Organized Labor 1860-1900 Ch. 4 Sec. 3

Goals of Labor Unions Reduced hours Increased wages Safer working conditions

Tools of the Unions Strikes Boycotts Collective bargaining Sit down Walk out Boycotts Collective bargaining Negotiating as a group for higher wages or better working conditions

Major Unions – Knights of Labor Founder – Terence Powderly Includes women and African Americans Skilled and Unskilled labor Specific goals: 8 hour workday End to child labor Haymarket Riot May 4, 1886 Eventually ended influence of KoL

The Haymarket Riot May 4, 1886

Major Unions – AFL American Federation of Labor Samuel Gompers Practical Skilled Labor White males only

Tools of the Owners Federal Injunctions Lockouts Hired security forces (Pinkertons) Government intervention

Great Strikes – Railroad Strike July 1877 – West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois Not organized by any union Outcome – Bloody conflict in many cities Millions of dollars of property damage Intervention of federal troops to restore order

"A Steeple-View of the Pittsburgh Conflagation"; engraving showing the burning of Union Depot and Pennsylvania Railroad yards, Pittsburgh, PA during Great railroad strike of 1877

Great Strikes - Homestead Homestead Strike Video June-August, 1892 – Homestead, PA Organized by Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (part of AFL) in association with unskilled workers Steel mill owned by Andrew Carnegie Outcome Lockout Bloody conflict with Pinkertons Failure of strike Reduced public support for unions

Great Strikes – Pullman Strike May-July, 1894 – nationwide, centered in Chicago, Illinois Organized by American Railway Union Eugene V. Debs Outcome Bloody conflict Millions of dollars of property damage Intervention by federal troops Failure of strike Reduced public support for unions

To what extent were labor unions successful in achieving their goals in the late 1800s?