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The Growth of the American Labor Movement

The Growth of the American Labor Movement. 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”

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The Growth of the American Labor Movement

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  1. The Growth of the American Labor Movement

  2. 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?

  3. 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

  4. Child Labor

  5. Child Labor

  6. 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

  7. The Molly Maguires (1875) • Secret organization of miners • Known for violent tactics against Industrialists and management • Exposed by James McParland JamesMcParland “Pinkerton”

  8. The Corporate “Bully-Boys”: Pinkerton Agents • Private “security” agency • Used as spies within labor groups • Often called in as “Strike Breakers”

  9. 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

  10. A Striker Confronts a SCAB!

  11. Knights of Labor Remember Me! Uriah Stephens Founder (1869) Terence V. Powderly Leader (1879-93)

  12. Knights of Labor (1869) • Originally a secret organization • Considered first “National” L. Union • 700,000 member at its peak (1886) • Rapidly declines due to violence and disorganization Knights of Labor trade card

  13. Goals of the Knights of Labor • Eight-hour workday. • Workers’ cooperatives. • - Worker-owned factories. • Abolition of child and prison labor. • Increased circulation of greenbacks. • Equal pay for men and women. • Safety codes in the workplace. • Prohibition of “contract labor”. • Supported Chinese Exclusion

  14. The American Federation of Labor: 1886 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 Samuel Gompers

  15. How the AF of L Would Help the Workers • Catered to the skilled worker. • Represented workers in matters of national legislation. • Maintained a national strike fund. • Evangelized the cause of unionism. • Prevented disputes among the many craft unions. • Mediated disputes between management and labor. • Pushed for closed shops.

  16. Major Labor Disputes and Violence • 1877 – Great Railroad Strike • 1886 – Haymarket Riot • 1892 – Homestead Strike • 1894 – Pullman Strike

  17. The Great Railroad Strike (1877) Legacy: First major national labor conflict

  18. 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

  19. The Tournament of Today: A Set-to Between Labor and Monopoly

  20. Haymarket Riot (1886) Legacy: Negative/violent view on Labor Unions.

  21. 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?

  22. Homestead Steel Strike (1892) Homestead Steel Works Legacy: One of the largest labor disputes ever The Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers

  23. 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.

  24. A “CompanyTown”: Pullman, IL

  25. Pullman Cars A Pullman porter

  26. The Pullman Strike of 1894 Legacy: Sets precedent of Federal Government involvement in breaking up strikes

  27. 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

  28. President Grover Cleveland If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered!

  29. The Pullman Strike of 1894 Government by injunction!

  30. Legacy of 19th Century Labor Movement • Positives • 8 Hour workday for government workers • Abolition of Contract Labor • Some child labor laws • Some workers compensation

  31. 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

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