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The Growth of the American Labor Movement. Labor Force Distribution 1870-1900. The Changing American Labor Force. “Galley Labor”. Labor Unrest: 1870-1900. Management vs. Labor. “Tools” of Management. “Tools” of Labor. “scabs” P. R. campaign Pinkertons lockout blacklisting
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The Growth of the American Labor Movement
Management vs. Labor “Tools” of Management “Tools” of Labor • “scabs” • P. R. campaign • Pinkertons • lockout • blacklisting • yellow-dog contracts • court injunctions • open shop • boycotts • sympathy demonstrations • informational picketing • closed shops • organized strikes • “wildcat” strikes
Knights of Labor (1869) • Sought to unite all of America’s workers • Accepted • Farm hands • Factory workers • Women • African Americans • Immigrants • Excluded • Gamblers • Lawyers • Bankers • Doctors • Liquor dealers Terence V. Powderly An injury to one is the concern of all!
Goals of the Knights of Labor • Eight-hour workday. • Workers’ cooperatives. • Worker-owned factories. • Abolition of child and prison labor. • Increased circulation of greenbacks. • Equal pay for men and women. • Safety codes in the workplace. • Prohibition of contract foreign labor. • Abolition of the National Bank.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 • First nationwide strike • Baltimore & Ohio RR cut wages by 10% BUT gave a 10% dividend to stockholders • Brakemen in WV walked out on strike • Strike spread quickly along the rail routes • Strikers halted all train traffic • Unemployed and workers in other industries joined the protest • Mobs defied militia sent to disperse them • Rioting persisted for about a week • President Hayes called out the army to suppress the strike • Federal troops fired into a crowd in Pittsburg, killing 20 • By the end of the strike over 100 were dead • Result: • Weakened railroad unions • Damaged reputation of labor unions because of the disruption and failure
Haymarket Riot (1886) • McCormick Reaper workers demand 8hr workday • Police harassment of workers/strikers killed 4 strikers the day before, called for a meeting in Haymarket Square • Police ordered people to disperse, bomb was thrown (killed 6 officers, 67 injured) • 8 anarchists convicted of murder, unjust trial, they were scapegoats • 7 sentenced to death 1 suicide, 4 executed, 2 terms to life in prison
Haymarket Riot (1886) • Workers McCormick Harvesting Machine Company of Chicago go on strike (spring) • Workers demanded an 8hr workday • 60-hour work weeks were common. • The company locked out the workers and hired strikebreakers, a common practice at the time. McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.
Haymarket Riot (1886) • May 1, 1886 – nationwide general strike for 8hr day • 45,000 workers parade down Michigan Ave in support • May 3 – protest outside the McCormick plant resulted in violence • May 4 – A mass meeting to protest what was seen as brutality by the police • Number of radical and anarchist speakers addressed a crowd of approximately 1,500 people. • Meeting = peaceful, but the mood became confrontational when the police tried to disperse the crowd. • Bomb thrown at police • Police fired into crowd
Haymarket Aftermath • Provoke fear & anger toward: • Anarchist • Labor unions • Strikers • Immigrants • Working class • Eight men tried = ALL guilty • 4 executed • 1 suicide • 3 prison sentences
The American Federation of Labor (1886) • Loose federation of 100+ craft unions • Organized skilled worker. • Represented workers in matters of national legislation. • Used strike to gain higher pay & better working conditions • Maintained a national strike fund. • Mediated disputes between management and labor. • Pushed for closed shops.
Homestead Steel Strike (1892) • Carnegie want to crush Union • Refuses to allow Union to negotiate for non-union workers • Workers strike • Frick builds a fence, locks strikers out & hires Pinkertons • Conflict b/w workers & Pinkertons led to violence • PA governor send in national guard The Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers
Attempted Assassination! • Public attention turned against workers • Linked anarchism & unions • Workers gave up • Union leaders blackballed • 12hr day, lower wages and 500 fewer jobs Henry Clay Frick Alexander Berkman
A “Company Town”: Pullman, IL • Wages cut by 28% • Pullman refused to lower rents • 90% of Pullman workers strike • American Railway Union (ARU) joins boycott of Pullman cars • Boycott spread to 15 RRs & 27 states
President Grover Cleveland • Cleveland called in Army • Violence erupted • Troops killed 25 workers and wounded 60+ • Debs arrested for violating court injunction • ARU, boycott & strike defeated • Significance • Courts & gov’t side with industrialists If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered!
Principal labor organizations represented only a small percentage of the industrial work force. ONLY 4% of industrial workers belonged to a Union in 1900. Reasons for not organizing: Immigrants — make some money in America and return home American workers —believed they were not going to be part of a permanent working class They or their children would become a higher position in society. People rather low paying jobs than no jobs Middle Class resented unions = believed radical workers at heart of all problems Labor’s Weaknesses
