Why did conflict between labor and management increase after the war? Why did the public turn...
-
Upload
helena-martin -
Category
Documents
-
view
225 -
download
0
Transcript of Why did conflict between labor and management increase after the war? Why did the public turn...
•Why did conflict between labor and management increase after the war?
•Why did the public turn against the strikers?
•Why did labor union membership decline in the 1920s?
•During WWI, the US Labor Administration prevented labor unions from striking.
•In 1919, there were more than 3,000 strikes involving approximately 4 million workers
•Workers wanted better wages and working conditions (wages had not kept pace with inflation)
•the American Plan = anti-labor policy advocated by employers
•it was un-American for a worker to “have” to join a union to get a job (a.k.a. no closed shop agreements)
•by refusing to negotiate with unions, employers were “protecting” workers’ rights to work (a.k.a. no collective bargaining)
•actions taken by “American Plan” companies:
•offered benefits (higher wages, stock ownership, vacation time, etc.)
•allowed formation of local company-based unions with no outside affiliations and little power
•fired striking workers and union representatives
•disseminated propaganda associating unions with communists, socialists, and anarchists
•Boston police had not been given a raise since the start of WWI
•Representatives who asked for a raise were fired
•Remaining 1,117 officers went on strike in September 1919
•Fear for public safety generated national attention
•MA governor, Calvin Coolidge, called out the National Guard
•“There is no right to strike against public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.”
•After the strike ended, the striking officers were not allowed to return to work
•New officers were hired and trained
•Coolidge was praised for “saving Boston, if not the nation, from communism and anarchy”
•Steel workers wanted:
•right to negotiate for shorter working hours and higher wages
•union recognition with collective bargaining
•U.S. Steel management refused to meet with workers (September 1919)
•Over 300,000 workers went on strike
•Strikebreakers (employees who agreed to work during the strike) were hired
•Striking workers were beaten by police, federal troops, and state militias
•Management instituted a national propaganda campaign linking the strikers to communists
•Strike ended in January 1920
•In 1923, a report on the harsh working conditions was made public
•In response, management agreed to an 8-hour day, though did not recognize the legitimacy of the union
•United Mine Workers of America (led by John Lewis) called for a strike on November 1, 1919
•Union wanted to protest low wages and long workdays and workweeks
•Attorney General Palmer obtained a court order sending the miners back to work
•Mines stayed closed for a month beyond the court order
•President Wilson ordered an arbitrator (judge) to settle the dispute
•Workers received a 27% wage increase, but did not get the shorter workday nor the shorter workweek
•Reasons for the decline:
•unions were linked to Communists, socialists, and anarchists
•much of the work force consisted of immigrants willing to work in poor conditions
•immigrant workers were difficult to organize because they spoke many different languages (not English)
•farmers who had migrated to the cities to find factory jobs were used to self-reliance
•most unions excluded African-Americans