Why did the workers want to start a union?

Put your answers under A, # 1-9

NO MONEY FOR INJURIES ON THE JOB

You’re sick and can’t work?Lose Your Job!

• CHILD LABOR

• SPEEDING UP PRODUCTION

• NO SAFETY GEAR• NO SAFETY GEAR•NO SAFETY GEAR

•Long hours

• Low pay

(Read for Low pay)WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

• In 1864 a group of New York City workers each earned $16.00 a week. Each week, a family of six needed $16.10 to buy food and to pay the rent.

Where does the money go? Weekly Expenses• 1 bag of flour $1.40• Potatoes @ 13 cents a day .91• ¼ lb. of tea .32• 1 lb. of coffee .35• 3 ½ lbs. of sugar .80• Meat 3.00• 2 bushels of coal 1.20• 4 lbs. of butter 1.60• 2 lbs. of lard (fat of pigs) .38• Oil for lamps .20• Soap, salt, pepper .75• Vegetables .50• Apples .25• Rent 4.44

Factory Workers Wanted•12 hour day

•6 days a week

•No skilled needed

PAY: $10.00 a week – men

$ 5.00 a week – women

$ 3.00 a week - children

• Unsafe workplace

• Sexual harassment

REASONS FOR STARTING A UNION

CHILD LABORDEMAND FOR FASTER PRODUCTIONNO SAFETY GEAR FOR WORKERSLONG HOURSLOW PAYUNSAFE WORKPLACESSEXUAL HARASSMENTNO MONEY FOR JOB INJURIESYOU’RE SICK? LOSE YOUR JOB!

Just readKNIGHTS OF LABOR

(Put in box Part B)

WHO COULD

JOIN K of L???

SKILLED WORKERS ONLY

LATER WOMEN

IMMIGRANTS

AF- AMERICANS

UNSKILLED

K of L GOALSK of L GOALS

MAKE A BETTER WORKING PLACEMAKE A BETTER WORKING PLACE

SHORTER WORK DAYSHORTER WORK DAY

END CHILD LABOREND CHILD LABOR

EQUAL PAY FOR BOTH SEXESEQUAL PAY FOR BOTH SEXES

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (PUT IN WHO CAN JOIN)

• skilled workers only

• A “union of unions” (WRITE WHAT

THIS IS – CHECK NEXT SLIDE)

Who Could Join?

• skilled workers join a trade union first Ex. Plumber joins the plumber’s union

• Then the plumber’s union joins the AFL

• Has the best workers in the country’s workforce

• Nonwhites not allowed to join until later when they get skills to join a trade union.

AFL GOALS – THEY WANTED

• SHORTER HOURS

• BETTER PAY

• BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS

• COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (THEY SEND 4 – 5 UNION REPRESENTATIVES TO MEET WITH OWNERS TO WORK OUT A FAIR WORKING CONTRACT)

AFL – A UNION OF UNIONS!

UNIONS

Knights of Labor1869

American Federationof Labor

1886

1st – skilledlater – unskilled

trade unions can joinNonwhites can join

today

•Not always for strikes• would rather use rallies, meetings to win to win

public support

•Make world a better place for workers•

•more practical•Believed in strikes

•Wanted collective bargaining

WEAPONS OF THE WORKERS

Scene: Charles, a union leader, and Howard, a worker, are having

a cup of coffee in the cafeteria of a large factory.

Charles: I talked with the boss for the tenth time yesterday. The

company will not give us what we want.

Howard: What did you ask for?

Charles: Higher wages, shorter hours, and better working

conditions.

Howard: Well, what happens now?

Charles: There are many things we can do to get what we want. I

am thinking of a strike or a walkout. Get everybody to just

stop working and go home! The factory will lose money.

Maybe than they will listen to us.

Howard: What happens if they still don’t listen?

Charles: The workers will picket the factory. They will walk up

and down with signs telling everyone that we are on

strike. Once people know we are on strike, we hope they

will not buy the factory’s foods. Then, that would be a

boycott.

Howard: If we use all three weapons, the bosses are sure to

give us what we want.

THINK:

Which union weapon do you think is the most powerful and why is it?

• strike

• picketing

• boycott

WEAPONS OF THE EMPLOYERS

Scene: Rachel and Edith, the owners of the factory, are

having a meeting.

Rachel: Charles came in to see me yesterday and asked for

higher wages, shorter hours, and better conditions for

all workers.

Edith: What did you say to him?

Rachel: I told him we could not do it.

Edith: I overheard Charles and Howard. They are thinking of

a strike, picketing, even a boycott,

Rachel: We can use a lockout. We will close the factory and put locks

on the doors. Then we’ll sit and wait. The workers will not

get paid. They will come back to work when they need

money.

Edith: What will we do if that does not work?

Rachel: We can fire all the workers and hire others. The fired

workers will be put on a blacklist. We can give the list to

other factories. The blacklisted workers will never get

another job.

Edith: Suppose the new workers join a union?

Rachel: We won’t let them. If they want jobs, they’ll have to sign

yellow - dog contracts. By the contract, a worker will

agree not to join a union.

Edith: Let’s use all three weapons.

THINK:

Which weapon of the

employer do you think

is the most powerful?

Why?

Do you think workers or employers have more powerful weapons? Explain.

Workers and employers were almost at war with each other during these early years of the labor movement.

Most of these conflicts took the form of strikes and many resulted in violence and death.