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Chapter 9 Section 2. Reforming the New Industrial Order. Female and Child Laborers. In 1900 the average laborer worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for about $1.50 a day. Women and children earned less
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Chapter 9 Section 2 Reforming the New Industrial Order
Female and Child Laborers • In 1900 the average laborer worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for about $1.50 a day. Women and children earned less • {In the early 1910’s almost half of all women who worked in factories, laundries and stores earned less than $6.00 a week} • {In The Bitter Cry of the Children, author John Spargo reported that few child laborers had ever attended school} or could read.
Labor Laws • Reformer Florence Kelley worked tirelessly campaigning for new laws that would prohibit child labor and improve conditions for female workers • In 1904 Kelley helped organize the National Child Labor Committee and by 1912 child labor laws had been passed in 39 states • Enforcement of such laws was lax. Many employers claimed that their business’ depended on cheap child labor and simply ignored the laws
Progressivism and the Supreme Court • As more states passed protective legislation, business owners fought back through the courts • The business owners hid behind the 14th Amendment • The Supreme Court sided with the business owners but {they also ruled that some social legislation violated the Constitution by denying workers their freedom of contract, or the workers right to negotiate the terms of their employment} • {In 1908 the case Muller vs. Oregon the Supreme Court did make a ruling that upheld a law limiting the number of hours women could work in a day} based on women's’ physical structure
Labor Unions • Labor unions also fought for better working conditions and for the {closed shop or a workplace where all employees are required to belong to a union} • {Most members of labor unions wanted to preserve the capitalist system but make changes to it} • Led by Samuel Gompers, one union group, {The American Federation of Labor (AFL), refused to accept unskilled laborers as members} • This approach still left many workers without organized support
Labor Unions Continued… • One AFL union that tried to organize unskilled workers was the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) • In November female garment workers staged a strike known as the “Uprising of 20,000” demanding their companies recognize the ILGWU as their union • Some employers met the demands . However, most employers were determined to run an {open shop or a workplace where employees may choose whether or not to belong to a union} • Thus they refused to recognize the union. After this strike the ILGWU’s membership grew from 400 to 65,000
The IWW • While the AFL did its thing, a new union with a different agenda came to be • {Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) opposed capitalism} • The IWW denounced the AFL for not including unskilled workers and enlisted African American, Asian American and Hispanic American workers • The government cracked down on the union with force and within a few years the IWW collapsed
Review Questions • What did progressivism focus on? • Why did some of the Journalists not like being called muckrakers? • In the early 1910’s how much did women earn in a week on average? • What did John Spargo report in The Bitter Cry of the Children? • What is freedom of contract? • In 1908 the case Muller vs. Oregon the Supreme Court did make a ruling that did what? • The American Federation of Labor (AFL), refused to accept what type of workers?
