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19-4 Industrial Workers

19-4 Industrial Workers. Mrs. Manley . Industrial Workers . Why are workers organizing into unions? - to demand better pay and working conditions Mass production- leads to less personal working conditions in factories 10-12 hr. workdays Fired at anytime/any reason

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19-4 Industrial Workers

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  1. 19-4 Industrial Workers Mrs. Manley

  2. Industrial Workers • Why are workers organizing into unions? - to demand better pay and working conditions • Mass production- leads to less personal working conditions in factories • 10-12 hr. workdays • Fired at anytime/any reason • Immigrants working for low pay took jobs • Factories- noisy, unhealthy & unsafe • Burns, spills, coal dust, cave-ins, lung damage, poor eyesight • Sweatshops- urban factories where garments are made- known for poor conditions

  3. Women were paid ½ of what men earned for same work • Child Labor- laws said had to be 12 yrs. And couldn’t work more that 10 hrs. a day; did not apply to agriculture or address unsafe conditions

  4. Labor Unions • Labor Unions- groups of dissatisfied workers who organize to demand better pay and working conditions • Knights of Labor- • led by Terrence Powderly in Philadelphia • African-Americans, immigrants, and unskilled laborers could join • Grew quickly but lost power

  5. Labor Unions cont. • American Federation of Labor (AFL)- • Skilled workers of various crafts/trades • Led by Samuel Gompers • Wanted : • higher wages, • shorter hours, • better working conditions, • and collective bargaining- unions represent workers to bargain or work with management for change

  6. Women and Unions • Many unions wouldn’t accept women • “Mother Jones”, Mary Harris Jones, fought for women’s rights • Triangle Shirtwaist Company- • Crowded sweatshop NYC • Fire breaks out, women trapped and burned to death b/c company locked doors to prevent them from leaving • 150 workers die • International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) forms to push for safer working conditions

  7. Unions Act: • Economic depressions led to firings and pay cuts • Strikes break out • Strikebreakers- hired by companies to replace striking workers • Haymarket Square, Chicago- Strikers gather to protest the killing of other strikers. Police are called. Bomb thrown at police and a riot breaks out. This Haymarket Riot= terrorism and disorder

  8. Homestead Strike- at Carnegie’s Steel Plant in Homestead, PA. • Wages were cut • Union strikes, company hires strikebreakers (non-union) and guards to protect them • Fight breaks out, 10 dead • Militia is sent in to restore order. Failed.

  9. Pullman Strike- • Railcar plant cuts wages, workers strike • Pullman closes plant • Other rail workers refuse to work and rail traffic is stopped • US Attorney general issues an injunction- court order- to stop obstructing the railways! • Eugene Debs- leader; refuses to end strike and is jailed • President Grover Cleveland sends in federal troops to end strike, another failed strike.

  10. Unions do not give up and keep fighting for: • Better wages • Better Working Conditions

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