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Define: unionstrade industrial unionsblacklist lockout
scabs arbitration collective bargaining closed shop
Identify: Knights of Labor Haymarket Riot Pullman Strike ARU Eugene Debs Samuel Gompers AFL
Industrial workershad it tough in America in the 19th century. Machines replaced skilled labor. Unskilled laborers did repetitive jobs that required no skills. Machines had no safety devices & accidents were common. Conditions were unhealthy & dangerous. Dust, lint, or toxic fumes filled the air of factories, which had little to no ventilation. The government left the safety and well being of the workers, in the hands of the owners.
Despite difficulties, late 19th century workers felt a rise in their standard of living. Between 1860 & 1890, wages increased 50%.
The standard of living did not erase the split between the rich & poor. By 1900, the average industrial worker made only 22 cents/ hour & worked 59 hours/ week, while rich industrialists, lived in mansions and never dirtied their hands. The time was right for unions: workers’ organizations that tried to protect and defend the rights of employees. 1. Describe worker problems.
Early Unionsprotected the two types of workers in 19th century America: craftsmencommon laborers. Craftsmen were skilled workers such as machinists, glassblowers, carpenters, etc. Common laborers had few skills & earned low pay, working long hours dictated by the boss.Craftsmenearned better wages & had more control over hours. In the 1830s craftsmen formed trade unions, which were limited skilled laborers. These unions forced employers to negotiate with them because companies needed their skills.Common laborers belonged to industrial unions that united unskilled, common laborers. But employers refused to talk to these unions, which had no clout.
2. What are the differences between craft and industrial unions? Which is a better to belong to and why?
To prevent unions from forming, companiestried to keep them off company property. Some companies forced workers to sign contracts promising not to join a union. Others hired undercover detectives to identify union organizers bosses fired or blacklisted workers who wereaccused. A blacklistlets other employers know whom not to hire like union activists. Those blacklisted could only get another job if they moved or changed their names. At Homestead in 1892, Carnegie fired 1800 workers and blacklisted union striker leaders.
Companies also used lockouts to keep unions out. They locked doors to stop union members from going to work. Owners also refused to pay employees who joined a union. Employers hired outside help called scabs,to replace strikers, do union workers’ jobs & keep the company running.
3. Describe problems facing unions.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a result of a severe recession that hit the US, forcing companies to cut wages and lay off workers. Several railroads announced cutbacks. Workers in West Virginia went on strike. They blocked railroad tracks. Word spread of the strike and rail workers in 11 states, more than 80,000, walked off the job. Service was shut down on 2/3 of the nations’ railroads.
Angry strikers smashed rail equipment & destroyed tracks. Baltimore, NYC, St. Louis, Pittsburg, & Chicago were crippled. Governors called out the militia. Violence erupted.
The US army was called in to takeover the railroads between Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Troops went to Chicago to restore order. In the end, 100 died, property, worth millions, was destroyed, and the unions failed… losing public support.
4. Create a who, what, when, where, what happened and results of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Could it have succeeded? Explain
The first nationwide industrial union began in secret. In 1869, the Knights of Laborunion was a secret society of Philadelphia tailors. As activism rose, the Knights' membership grew, led by Terrence Powderly. Farmers…skilled unskilled, men women, whites blacks…were all welcomed as members of the union. Immigrants were also allowed to join [except Chinese]. By 1885-1886, 700,000 members joined. It fought for 8-hour workdays, an end to child labor, equal pay for equal work, a graduated income tax, safety codes in the workplace worker-owner factories.
The Knights of Labor preferred boycotts to striking to force employers to make changes. It supported arbitration, a process of negotiation in which an impartial third party helps workers and management reach an agreement. Later, the Knights approved strikes & on May 1, 1886 they called for a nationwide May Day Strike to get eight-hour workday. It backfired.
7.Describe the Knights of Labor union.
The Haymarket Riot of 1886was a result of the national MAY DAY STRIKE. After the May 1st strike, workers in Chicago, Illinois from the McCormick Harvester Companydemanded that owner,Cyrus McCormick,raise their wages and provide safer working conditions. McCormickrefused and locked out union workers. He bribed police to guard his factory from striking union members. On May 2nd400 policemen, paid by McCormick, surrounded his plant. They blocked union members from the property and let scabs in to take their place.On May 3rd violence erupted. Scabs, strikers, and police fought. Two strikers were killed. So the union called for an open meeting on May 4thin Haymarket Square, downtown Chicago. This meeting turned into the Haymarket Riot
Almost 3000 gathered to hear the speakers. At the end of the meeting, only 200 remained. Then 180 paid policemen raided the meeting. A TNT bomb was thrown at the police. One policeman was killed instantly (six others died later). The police retaliated and fired on the crowd. In the end, 11 died. The nation blamed the unions.Police arrested 8 men, without arrest warrants and without evidence. Seven were German immigrants.They were charged with conspiracy & murder. Four of the accused were not even at the square when the bomb was thrown. All were accused of starting the violence because they organized the rally. All were found guilty. Four were hanged, one committed suicide, two got life imprisonment, and one was sentenced to 15 years.
In the end the person who threw the bomb was never identified. Onlyone of the convicted was a member of the Knights of Labor but his presence destroyed the reputation of the labor union and membership declined.6. Create a who, what, when, where, what happened and results of the 1886 Haymarket Riot.
Pullman Company built Pullman sleeper cars for trains. Owner, George Pullman, built the town of Pullman & required his workers to live there and buy goods from his company stores. He provided houses, a church, a library & sewage lines. The town operated like a business, designed to make a profit for Pullman. The houses and church were leased. No minister or parish could afford to lease the church so it remained empty. He sold city water & gas to his residents at a 10% profit. When a depression hit in 1893, Pullman cut pay but not rents or store prices.
A workman who made $9.07 every 2 weeks had $9 taken out of his paycheck to pay rent, leaving him 7¢to feed his family. It was impossible for workers to afford Pullman’s high prices at the company store. Being employed at Pullman meant families could not afford to live in Pullman but they could live nowhere else.
The Pullman Strike erupted in 1894 in Pullman, Illinois when railroad workers of the nationalAmerican Railway Union,the ARU,responded to the Pullman Co.’s cutting wages by 30%. It started after 3 workers were fired when they complained about cut wages, & high rents prices. The ARU, led by Eugene Debs, called on national support. Union members from all over the country stopped putting Pullman cars onto trains.The ARU gave Pullman 5 days to respond to demands for fair pay and lower prices. Pullman refused to talk. He locked up his home & business & left town. The nation’s railroads were at astandstill.
The boycott on Pullman cars caused chaos in the nation. Railroad managers attached US mail cars to Pullman cars to get around the strike. They knew, if strikers refused to attach the Pullman cars that were locked to the US Mail cars, that they would be committing a federal crime because the US Mail was a federal agency and the mail was a federal responsibility.
US troops had to be sent in to get the mail cars running. Violence broke out on July 8, 1894. Troops shot at strikers. In the end, 34 people died, strikers dispersed & the troops left Illinois. The courts sided with Pullman, issuing an order for the union to stop the boycott. The strike collapsed. Most railroad workers resumed their old jobs but received the same wages as before. Some workers were put on a blacklist.7. Create a who, what, when, where, what happened and results of the1894 Pullman Strike
Trade unions prosperedas industrial unions failed. In 1886, 20 national craftor trade unions started the American Federation of LabortheAFL. Its first leader was a Jewish immigrant from the Netherlands, Samuel Gompers, who made his living making cigars. He believed unions should stay out of politics & education. He said they should fight for gains such as better wages & working conditions. He believed it was better to negotiate with owners first but striking or boycotting should be used if necessary.
His main goals were: to convince companies to recognize unions. He usedcollective bargaining, a body of employees who negotiate with owners. He wanted companies to hire only union members, which is called closed shop. He wanted 8-hour days. By 1900 the AFL was the biggest union in the country, however it was for skilled men only. Black skilled men could join but were usually discriminated against by the local unions, kept out.
Its success is a fact. In 1920 the AFL was the largest union in America with more than 4 million members. In 1955 it merged with the CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It is still around today known as the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the US with 11 million members by 2008.
8.Describe the AFL. How was it different from the Knights of Laboe?
If you were a railroad worker in the late 18th century would you join a union? Explain your answer using facts from the text to support you opinion.