A Brief History of Labor Unions in the United States

1. A Brief History of Labor Unions in the United States

2. TERM(S): • Factors of production • Land • Labor (workers, people . . . . . and now machines) • Capital ($$$)

3. Working Conditions: 1850s • Average work day – 16 hours • Average pay – $6 per week • Had to purchase their own tools • Fined for being late (half day’s pay) • Protesting = immediate dismissal (fired)

4. TERM(S): • Labor Union • an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals. • Strike • a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to perform work. • Scab • Derogatory term for a strikebreaker, a person who works despite strike action or against the will of other employees

5. Lowell, Massachusetts • Francis Cabot Lowell invented the “factory system” where all steps to create something are under one roof • Factories in Lowell were filled with young women from local farms • In 1834 and 1836 the factories cut wages and the first major strikes were initiated

6. TERM(S) • Socialist – someone who believes in the political theory that desires common ownership and cooperative management . • Anarchist – someone who believes in the political theory which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society. • Radical – political desire for massive change in society.

7. Haymarket (Affair, Riot, or Massacre – call it what you will) • Occurred in 1886 in Chicago • Unknown individual threw a bomb into a crowd of police officers • Killed 8 police officers and 4 civilians • 8 anarchists were arrested and tried for murder • 4 were convicted and executed, a 5th committed suicide in prison

8. Haymarket: Cause and Effect • What were the causes of Haymarket? • working conditions • low wages • long hours • violence against union members • What were the effects of Haymarket? • continued distrust • creation of more radical leaders • more national attention (both in support of and in opposition to labor unions) • unified workers across the country

9. TERM(S): • Haymarket Affair • discuss in your group and come up with a 1-2 sentence summary.

10. See a difference?

11. American Federation of Labor (AFL) • Original goals: • Prohibition of child labor • National eight hour work day • Exclusion of foreign contracts • Attempted to achieve these by legislation • Accepted “trade unions” and opposed “industrial union” WHAT? “Hard work conquers all!”

12. AFL Leader: Samuel Gompers

13. TERM(S): • American Federation of Labor (AFL) • discuss in your group and come up with a 1-2 sentence summary.

14. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) • International union founded in 1905 in Chicago by socialists, anarchists and radicals • Opposed the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) • The IWW believed that the AFL had failed – only 5% of workers in the U.S. were unionized • Unionized skilled and unskilled workers, unlike the AFL

15. IWW Leader: Eugene V. Debs

16. IWW Leader: William “Big Bill” Haywood

17. IWW (Continued) • IWW Goals • Worker solidarity – “an injury to one is an injury to all” • Workplace democracy / self-management • Eventual overthrow of the employing class with the factors of production being owned by the workers

18. TERM(S): • Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) • discuss in your group and come up with a 1-2 sentence summary.

19. Pullman Strike • Pullman Palace Car Company cut the wages of workers in the 1890s • Workers refused to “switch” Pullman cars at rail stations • When workers were disciplined, 125,000 workers walked off the job • More than 2,000 federal troops were called in and “broke” the strike • 13 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded. The leader of the strike was sent to jail

20. TERM(S): • Pullman Strike • discuss in your group and come up with a 1-2 sentence summary.