13.3 - THE ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT

1. Knights of Labor

2. Company Towns

3. AFL

4. Eugene Debs

5. Socialism

6. Homestead Strike

7. Samuel Gompers

THE ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT

VOCABULARY

8. Sweatshops

9. Haymarket Riot

10. Terence Powderly

11. Pullman Strike

12. Collective Bargaining

WORKERS ENDURE HARDSHIPS

• Factories– Long hours- 12 hours a day, 6 days a week– Low wages– Sweatshops- small, hot, dark and dirty workshops– Dangerous conditions– Strict owners, quick to fine workers for breaking

rules or fire those that missed work

• Despite these terrible conditions, there were always more workers than jobs

FAMILIES IN THE WORKFORCE

• As industrialization advanced, more jobs opened up for women

• Low wages meant that both parents had to work• Children also needed to earn a wage to help the family

survive• By the end of the 1800’s, nearly 20% of children

between the ages of 10-16 worked full time.– Conditions were very hard for children

LIVING IN COMPANY TOWNS

• Many laborers were forced to live in isolated communities near their workplaces

• The housing in these communities were often owned by the company– Company Towns- Owned by businesses and rented to employees

• Businesses often owned a “company store”– Goods were expensive and sold on credit with high interest– Workers could be arrested if they left their jobs before debts were repaid– Workers called this “wage slavery”

LABOR UNIONS FORM

• Workers tried to gain power against employers by using collective bargaining– Collective bargaining- negotiating as a

group for better wages or working conditions

• One form of collective bargaining is the strike, or agreement to cease working until demands are met

• Strikes could be local or involve all workers in certain industries

• The first national labor union was formed in 1834- National Trades Union

• In the 1830’s, Socialism began to spread– Socialism- An economic and political philosophy that

favors public control of property and income– Distribution of wealth– 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote The

Communist Manifesto• This pamphlet denounced capitalism and predicted

that workers would overturn it• Many labor activists borrowed ideas from Marx

and Engels

FOUNDING THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR

•Founded in 1869 by Uriah Stephens

•It included workers from all trades and races/ethnic groups

•Functioned as a secret society devoted to broad social reform

•Terence V. Powderly took control in 1881

•Former mayor of Scranton, PA (Home of The Office)

•Encouraged boycotts and negotiations with employers

•By 1885, the KOL had 700,00 members.

•After a series of failed strikes, the KOL had largely disappeared by the 1890’s

Forming the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

• Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886

• AFL was a craft union– Loose organization of skilled

workers from 100 local unions devoted to specific crafts and trades

• High dues created a strike and pension fund

• Focused on wages, hours and conditions

• Pressed for closed shops- union members only

STRIKES ROCK THE NATION

Major strikes of the late 1800'sSTRIKE YEAR CAUSE EFFECT

Railroad Strikes

1877Response to cuts in

workers' wagesSet the scene for violent

strikes to come

Haymarket Square

1886Part of a campaign to

achieve an 8 hour workday

Americans became wary of labor unions, KOL blamed for the riot

Homestead Strike

1892Economic depression led to

cuts in steelworkers' wages

After losing the standoff, steelworkers unions lost power throughout the country

Pullman Strike

1893

Wages cut without a decrease in the cost of living in the company town

Employers used the courts to limit the influence of unions

RAILROAD STRIKES

• Workers in West Virginia went on strike to protest Workers in West Virginia went on strike to protest wage cuts.wage cuts.

• President Rutherford B. Hayes sent federal troops to President Rutherford B. Hayes sent federal troops to protect the rail roads.protect the rail roads.

• This angered strikers and spread to 14 other states.This angered strikers and spread to 14 other states.• The troops were able to put down the strikers, The troops were able to put down the strikers,

which became known as the Great Upheaval.which became known as the Great Upheaval.

HAYMARKET SQUARE

• MAY, 1886• Thousands of workers mounted a national demonstration for

an 8-hour workday• Fights broke out between strikers and strikebreakers• Conflict escalated between strikers and police• Haymarket Square in Chicago 40,000 workers join in strike 40,000 workers join in strike • Anarchists became involved in the leadershipAnarchists became involved in the leadership• A protestor threw a bomb, killing dozens of police and A protestor threw a bomb, killing dozens of police and

protestors.protestors.• Eight anarchists were tried for murder and four were Eight anarchists were tried for murder and four were

convicted.convicted.• Many people began to associate unions with violenceMany people began to associate unions with violence

HOMESTEAD STRIKE

• Carnegie Steel Workers in Homestead, PA protested wage cuts.

• Henry Frick, Carnegie’s partner, instituted a lock out and hired 300 guards to protect the plant.

• The strikers and guards got in a fight resulting in 16 deaths.

• Anarchists in the union tried to assassinate Frick• As public opinion began to turn against the workers,

the strike was called off

PULLMAN STRIKE

• George Pullman cuts wages, but refuses to lower price of rent and goods in his company town

• The American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, supported the strikers and brought a halt to rail traffic.

• RR owners claimed the strike violated the Sherman Antitrust Act because it disrupted free trade

• U.S. government stepped in, claiming strikers were committing a federal offense by preventing delivery of U.S. mail

• Troops were then sent in by President Grover Cleveland and broke the strike up

PULLMAN COMPANY TOWN

PULLMAN WORKERS WALKING OUT

EFFECTS ON THE LABOR MOVEMENT

• The outcome of the Pullman strike set an important trend

• Employers now appealed for court orders to halt strikes

• The government usually backed employers

• The labor movement split into many factions and lost much of its influence