Workers Organize An Industrial Society 1860 1914 Chapter

Workers Organize An Industrial Society 1860 -1914 Chapter 20, Section 4

Essential Questions • What are the responsibilities of business leaders who own companies to their employees (workers)? • How have the rights and benefits gained by unions during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s benefited workers in the United States today?

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones • Labor Leader! – Fought for Workers Rights! • Organized Meetings, Gave Speeches, Helped Striking Workers • Lost Her Family to Yellow Fever, Then Her Business Years Later to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871

Keeping High Profits $$$ • Business Owners Ran Their Factories as CHEAPLY as Possible: • Required Workers to Buy Their Own Tools & Bring Their Own Coal to Stay Warm (Wouldn’t Turn on Heat in Factories) Save $$$ • Refused to Buy Safety Equipment – No Air Brakes – 30, 000 People Injured – 2, 000 Killed Per Year

Sweatshops • Places Where Workers Worked Long Hours • Poor Working Conditions (Unsafe) & Low Wages • Children & Adults Worked in Sweatshops

Factory Workers in 1880’s • Workers Did the Same Job All Day Long! • Grew Bored = DANGEROUS • Workers Got Paid Less Than $10 Per Week – What’s WRONG with This? • If Worker Was Sick or Injured on the Job, FIRED!

What’s Wrong Here?

The Birth of Labor Unions • Unhappy Workers Started to Join Together to Improve Their Lives • Formed Labor Unions • Negotiated/Fought with Business Owners to Obtain Better Pay & Safer Working Conditions

The Knights of Labor • One of the 1 st Labor Unions Ever to Fight for Workers Rights • Allowed Women & African Americans into the Union • Didn’t Care About Gender or Race, Just Workers Rights! • Inspired People to Join!

U. S. Depression of 1873 • U. S. Went Through a Depression for 4 Years • Millions of Workers Had Their Wages Cut • 1/5 th (20%) of Workers Lost Their Jobs!

The B & O Railroad Strike (The Railroad Strike of 1877) • In 1877, The B & O Railroad Company Cut Workers Wages by 10% • The B & O Railroad Workers Went on Strike • No Railroads Operated! • Other Railroad Workers Heard About the Strike & Went on Strike Too! – The Country Came to a Halt!

The Railroad Strike of 1877 • All Railroads Came to a Halt in the United States! • No Railroads = No Transportation = No Trade = No $$$ • September 11 th Phone Calls • What Did President Rutherford B. Hayes Do?

Railroad Strike of 1884 -1885 • In 1884 -1885, Railroad Workers Went on Strike Against the Union Pacific Railroads • Workers Were Members of the Knights of Labor • The Union Won Better Wages for Workers! • As a Result, Union Membership Increased!

Socialism • An Economic System in Which ALL Members of a Country are Equal Owners of All the Businesses! • Everyone Gets Paid Equal! – Doesn’t Matter What Type of Job You Have! • Everyone Shares the Work & the Profits: – No Rich, No Poor, No Middle Class!

Anarchy/Anarchists • Anarchists Want No Government at ALL! • They Want to Abolish All Governments! • Very Extreme!

Fear of Socialism/Anarchy • If YOU Owned Your Own Business/ Factory, Why Would You Be Afraid of Unions? ? ? • Strikes? ? ? • Socialism? ? ?

The Haymarket Affair • In Chicago (1886), The Mc. Cormick Harvester Company Fired Striking Workers • Hired Strikebreakers (Non Union Workers) (Scabs) to Work • Union Members (Strikers) & Strikebreakers & Police Fought! 1 Person Was Killed!

The Haymarket Affair • The Next Day, Union Members Called for a Huge Rally to Protest the Scabs! • Police Moved in to End the Rally! • Someone Threw a Bomb! 7 Cops Were Killed, 60 People Wounded • Police Opened Fire on the Crowd!

Results of the Haymarket Affair • After the Haymarket Affair, Police Arrested Hundreds of Union Leaders, Socialists & Anarchists • People Hated Unions! Blamed Them for the Violence! • Union Membership Decreased!

The Homestead Strike • In 1892, Andrew Carnegie Cut Wages at Steel Mill in Homestead, Penn. • Union Did Not Accept the Pay Cut! • Carnegie Locked Out the Workers: – Hired Strikebreakers! • Hired 300 Armed Guards to Protect the Scabs!

The Homestead Strike • Locked Out Workers Went Home & Came Back with Weapons! • Battle Broke Out! 10 People Were Killed! • Penn. State Troopers Had to Escort Scabs into the Steel Mill for 4 Months. – Protect Scabs from the Locked Out Workers • Strike Failed! Union Looked Weak!

The Pullman Strike • In 1894, The Pullman Palace Car Company (Railroad Co. ) Cut Workers Pay 25% • The Company Did Not Lower Rent for Workers Staying in Company Apartment Buildings • Workers Made Almost Nothing After Paying Rent! • Workers Went on Strike!

The Pullman Strike • In 1894, Eugene Debs (Union President), Called for All Railroad Workers to go on Strike! • Shut Down the Country! • Workers Used Violence! • President Grover Cleveland Had to Call Out the U. S. Army to End the Strike – Debs Was Thrown in Jail!

Proctor & Gamble • Proctor & Gamble Took a Different Approach: – Gave Employees an Extra ½ Day Off – Started a Profit Sharing Plan with Employees – Gave Employees Some of Their Salary in Shares of Stock – WHY? ? ?

Samuel Gompers • Samueal Gompers – Founder of the AFL (American Federation of Labor) • AFL Fought For Improved Working Conditions! – Achieved Shorter Working Hours & Better Pay • Used Methods Such As: – Strikes – Boycotts – Negotiations – ALL PEACEFUL!

Essential Questions • What are the responsibilities of business leaders who own companies to their employees (workers)? • How have the rights and benefits gained by unions during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s benefited workers in the United States today?