Chapter 24 B Labor Unions and Strikes

Positive and Negative Effects of Unionism

Positive:(1) Standard of living is higher(2) Jobs are availableNegative:(3) Rise in immigration (cheap wages)(4) Job competition (nativism rises)*Union: a group of workers that fight for a common cause*Collective Bargaining:(1)(2)

Employers “controlling” Unions / Factors that LIMIT the success of Labor Unions

• Yellow Dog Contracts / Ironclad Oaths– swearing an oath they will NOT join a Union• Blacklist – if you are part of or leader of a union against the productivity

of a business, you are placed on this list / difficult for you to get a job• Lockout: owner tells the employees not to bother showing up until they

agree to a pay cut• Scabs: Strikebreakers (hired to continue economy of business while strikers are not working)• Company Towns (used by:

– *SCRIP* = town money used at town store– Given “EASY CREDIT”…thus keeping workers in debt and can’t get out!

• Interstate Commerce: a company claims strikers are affecting interstate commerce and the federal government comes running!

Early Labor Unions (Post Civil War)

National Labor Union (NLU) 1866 – • refused African Americans as members• Skilled and unskilled (Trade unionism)• Leader: William SylvisTactics: • Lobbied Congress, not the Employers• Used *Arbitration (settled by a mediator / not injunction

(federal government)

• MAIN LEGACY: 8 hours a day (Originally pushed by Populist…later adopted by Democrats)

Knights of Labor• Began in secrecy, and then publically emerged in 1882• Beliefs:(1) EQUALITY = Equal pay for equal work(2) ACCEPTED EVERYONE…(women and African Americans) / “skilled AND unskilled”Leader: Terrence Powderly(3) DID NOT USE STRIKES – refusal to work, as a LAST resort (favored non-violence)(4) Practiced Arbitration “Injury to one is the concern of all”

Haymarket Square Riot• Chicago, 1886• Anarchists call for change!• Before: American public supported the Labor Movement• After: American public “turned” on the Labor Movement due to: VIOLENCE!• Outcome: • (1) KOL were blamed for the intermingled anarchists’ regime against the federal government• (2) Governor John P. Atgeld “pardoned” the sentenced anarchists (unpopular and cost him reelection)

The AF of L (American Federation of Labor)

• Leader: Samuel Gompers (1886)• Main agenda: USE STRIKES ALL THE TIME• Membership: Housed ONLY skilled workers. – Justification: unskilled laborers would weaken the

UnionLabor Day (1894) granted, ironically, workers a day off of work

American Railway Union (ARU) / Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

• Leader - EUGENE V. DEBS (SOCIALIST) • *STRIKES WERE USED!“The Strike is the weapon of the oppressed” Eugene V. Debs

Socialism and I.W.W

Socialism – an economic system in which the government controls business and property / less extreme version of communism• Individuals do not work for themselves, but live in corporation of one anotherPurpose: Overthrow Capitalism• Pro: total equality regardless of physical differences• Con: hard workers get no support “EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH”

• INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW)****************Example of Socialist Union*********************Formed in 1905 and used through WWI• Mostly Unskilled workers • Leader: Eugene V. Debs• Nickname: Wobblies• Used STRIKES….all the time! (USED VIOLENCE)

• * Socialist Unions – EUGENE V. DEBS!!!!!!!!

Women Organize

Fighting for:• Better working conditions• Equality• End of child labor****MAIN LEADER: MARY HARRIS JONES (MOTHER)• To expose the cruelties of child labor – Mary Harris Jones led a march of 80 mill children to

the home of President Teddy Roosevelt….this crusade influenced the passage of Child Labor Laws

Triangle Shirtwaste Factory Fire• March 25, 1911 (New York City)• Oil-drenched machines caught on fire! (conditions)• Company locked all of the doors *(Crime / force)• 146 women died (from fire or jumping) • MAJOR EFFECT/ Public Reaction: a task force was set up to study working conditions of many industries in New York* spurred the growth of improved factory conditions and safety standards