Labor UnionsLabor UnionsHow can we help the workers?How can we help the workers?

Today’s Objectives Identify ways in which the working conditions

were poor in the factories

Identify and explain what a labor union is

Explain how labor unions addressed the needs and concerns of the workers

What were the working conditions like?

Spider Map Activity

What is a labor union? Labor Union- A group of workers that tries to

help its members

They decided that the best way to improve the conditions was to work together

They worked together to improve the poor working conditions

They sought higher pay and better working conditions

Two Major Unions Knights of Labor (KOL)

Founded in 1869

Made up of skilled and unskilled workers

They fought for rights of all workers

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers

Skilled workers ex: Carpenters, cigar makers

Do labor unions and workers always agree?

Not always

When there are disagreements, union members may strike

Strike: to stop working until demands are met

Workers did not get paid during a strike

Company owners would not make money

At times, it turned violent

The Haymarket Square Riot

1886 union workers met in Chicago to protest a company that made farm machines

Members were striking to support an 8 hour day

Strikers attacked workers leaving the factory

Two people were killed

The next day, workers met to protest the police action

Violence broke out and more than 60 people were hurt

Seven people died

The Homestead Strike 1892, a manager at a Carnegie steel mill

demanded union members accept lower wages

Workers went on strike

Company brought in private guards to fight the strikers

Strikers fired on the guards

People on both sides were killed

The Pullman Strike 1894, George Pullman owned a railroad company

He cut his workers’ pay, but did not lower the rents and high prices in the town he set up for his workers

Workers became angry and went on strike

Other railroad workers joined them on strike, railroads stopped working

Railroads asked for help, the President sent the troops in

Violence happened, people were hurt and killed. Railroad cars were burned

Did this violence help or hurt the unions?

It did not help the unions

Many workers felt it was dangerous to be a union member

By 1900, the unions lost much of their power