Labor Strives to Organize

Unit 5

Question

• It is 1890. You work in a factory. Last month, your little brother was hurt in a workplace accident, but the company refuses to fix the machine that hurt him. Do you join a union to protest unsafe working conditions, even though you could lose your job, be blacklisted, or injured.

Government and Business

• Sherman Antitrust Act:– Established in 1890 – Outlawed monopolies and trusts that restrained

trade – Failed to define what constituted a monopoly or

trust – The law was difficult to enforce

The Knights of Labor

• One of the earliest national unions• Union open to skilled and unskilled workers • Women were allowed to join the union • Union fought for:– Eight-hour work day – Equal pay for equal work– End to child labor

• In 1886 membership was more than 700,000 workers

Haymarket Riot Causes CAUSES= Workers from McCormick Harvesting Machine

Company wanted an 8 hour work day. = Strike soon fell under the control of anarchists

=People who oppose all forms of government = Police came - two strikers killed and several

wounded.= Next day a small rally in Haymarket Square

=When rally was nearly over 200 police officers arrived=Unknown bomb exploded in the midst of the police =70 police officers wounded =7 police and one civilian dead

Haymarket Riot Effects

Effect/Result: Anti-Labor feelings sweep the nation and membership in the Knights of Labor Union fell drastically!

Employers created blacklists, yellow dog contracts, and lockouts

The American Federation of Labor (AFL)

=Founded by Samuel Gompers=Composed of skilled workers =The AFL had 3 goals

= 1. Convince Companies to Recognize Unions= 2. Push for Closed Shops (companies should only

hire members of the union).= 3. Promote the 8-Hour workday.

=Grew slowly, but by 1900, it was the largest union in the country.

Homestead Strike Causes

• Steel mill owned my Andrew Carnegie• Workers were protesting a wage cut • Management refused and locked the workers out of the

steel mill• The workers broke into the mill and took it over • Management hired the Pinkerton Police to take the mill back• 300 Pinkertons arrived• The Pinkertons and the workers battled for 12 hours 16

people died • The Pinkertons surrendered

Homestead Strike Effects

• Carnegie requested help from the Pennsylvania National Guard

• Carnegie hired people to harass and injure strikers

• The strike was a failure

The Pullman Strike Causes

• Pullman created a company town were everything was owned by the corporation

• “debt slavery” money owed was deducted from workers paychecks

• Workers would never see their earnings • Workers children were responsible for the debt if

parents did not pay it off • Pullman cut wages for workers but refused to lower

rents or prices at the stores in the company town

The Pullman Strike Effects

• The American Railway Union refused to work or ride on trains that had Pullman cars – This stopped all rail traffic in the Midwest

• The Strike was eventually broken up by 12,000 US Army Troops

• President Grover Cleveland sent the troops to restore the delivery of the US Mail

• 13 strikers were killed • 57 wounded • And $80 million dollars of property damaged • The American Railway Union was destroyed