CH. 14-3 WORKERS ORGANIZE

1. CH. 14-3 WORKERS ORGANIZE AMERICAN HISTORY

2. GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS • Late 1800s Government maintained a hands-off attitude to business • Government became uneasy about the power giant businesses had • 1890—Congress passes the SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT • Illegal to form trusts that interfered with free trade • Prohibited monopolies and activities that hindered competition • 1890-1901—only 18 lawsuits were brought under this law

3. 1890—10% of the population controlled 75% of the national wealth • The rich were exceedingly rich with many industrial workers had to survive on $500 per year

4. INDUSTRIAL WORKERS • THE WORKFORCE • Many factory workers were immigrants • Others were rural Americans that moved to cities to earn a living • Best factory jobs went to native-born whites • African-Americans found work as laborers or household help • Many industrial workers were children • By 1900—1/6 of children aged 10-15 held a job outside the home • Some as young as age 5 worked to help the family

5. WORKING CONDITIONS • 10-hour work days, 6 days a week • No paid vacation, no sick leave, and no compensation for injuries suffered on the job • Employers pressured workers to work as fast as they could • This led to terrible accidents • SWEATSHOPS—cramped workshops set up in shabby tenement buildings • Common in the garment industry

6. WORKERS SEEK CHANGE • Late 1800s—terrible working conditions prompted workers to organize • EARLY ORGANIZING • Labor movement started in the 1700s • 1794—Philadelphia shoemakers formed a trade union to protect their interests • Other workers organized over the next few decades—carpenters, blacksmiths, printers, etc. • These unions remained small and local

7. NATIONAL UNIONS • The National Labor Union (NLU) organized in 1866 • Federation of small, local unions • Pushed for shorter 8-hour work day • NLU folded in 1872 • Knights of Labor (Philadelphia-1869) was more effective • Leader—Terence V. Powderly • 1880s—accepted unskilled workers, women, African Americans and even employers

8. It excluded bankers, gamblers, lawyers, liquor sellers, physicians, and stockholders • 1886-- >700,000 members • “An injury to one is a concern to all” • Proposals—8-hour workday; end of child labor; equal pay for equal work • Early years—discouraged strikes, preferring boycotts, and negotiation with employers • THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE • First major railroad strike happened in 1877

9. Times were tough and northern railroads cut wages • Workers for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad walked of the job and blocked several freight trains • Pennsylvania Railroad blocked all trains on their lines • Strike spread to other railroads, stopping most freight traffic for more than a week • Several governors called out their state militias to put down the strikes

10. Baltimore—militia fired into the crowd killing 10 • Troops in Pittsburgh killed 20 including 3 children • Mobs in Pittsburgh set trains, buildings, and equipment on fire causing $4 million damage • US Army finally ended the strike that caused 100+ deaths • THE HAYMARKET RIOT • 1886—more intense strikes • Wage cuts in many industries forced workers to go on strike

11. Haymarket Square (Chicago)—crowds gathered to protest violent police action at a strike the previous day • Someone threw a bomb into the crowd • People panicked and gunfire rang out • When order was restored, 11 people died and over 100 were injured • Police immediately blamed foreign-born unionists • XENOPHOBIA—fear of foreigners • Police arrested numerous suspects—many with foreign sounding names

12. 8 people were charged with conspiracy and murder • No evidence existed to connect these people to the crimes • 5 of the suspects weren’t even in Haymarket Square at the time of the incident • All 8 were convicted and sentenced to death • 4 were hanged and 1 killed himself in prison • 1893—the new Illinois governor pardoned the remaining 3 because of lack of evidence

13. THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR • Employers struck back at workers forcing them to sign contracts saying they would not join a union • Employers kept and shared BLACKLISTS (people perceived as troublemakers) • These people would not be hired • If workers went on strike, employers replaced them with “scabs” or strikebreakers • Scabs were often African Americans or others excluded from the unions

14. 1886—a group of skilled workers led by Samuel Gompers formed the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (AFL) • Strikes and other tactics won them wage increases and shorter work weeks • THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE • 1892—workers at Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, PA protested at an increase in production • The refused to work faster • The manager tried to lock them out • The workers seized the plant

15. Days later gunfire erupted when the company’s private guards tried to re-take the plant • Fierce battle raged for 14 hours • 16 people died • The governor called out the state militia and within months the steelworkers’ union withered • THE PULLMAN STRIKE • 1893—Pullman company laid off 1/3 of its workers • It cut wages of remaining workers by 25% but rent was not lowered

16. Workers went on strike with the support of EUGENE V. DEBS (leader-American Railway Union (ARU)) • He urged workers not to work on any train that contained Pullman cars • The government stepped in and ordered an end to the strike because US mail was disrupted • ARU officials refused and were jailed • President Grover Cleveland called in federal troops and the strike collapsed • Workers who didn’t quit the ARU were blacklisted or fired

17. The next several decades saw unions struggle for progress • Unions would eventually gain considerable power • THE END