IV Unions Workers tried to form unions in

IV. Unions • • • Workers tried to form unions in the late 1800 s Hoping to improve wages, hours, and working conditions Business leaders worked with some unions Generally opposed others Strikes during this era sometimes led to violence Hurt union’s image and slowed their growth

Working in the United States • Why did workers try to form unions in the late 1800 s?

Working in the United States • Life for workers was difficult o Dull repetitive tasks o Breathed in lint, dust and toxic fumes o Machines lacked safety devices • Industrialism led to a dramatic rise in the standard of living

Working in the United States • Average workers’ wages rose 50% between 1860 1890 • Uneven division of wealth caused resentment • 1900 average wage: 22 cents per hour and worked 59 hours a week

Working in the United States • Deflation – a decline in the volume available money or credit that results in lower prices, and therefore increases the buying power of money • 1865 -1897 deflation caused prices to fall

Working in the United States • Increased buying power • Companies cut wages • Late 1800 s prices fell even faster • Workers resented getting less money • Needed unions to bargain for higher wages and better conditions

Early Unions • Two types of industrial workers- craft and common • Craft workers were o o o Machinists Iron molders stone cutters Shoemakers printers • Had special skills and received higher wages

Early Unions • Common workers o Had few skills o Received lower wages • 1830 s craft workers form trade unions • 1873 – 30 national unions • 3 largest o Iron Molders International o International typographical Union o Knights of St. Crispin; shoemakers union

Opposition to Unions • Employers had to negotiate with unions • Viewed unions as conspiracies that interfered with property rights • Business leaders opposed industrial unions • Industrial Union – an organization of common laborers and craft workers in a particular union

Opposition to Unions • Companies used technique to prevent union membership o Sign oath or contract o Hired detectives to identify union organizers o Workers who tried to organize were fired o Placed on a blacklist

Opposition to Unions • Companies used “lockouts” to break existing unions • Lockout – a company tool to fight union demands by refusing to allow employees to enter its facilities to work • If union called a strike employers hired replacements or strikebreakers

Opposition to Unions • There were no laws giving workers rights to form unions • Or for owners to negotiate with them • Courts ruled strike “conspiracies in restraint of trade” • Leaders could be fined or jailed • Restraint – the act of limiting, restricting, or keeping under control

Opposition to Unions • 1800 s unions thought to be un-American • Karl Marx argued that capitalist society was a struggle between workers and owners • Marx believed the workers would o Eventually revolt o Seize factories o Overthrow the government

Opposition to Unions • Laborers supported Marx • Few supported anarchism • Anarchists believe society does not need any government • 1800 anarchists assassinated government officials and set off bombs across Europe • Hope was to begin a revolution

Opposition to Unions • Tens of thousands of Europeans headed to America • Anti immigrant feelings were strong in America • Became suspicious of unions • Used the courts, the police and army to crush and break strikes

Opposition to Unions • How did the working conditions encourage workers to form unions in the late 1800 s?

Opposition to Unions • Working conditions were often dangerous and unhealthy, and workers wanted unions to help them gain a better work environment.

Struggle to Organize • What made it difficult for union workers to create large industrial unions?

Struggle to Organize • Workers tried many times to create large industrial unions • Confrontations with owners led to violence and bloodshed

The Great Railroad Strike • Panic of 1873 was a severe recession • 1877 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad announced it was cutting wages (third time) • Strike involved 80, 000 workers • First nationwide strike

The Great Railroad Strike • President Rutherford B. Hayes called it an insurrection • Took 12 bloody days for police, state militias and federal troops to restore order • 100 people were killed • 100 million in railroad property was destroyed • Americans wanted more peaceful means to settle labor disputes

The Great Railroad Strike • Strikers o smashed equipment o Tore up tracks o Blocked rail service in several cities • Governors of several states called out the militia • Gun battles between the strikers and the militia

The Knights of Labor • Founded 1869 • Leader Terrence Powderly opposed strikes in favor of boycotts and arbitration • Arbitration – settling a dispute by agreeing to accept the decision of an impartial outsider

The Knights of Labor • Powderly thought best interests of both groups must be considered • Unlike other unions the Knights welcomed o Women o African Americans • Called for an o o Eight hour day Equal pay for women No child labor Worker owned factories

The Haymarket Riot • 1886 supporters of eight hour day called for a strike • May 3, Chicago police open fire on picket line • 3, 000 people gather to protest the shooting • Someone threw a bomb • Police opened fire • 170 injured 10 policemen killed

The Haymarket Riot • Eight men arrested for bombing • Public anger resulted in 8 convictions • 4 were executed • Critics claimed dangerous radical dominated unions • Lost strikes led to decline in membership and influence in the Knights of Labor

The Homestead and Pullman Strikes • Summer of 1892 led to bloodshed • Steel mill owned by Andrew Carnegie in Homestead Pennsylvania • Managed by Henry Clay Frick o Anti union business partner

The Homestead and Pullman Strikes • Frick proposes to cut wages 20% • He then locked out employees • Pinkerton Detectives brought in replacements • When Pinkertons and strikebreakers approached the plant strikers resisted

The Homestead and Pullman Strikes • 1894 Pullman Palace Car Company slashed wages without lowering rents in the company town • American Railway workers refused to handle Pullman Cars • Railroad managers arranged to have mail cars attached

The Homestead and Pullman Strikes • Over the next 14 hours they clashed • Governor of Pennsylvania sent in the militia • 4 months later the strike collapsed

The Homestead and Pullman Strikes • President Cleveland sent federal troops to keep the mail coming • Federal court issued an injunction to halt the boycott • Injunction – a court order whereby one is required to do or to refrain from doing a specified act.

Struggling to Organize • How did major strikes prevent large industrial unions from maintaining power and influence?

Struggling to Organize • Such strikes often turned violent, and the reputation of the unions suffered

New Unions Emerge • How were the new industrial unions different from the older trade union?

New Unions Emerge • Workers share same complaints about wages and hours • Unskilled workers were not represented by unions • New types of unions emerged to support these workers

The Rise of the AFL • American Federation of Labor (AFL) • 1866 leaders of several trade unions created it • Samuel Gompers the first president • Held power until 1924 • Tried to focus on pure and simple o Wages o Working hours o Working conditions

The Rise of the AFL • Had three main goals o Tried to convince companies to recognize unions and agree to collective bargaining o Pushed for closed shops o Closed shop – an agreement in which a company agree to only hire union members o Promoted 8 hour work day

The Rise of the AFL • 1900 largest union with 500, 000 members • Represented less that 15% of non-farm workers • Most members were white men o Discriminated against African Americans o Only a few women were admitted

The IWW • 1905 International Workers of the World • Nicknamed Wobblies • Wanted to organize by industry • Making distinction between skilled and unskilled laborers • “The working class and the employing class have nothing in common”

The IWW • Should be one big union • 1912 IWW led a successful strike of 25, 00 textile workers • Lawrence, Massachusetts cut wages • Companies reversed itself after 10 week strike • Many IWW strikes failed • Radical philosophy

Women and Organized Labor • After Civil War female wages rose • 1900 women make up 18% of workforce • Society’s ideas of what constituted women’s work • Constituted – to compose, make up, or form

Women and Organized Labor • One third were domestic servants • One third teachers, nurses, sales clerks, clerical workers • One third in garment industry and food processing • Women paid less than men for the same job

Women and Organized Labor • Assumed women were helping the men • Men needed higher wages to support a family • Most unions excluded women • Mary Harris Jones (Mother Jones)

Women and Organized Labor • 1900 Jewish and Italian Immigrants worked in clothing business in New York • Founded the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) • 1909 strike of 30, 000 workers o Won recognition of their union o Better wages o Benefits for employees

Women an Organized Labor • 1903 Mary Kenney O’Sullivan and Leonora O’Reilly, Jane Addams and Lillian Wald • Establish first national association dedicated to women’s labor issues • The Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) o o Pushed for 8 hour day Minimum wage No evening work for women Abolition of child labor

Women and Organized Labor • Why did women need to from their own trade unions?

Women and Organized Labor • Most of the existing trade unions excluded women