The Rise of Labor Unions

Organized Labor Movement

Workers in industrial America faced monotonous work, dangerous working

conditions, and an uneven division of income between the wealthy and the

working class. Workers felt the only way to improve their working environment

was to organize unions.

Conditions that made workers want to reform:

Working conditions were very poor and

factories were often damp, cold, poorly

ventilated, and unsanitary.

Wages were low- $4 or $5 a week.

Men, women, and children often worked 12-16

hour days; 7 days a week.

No job security- Workers lost their jobs during

depressions or injury on the job.

Labor Unions

Organizations of workers formed to protect the interests of its members.

Employers hated the unions and often threatened to fire employees who joined

unions or forced them to sign contracts agreeing not to join such organizations.

Early Unions

Two types of workers were a part of industrial America.

Craft workers had special skills and were generally paid more. In the 1830s,

craft workers formed trade unions, which were unions limited to people

with specific skills. By 1873 there were 32 trade unions in the United States.

Common laborers had few skills and as a result received lower wages.

Common Laborer Craft Worker

Closed Shop

A working establishment where only people belonging to the union are hired.

It was done by the unions to protect their workers from cheap labor.

Yellow Dog Contract

A written contract between employers and employees in which the employees

sign an agreement that they will not join a union while working for the

company.

Black List

Workers who organized a union or strike were fired and put on a blacklist, a

list of troublemakers. Once blacklisted, a worker could get a job only by

changing trade, residence, or his or her name.

Government Views Toward Organized Labor

[Before 1930]

At first, the government was on the side of the businesses. Governors often

sent out the National guard, militia, or allowed the business owners to employ

whatever tactics they wanted to end the strikes. Workers were often severely

injured or often killed. Organized labor leaders were often arrested.

Boycotts

People refuse to buy or pay for a company's products or services until the company

meets demands.

Strikes

Refusal of employees to work until employers meets certain demands.

Strikes and protests often became violent.

Pinkertons They were a group in Allan Pinkerton’s organization, the National Detective Agency.

They often spied on the unions for the companies. In 1877, when a railroad strike

broke out, they were called in as strikebreakers. In the Homestead Strike, the

Pinkertons fired on the strikers, killing many of them.

Homestead Strike

One of the most violent strikes in U.S. history which occurred in 1892. It was

against the Homestead Steel Works, which was part of the Carnegie Steel

Company, in Pennsylvania in retaliation against wage cuts. On July 6, 1892

company guards and Pinkertons opened fire on the strikers after four months

of striking, killing and wounding many strikers. The state militia dispersed the

strikers.

American Federation of Labor (AFL) The most influential labor organization in the late 1800’s led by Samuel

Gompers. The AFL was comprised of only skilled workers, but excluded

women and blacks. Samuel Gompers, who wanted to keep unions out of

politics and to fight for small gains such as higher wages and better working

conditions.

Began in 1886 with about 140,000 members; by

1917 it had 2.5 million members. It is a federation

of different unions.

Samuel Gompers

The president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) for over forty

years who stressed cooperation between management and labor instead of

strike actions, as a means of obtaining labor demands. Under Gompers’s

leadership the AFL’s goal was to get companies to recognize unions and

agree to collective bargaining.

Gompers believed unions should stay out of

politics and that they should negotiate rather

than go on strike.

American Railway Union

Founded in 1893 by railway workers in Chicago, Illinois the American

Railway Union became under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs.

Unlike the craft unions, the American Railway Union incorporated a policy of

unionizing all railway workers, regardless of craft or service.

Eugene V. Debs

Eugene Debs

As the president and the organizer of the American Railway Union, he

helped bring about the shutdown of western railroads with the 1894

Pullman Strike. He was jailed for six months for disobeying a court order

after the strike was over and later became a lecturer and organizer for the

Socialist movement.

Pullman Strike

The American Railway Union and Eugene V. Debs led a a strike which

brought about a shutdown of western railroads, which took place against the

Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago in 1894, because of the poor wages

of the Pullman workers. President Grover Cleveland interfered and stopped

the strike by saying that they had interfered with the right of the government

to maintain the uninterrupted transport of mail. Debs was arrested and the

strike was broken up.

Did You Know? During the Pullman strike in July 1894, railroad workers in Chicago went on strike in sympathy with the

employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company. Among the incidents of the strike, strikers burned 600 freight cars in the

Chicago railroad yards. The Governor of Illinois, John Peter Altgeld, was a friend of labor unions and refused to call out the

militia to stop the strike. Over the objections of Governor Altgeld, President Grover Cleveland and his attorney general ordered

2,000 troops to the Chicago area to end the Pullman strike.

Knights of Labor

An American labor union originally established as a secret fraternal order

founded in 1869 and noted as the first union of all workers.

The Knights of Labor demanded an eight-hour workday, equal pay for

women, and an end to child labor.

Wobblies

The International Workers of the World (Wobblies) were militant and

radical union members who favored socialism and anarchy. They were

disliked by big business and less radical unions.

Haymarket Square Riot A nationwide strike was called to show support of an eight-hour workday. A

meeting at Haymarket Square was scheduled for May 4, 1886 at the

McCormick reaper works in Chicago.

The police were attempting to break up the meeting when a violent gun battle

ensued and several protesters were shot by police. The next day, someone

threw a bomb in which seven police were killed and four more workers were

killed. Although no one ever knew who threw the bomb, one man arrested was

a member of the Knights of Labor. This hurt the reputation of the

organization, and people began dropping out.

Women’s Trade Union League

In the early 1900s, women were paid far less than men, and most unions did

not include women.

As a result the Women’s Trade Union League was formed in 1903.

This was the first union organized to address women’s labor issues.

Collective Bargaining

Process through which employees negotiate as a united group rather than

individuals, thereby increasing their bargaining power.

Mediation

When a neutral third party (in some cases, the government) gets involved to

help negotiate a settlement that is acceptable to both sides.

Arbitration

A form of mediation in which the mediating third party is granted authority to

pronounce a finding that both sides consider legally binding.

Injunctions An injunction is a court order generally used against strikers to end a strike

and return to work.

Law which guaranteed the right for workers to join unions.

Government views toward organized changed after 1930 as the more public

support for workers increased.

Wagner Act of 1935

Improved Labor Laws Compensation for injury on the job.

Insurance provided for old age, sickness, and illness.

Minimum wage protection

Free medical, dental, and eye care.

Vacation allowance and pay.