The Worker – Immigrants• Farmers

– Depression, Debt, Crop Prices

• Irish and German (Pre 1880s)– “Old Immigrants” – Potato Famine, Jobs, Instable Govt

• Eastern/Southern Europeans (Post 1880’s)– “New Immigrants”– Religious, Racial, Political Persecution – Labor Contract Laws

• Free Passage Deducted from paycheck

Why do Industrialists encourage Immigration? What is this going to lead to?

The Worker – The Issues• Low Income

– Avg. $450/yr “Poor Line” $600/yr– Women paid 20% less than men

• Harsh Conditions– 10-12hrs/6 days per week– Little to no safety regulations

• Child Labor– 15% of kids between 10-15 yrs work

• 60% in Agriculture– Early Child Labor Laws

• Only set minimum of 12yrs • Usually Ignored

Child Labor

Child Labor

Emerging Unionism• Little success in early 19th c.• Craft Unions

– Grouped by specific skills– Too small and often isolated

• National Unions– Often Trade Unions– Begin to grow in late 19th c. – Often lacked support due to violence

The Molly Maguires (1875)

JamesMcParland“Pinkerton”

• Secret organization of miners

• Known for violent tactics against Industrialists and management

• Exposed by James McParland

The Corporate “Bully-Boys”: Pinkerton

Agents

• Private “security” agency

• Used as spies within labor groups

• Often called in as “Strike Breakers”

Management vs. Labor

“Tools” of Management

“Tools” of Labor

“scabs” P. R. campaign Pinkertons lockout blacklisting yellow-dog

contracts court injunctions open shop

boycotts sympathy

demonstrations informational

picketing closed shops organized

strikes “wildcat” strikes

A Striker Confronts a SCAB!

Knights of Labor

Terence V. Powderly Leader (1879-93)

Uriah Stephens Founder (1869)

Remember Me!

Knights of Labor (1869)

Knights of Labor trade card

• Originally a secret organization

• Considered first “National” L. Union

• 700,000 member at its peak (1886)

• Rapidly declines due to violence and disorganization

Goals of the Knights of Laborù Eight-hour workday.

ù Workers’ cooperatives.- Worker-owned factories.

ù Abolition of child and prison labor.ù Increased circulation of greenbacks.ù Equal pay for men and women.ù Safety codes in the workplace.ù Prohibition of “contract labor”.

ù Supported Chinese Exclusion

The American Federation

of Labor: 1886

Samuel Gompers

Remember Me Too!

• Emerged out of dispute in K of L

• Organization made up of Craft Unions

• Focused on Wages, Hours, & Conditions

• Also sees decline and lack of support due to violence but remained active until 1955

How the AF of L Would Help the

Workersù Catered to the skilled worker.ù Represented workers in matters of

national legislation.ù Maintained a national strike fund.ù Evangelized the cause of unionism.ù Prevented disputes among the many

craft unions.ù Mediated disputes between

management and labor.ù Pushed for closed shops.

Major Labor Disputes and Violence

• 1877 – Great Railroad Strike

• 1886 – Haymarket Riot

• 1892 – Homestead Strike

• 1894 – Pullman Strike

The Great Railroad Strike (1877)

Legacy: First major national labor conflict

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877• Cause: 10% Wage Cuts

• Strikes stretch from Baltimore to St. Louis

• Rioting in major cities• Destroyed Equipment• Rutherford B Hayes forced to

call on state and federal troops to suppress troops

• Result: 100 people dead

The Tournament of Today:

A Set-to Between Labor and Monopoly

Haymarket Riot (1886)

Legacy: Negative/violent view on Labor Unions.

Haymarket Riots• Cause: K of L and AFL Call for 8 Hour workday

• Peaceful strike turned violent when police fired on the crowd killing 2 strikers

• Next Day: Strikers and Anarchists rally to protest killings• 7 police officers killed and 67 wounded by dynamite bomb

after harassing strikers• Several strikers killed in the following days

• Result: Society demands retribution for killed Officers• 8 “anarchists” arrested for murders

- 4 executed, 1 suicide, 3 later pardoned• Anarchy and labor unions seen as similar – Red Scare?

Homestead Steel Strike

(1892)

The Amalgamated Association of

Iron & Steel Workers

Homestead Steel Works

Legacy: One of the largest labor disputes ever

Homestead Strike• Cause: Carnegie Steel innovations put large number of

skilled steel workers out of jobs• Carnegie orders Henry Clay Frick to cut wages in hope of

forcing skilled workers to quit.

• 300 Pinkertons called in to break strike• AA strikers refuse to let strike breakers through… Battle

ensues

• Result: After 3 agents and 10 strikers are killed, Pinkertons retreat

• Soon after, Pennsylvania calls in state militia to end the strike (4 months)

• AA gradually gives up.

A “Compa

nyTown”:Pullman

, IL

Pullman Cars

A Pullman porter

The Pullman Strike of 1894

Legacy: Sets precedent of Federal Government involvement in breaking up strikes

Pullman Strike• Cause: 25% wage cuts and high rent

• Pullman Company gains support of American Railway Union (Led by Eugene Debs)

• Strike centralized outside of Chicago but stretches across 27 states

• Result: Debs and several strike leaders arrested after Federal troops are called in

• Grover Cleveland claimed strike prevented the delivering of mail and was therefore a federal crime

President Grover Cleveland

If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card

will be delivered!

The Pullman Strike of 1894

Government by injunction!

Legacy of 19th Century Labor Movement

• Positives– 8 Hour workday for government

workers– Abolition of Contract Labor– Some child labor laws– Some workers compensation

Legacy of 19th Century Labor Movement

• Negatives– Overall, little effectiveness

• Many historians claim workers have less rights in 1900 than they did in 1860

– Labor Unions earn negative/violent name in middle and upper class America• Related to Anarchy and Socialism (Communism)

• Why?– Majority of workers not in (not allowed in) major

unions• Immigrants, African Americans, Children, Women

– Growing Corporations = Too much $ and power