The Growth of the American Labor Movement

1. The Growth of the American Labor Movement

2. What is the most important conclusion you can draw from the charts below? Changes in the Labor Force1870-1910

3. Immigrants Women Autonomous Workers The Make-Up of the American Workforce (Ch. 17.2):

4. Beginning in the 1830’s America became a land of “great migration” Irish Germans Swedes Hungarians Russians Italians Slavs English The American Workforce:Immigrants

5. Made up 1/4th of the non-farm labor force Typical working woman was under 24 yrs. old & single Upon marrying would quit her job to become a homemaker If an older women worked – “something went wrong” Would be paid less than a man because men received a “family wage” Women’s work fell into 3 categories: Domestic servants White collar women jobs – teachers, nurses, office workers Textile mills The American Workforce:Women

6. Most vulnerable workers – slaves of the industry. Paid for production (ex. coal miners – paid for amount of coal produced, provided own tools, worked at own pace) Positive: in control of own financial destiny. Negative: slave to the big business. Did create a sense of solidarity – we are in this together. First sense of unionization was a self-imposed “stint” by autonomous workers—set a daily limit of production, which angered factory owners in that workers. The American Workforce:The Autonomous Worker

7. Child Labor

8. Long Hours in dangerous conditions 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week No workman’s compensation No vacation time No sick leave No minimum wage Workers were Exploited

9. “Galley Labor”

10. The Labor Movement

11. Knights of Labor (1869) An injury to one is the concern of all! Terence V. Powderly Focused on education . . . eventually took on characteristics of a trade union.

12. Goals of the Knights of Labor • Workers’ Collective Bargaining • Worker-owned factories. • Abolition of child labor. • Equal pay for men and women. • Safety codes in the workplace.

13. The American Federation of Labor: 1886 Samuel Gompers

14. How the AF of L Would Help the Workers • Catered to the skilled worker. • Represented workers in matters of national legislation. • Maintained a national strike fund. • Prevented disputes among the many craft unions. • Mediated disputes between management and labor. • Pushed for closed shops.

15. Management vs. Labor “Tools” of Labor “Tools” of Management • unions • boycotts • informational picketing • closed shops • organized strikes • “scabs” • P. R. campaign • Pinkertons • lockout • blacklisting • yellow-dog contracts • court injunctions

16. The Tournament of Today: A Set-to Between Labor and Business/Monopoly

17. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

18. Haymarket Riot (1886) McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.

19. Haymarket Martyrs

20. Homestead Steel Strike (1892) Homestead Steel Works The Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers

21. The Corporate “Bully-Boys”: PinkertonAgents

22. The Pullman Strike of 1894

23. A “CompanyTown”: Pullman, IL

24. Pullman Cars A Pullman porter

25. President Grover Cleveland If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered!

26. The Pullman Strike of 1894 Government by injunction!

27. Why is the governmentso concernedabout unions??

28. The “Formula” unions + violence + strikes + socialists + immigrants =ANARCHY!! Why else might the government side with big business??

29. The ‘Bosses’ of the Senate

30. The Socialists Eugene V. Debs The entire system needs changing . . .

31. International Workers of the World (“Wobblies”)

32. “Big Bill” Haywood of theIWW • Violence was justified to overthrow capitalism (in the workplace).

33. Labor Union Membership

34. “Much of the blame heaped upon the captains of industry in the late 19th century is unwarranted. They were innovators and leaders whose actions, dictated by the competition of the time, ultimately improved American society.”