Industrialization Unions

Learning Targets:

Know how deflation led to unions being organized in the late 1800s.

Know what a “trade union” is and give an example.

Know what an “industrial union” is and give an example of a nationwide industrial union.

Know how companies used “lockouts” to try to break unions.

Know who Karl Marx was and his philosophies.

Describe the events of the Pullman Strike.

Know who Samuel Gompers was.

Working in the United States Throughout the late 1800s, deflation caused prices to

fall, which increased the buying power of workers because money was more valuable. Companies lowered wages, because the goods they made

were sold for less money

Prices fell even faster than companies could lower wages Workers were upset for being paid less to do the same work

Early Unions

Workers formed unions for better working conditions and better wages

Trade unions-unions limited to people with specific skills.

Among the largest and most successful were the Iron Molders International Union.

Early Unions

-Industrial Opposes Unions

Owners of large corporations particularly opposed Industrial Unions, which united all craft workers and common laborers in a particular industry. (Knights of Labor for example) Companies often used a lockout, they locked workers out of

the property and refused to pay them.

Companies also made workers take an oath that they would not form a union or join one

Workers known to try to start a union were “blacklisted” or put on a list shared by companies who refused to hire them

Early Unions

-Political and Social Opposition

Karl Marx Marx argued that the basic force shaping capitalist society

was the class struggle between workers and owners.

Marx believed that this would lead to chaos and anarchy

The battle between unions and owners seemed to support the ideas of Karl Marx

The Struggle to Organize

-The Knights of Labor

The knights of Labor, first nationwide industrial union.

In the early 1800s, the knights began using strikes, and they achieved great success initially.

The Struggle to Organize -The Pullman Strike

Railroad workers created the American Railway Union (ARU) under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs.

The country dropped into a recession in 1873 (worst in history up to that point) Pullman, IL was built by the Pullman Palace Car Company. Workers at the

company were forced to rent homes in town and buy products in stores owned by the company.

The boycott of Pullman railroad cars tied up railroads and threatened to paralyze the economy. (Rail workers refused to touch Pullman rail cars. The company decided to attach them to trains carrying the US mail. When workers refused to do anything with the Pullman cars it held up the US mail and became a federal crime. President Cleveland sent in troops and a federal injunction ordered the strike to stop.)

The strike at Pullman and the ARU both collapsed.

The American Federation of Labor

American Federation of Labor (AFL). The AFL’s first leader was Samuel Gompers. The AFL grew slowly, but by 1900 it was the biggest union in

the country, with over 500,000 members.

The AFL pushed for closed shops (companies could only hire union members)

The AFL promoted an 8 hour work day

Review Questions:

How did deflation lead to unions being organized in the late 1800s?

What is a “trade union”? Give an example.

What is an “industrial union”? Give an example of a nationwide industrial union.

How did companies use “lockouts” to try to break unions?

Describe the events of the Pullman Strike.

Who was Samuel Gompers?

Essay Question and Answer:

What were the basic ideas of Marxism? Marxists argued that the basic force shaping capitalist

society was the class struggle between workers and owners. Eventually, workers would revolt, seize control of the factories, and overthrow the government. After the revolution, the government would seize all private property and create a socialist society where wealth was evenly divided. Eventually, the state would whither away, leaving a Communist society where classes did not exist.