The Growth of the American Labor Movement
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Transcript of The Growth of the American Labor Movement
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The Worker – Immigrants• Farmers
– Depression, Debt, Crop Prices
• Irish and German (Pre 1880s)– “Old Immigrants” – Potato Famine, Jobs, Instable Govt
• Eastern/Southern Europeans (Post 1880’s)– “New Immigrants”– Religious, Racial, Political Persecution – Labor Contract Laws
• Free Passage Deducted from paycheck
Why do Industrialists encourage Immigration? What is this going to lead to?
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The Worker – The Issues• Low Income
– Avg. $450/yr “Poor Line” $600/yr– Women paid 20% less than men
• Harsh Conditions– 10-12hrs/6 days per week– Little to no safety regulations
• Child Labor– 15% of kids between 10-15 yrs work
• 60% in Agriculture– Early Child Labor Laws
• Only set minimum of 12yrs • Usually Ignored
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Child Labor
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Child Labor
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Emerging Unionism• Little success in early 19th c.• Craft Unions
– Grouped by specific skills– Too small and often isolated
• National Unions– Often Trade Unions– Begin to grow in late 19th c. – Often lacked support due to violence
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The Molly Maguires (1875)
JamesMcParland“Pinkerton”
• Secret organization of miners
• Known for violent tactics against Industrialists and management
• Exposed by James McParland
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The Corporate “Bully-Boys”: Pinkerton
Agents
• Private “security” agency
• Used as spies within labor groups
• Often called in as “Strike Breakers”
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Management vs. Labor
“Tools” of Management
“Tools” of Labor
“scabs” P. R. campaign Pinkertons lockout blacklisting yellow-dog
contracts court injunctions open shop
boycotts sympathy
demonstrations informational
picketing closed shops organized
strikes “wildcat” strikes
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A Striker Confronts a SCAB!
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Knights of Labor
Terence V. Powderly Leader (1879-93)
Uriah Stephens Founder (1869)
Remember Me!
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Knights of Labor (1869)
Knights of Labor trade card
• Originally a secret organization
• Considered first “National” L. Union
• 700,000 member at its peak (1886)
• Rapidly declines due to violence and disorganization
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Goals of the Knights of Laborù Eight-hour workday.
ù Workers’ cooperatives.- Worker-owned factories.
ù Abolition of child and prison labor.ù Increased circulation of greenbacks.ù Equal pay for men and women.ù Safety codes in the workplace.ù Prohibition of “contract labor”.
ù Supported Chinese Exclusion
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The American Federation
of Labor: 1886
Samuel Gompers
Remember Me Too!
• Emerged out of dispute in K of L
• Organization made up of Craft Unions
• Focused on Wages, Hours, & Conditions
• Also sees decline and lack of support due to violence but remained active until 1955
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How the AF of L Would Help the
Workersù Catered to the skilled worker.ù Represented workers in matters of
national legislation.ù Maintained a national strike fund.ù Evangelized the cause of unionism.ù Prevented disputes among the many
craft unions.ù Mediated disputes between
management and labor.ù Pushed for closed shops.
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Major Labor Disputes and Violence
• 1877 – Great Railroad Strike
• 1886 – Haymarket Riot
• 1892 – Homestead Strike
• 1894 – Pullman Strike
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The Great Railroad Strike (1877)
Legacy: First major national labor conflict
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The Great Railroad Strike of 1877• Cause: 10% Wage Cuts
• Strikes stretch from Baltimore to St. Louis
• Rioting in major cities• Destroyed Equipment• Rutherford B Hayes forced to
call on state and federal troops to suppress troops
• Result: 100 people dead
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The Tournament of Today:
A Set-to Between Labor and Monopoly
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Haymarket Riot (1886)
Legacy: Negative/violent view on Labor Unions.
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Haymarket Riots• Cause: K of L and AFL Call for 8 Hour workday
• Peaceful strike turned violent when police fired on the crowd killing 2 strikers
• Next Day: Strikers and Anarchists rally to protest killings• 7 police officers killed and 67 wounded by dynamite bomb
after harassing strikers• Several strikers killed in the following days
• Result: Society demands retribution for killed Officers• 8 “anarchists” arrested for murders
- 4 executed, 1 suicide, 3 later pardoned• Anarchy and labor unions seen as similar – Red Scare?
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Homestead Steel Strike
(1892)
The Amalgamated Association of
Iron & Steel Workers
Homestead Steel Works
Legacy: One of the largest labor disputes ever
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Homestead Strike• Cause: Carnegie Steel innovations put large number of
skilled steel workers out of jobs• Carnegie orders Henry Clay Frick to cut wages in hope of
forcing skilled workers to quit.
• 300 Pinkertons called in to break strike• AA strikers refuse to let strike breakers through… Battle
ensues
• Result: After 3 agents and 10 strikers are killed, Pinkertons retreat
• Soon after, Pennsylvania calls in state militia to end the strike (4 months)
• AA gradually gives up.
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A “Compa
nyTown”:Pullman
, IL
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Pullman Cars
A Pullman porter
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The Pullman Strike of 1894
Legacy: Sets precedent of Federal Government involvement in breaking up strikes
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Pullman Strike• Cause: 25% wage cuts and high rent
• Pullman Company gains support of American Railway Union (Led by Eugene Debs)
• Strike centralized outside of Chicago but stretches across 27 states
• Result: Debs and several strike leaders arrested after Federal troops are called in
• Grover Cleveland claimed strike prevented the delivering of mail and was therefore a federal crime
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President Grover Cleveland
If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card
will be delivered!
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The Pullman Strike of 1894
Government by injunction!
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Legacy of 19th Century Labor Movement
• Positives– 8 Hour workday for government
workers– Abolition of Contract Labor– Some child labor laws– Some workers compensation
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Legacy of 19th Century Labor Movement
• Negatives– Overall, little effectiveness
• Many historians claim workers have less rights in 1900 than they did in 1860
– Labor Unions earn negative/violent name in middle and upper class America• Related to Anarchy and Socialism (Communism)
• Why?– Majority of workers not in (not allowed in) major
unions• Immigrants, African Americans, Children, Women
– Growing Corporations = Too much $ and power