4.3 The Organized Labor Movement

Objectives

1. Assess the problems workers faced in the late 1800s

2. Compare the goals and strategies of the different labor organizations

3. Analyze the causes and effects of strikes

Workers Hardships

• Industry was booming – Wealth for owners of companies and large farms– Improvements to society

• Factory work – Immigrants-low pay, long hours, 6 days a week– Sweatshops – dangerous

Cont…

• Families in the workforce– Women and children

• Company towns– Owned by the businesses and rented to

employees– “company store” : workers forced to buy from • Sold on credit

– segregated

Labor Unions Form

• Early protests– 1820s: collective bargaining– 1834: 1st union National Trade Union

• Socialism spreads– Economic and political policy that favors public vs.

private control of property– Wealth spread to everyone

Cont…

• Knights of Labor– 1896 labor union—all workers of any trade– Included African Americans– Secret society– Terence Powderly– 1885 700,000 members but disappeared after

failed strikes

Cont…

• American Federation of Labor (AFL)– Samuel Gompers– Craft union– Dues for membership– Focus on wages, working hours, working

conditions– No women allowed!

Strikes• First major strike 1877 railroad• Haymarket Square, Chicago– 1886 wanted 8 hr work day– Many fights and police called in – Protestor threw bomb, killed policeman – Not good for the unions

Cont…

• Homestead Strike– 1892 Carnegie steel plant cut wages, workers went

on strike– Henry Frick brought in the Pinkertons • Killed several strikers

– Union called off strike

Cont…

• Pullman Strike– Pullman Palace Car Co. laid off workers and cut

wages– Workers must live in company towns– Eugene V. Debs called for national strike– 300,000 rail workers walked off job– President called in federal troops—Sherman

Antitrust Act