VA and US History Labor Unions and Strikes Lecture Notes: Week 9 Lesson 4 Standard VUS.8d
Bell Ringer
Key Points Labor Unions Strikes Results Today?
If Rockefeller is running the Govt…
What chance does the little guy have?
Knights of Labor Secret order founded in 1869 to help all those who wanted all of the following: An eight-hour work day The end of child labor Equal pay for equal work The elimination of private banks. The Knights grouped workers by industry, regardless of trade or skill. They allowed women, blacks (after 1883), and employers were accepted as members. Bankers, lawyers, gamblers, stockholders, doctors, and liquor manufacturers were excluded.
American Federation of Labor (AFL) Founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1886 by Samuel Gompers. A more conservative union, they sought to solve immediate problems of the workers, did not seek to break with Capitalism. Skilled Workers only
The American Railway Union (ARU) Was the largest union of its time founded on June 20, 1893, by railway workers in Chicago, Illinois, under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs Unionized all railway workers, regardless of craft or service. Membership nation-wide within a year
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States. One of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s Led many successful strikes
Haymarket Square Riot 1886 Protestors had been on the streets for days, after being roughed up by Chicago cops repeatedly… A bomb was lobbed into the crowd killing 12 including one police man. The remaining police opened fire on the crowd, killing 2 more. Protest leaders were charged with the policeman’s murder and 6 were hanged. Hurts the socialist movement, makes workers look like thugs.
Quote of the Day “Blood has flowed. It had to be and it was. Not in vain has order drilled and trained its bloodhounds. It was not for fun that the militia was practiced in street fighting. The robbers who know best of all what wretches they are who pile up their money through the misery of the masses, who make a trade of the slow murder of the families of workingmen are the last ones to stop short at the direct shooting down of workingmen. Down with the [workers] is their motto. Is it not historically proved that private property grows out of all sorts of violence? Are these capitalistic robbers to be allowed by the working classes to continue their bloody orgies, with horrid murders? Never? The war of classes is at hand.” Augustus Spies
Homestead Strike 1892 As a response to “Hard Times”, The Carnegie Steel company attempted to cut the wages of the skilled steel workers. Unionized workers refused the pay cut Management locked the union out Management attempted to bring in scabs Striking workers attacked the scabs Pinkerton guards were brought in to protect the scabs Combat between striking workers and Pinkerton detectives left 10 dead. Workers eventually replaced by scabs
Pullman Strike In Pullman, Chicago in 1894, George Pullman cut workers’ wages as a response to a loss in profits brought on the Panic of Workers join the American Railway Union, which then refuses to handle any railcars from the Pullman company.
Presidential Reaction President Cleveland sent in 12,000 U.S Army troops on the basis that the strike interfered with the delivery of U.S. Mail. Violence broke out and buildings and train cars were set on fire.
Results By the end of the strike: 13 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded An estimated $80 million worth of property was damaged Eugene Debs was found guilty of interfering with the mail and sent to prison for 6 months Debs and the Socialists lose another fight
Still… The govt. sees Pullman’s control over the town as “un-American” and orders him to sell off his control in the town. Labor unions are finally successful in getting their 8 hour work day with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
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