage

By August 2, ARU ends the boycott; most strikers abandon the union and return to work

THE PULLMAN STRIKE: INTERVENTION

Founded 1905 by radical Colorado miners

Known as IWW or “the Wobblies”

“One big union”: all laborers, regardless of race or trade

Ultimate goal: socialismOften supported violence

and sabotageCollapsed during WWI and

Red Scare

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

Most unions excluded women from membership; nearly all excluded them from leadership

A few exceptions: International Ladies Garment Workers Union; Lawrence textile mills

1919: IBEW Telephone Operator’s Department strikes, shutting down phone service in five states

Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) – founded 1903; link between women’s and labor movements

WOMEN IN THE LABOR MOVEMENT

Lived approx. 1837-1930

Traveled the country organizing coal miners and other laborers

Unconventional tactics Included black and white workers

Used women and children in her protests

Didn’t wear a bow tie, but…

MARY HARRIS “MOTHER” JONES