Industrial Revolution Unions, Socialism, Utopianism Industrial Revolution

Outcome 2.1.3 Students will understand and be able to explain how governments and workers responded to issues of industrialization.

What you already know….. Writers wrote…. (Dickens, Engles, Swift, Malthus…..) Governments responded very slowly Royal Commissions Legislative changes – age of workers, working conditions Chartist Movement

Who is benefiting from this industrial expansion?

Who is represented in government. Who is making decisions Who is represented in government? Who is making decisions? Is everyone being treated fairly?

What is Chartism? What did Chartists want? Did they accomplish their objectives?

Other Ways workers responded They formed labour unions Political Parties (Labour Party in UK) Utopianism Socialism - - - - - - Communism

Labour Unions What is a union?

Labour Unions What is a union? an organized association of workers, often in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Can you think of examples of unions?

What are working conditions? What are examples of working conditions?

Negotiation between union and employer Almost anything can be negotiated Give & Take in bargaining process Membership, Hours of work, Wages, Time off/Vacation, Health & Safety, Responsibilities of workers, Responsibilities of employer

What if parties cannot agree? Negotiation Work slow-down Work-to-Rule Strike Lockout “Back-to-Work” Legislation by government

Political PArties Labour Party in UK New Democratic Party in Canada Run for office – many felt that the only way to make real change was to influence government directly

Welfare State Mandatory, Free Public Education 1908 – Old Age Pensions Act 1909 – School Meals Programme 1909 – Economic Development Act 1911 – National Employment Insurance Act National Health Service (= Medicare) Freedom from the 5 Giants: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, Idleness

Sir Robert Owen A factory owner concerned about the well being of his employees. “Healthy, happy employees makes higher production.” Owen wanted to make a school for employee children and a store for his workers. He wanted to regulate the communities around his factory. Owen believed in morals His partners did not share his same attitudes (morals?) as it would cost them money. Robert Owen, 1771-1858

“Owen's general theory was that character is formed by the effects of the environment upon the individual. Hence, education was of central importance to the creation of rational and humane character, and the duty of the educator was to provide the wholesome environment, both mental and physical, in which the child could develop. Physical punishment was prohibited and child labor was restricted. Man, being naturally good, could grow and flourish when evil was removed. Education, as one historian has put it, was to the the steam engine of his new moral world.” copyright © 2000 Steven Kreil http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/owen.html

Owen’s factory at New Lanark

Improved Working Conditions Owen publicly said that the current working conditions in factories exploited women and children. As a result, governments began to request change in the factories, particularly with wages and hours worked among children and women. Legislation was created, known simply as the Factory Act, to protect the workers. Over the years, more improvements to the legislation would be added.

Factory Act 1819: Limited the hours worked by children to a maximum of 12 per day. Factory Act 1833: Children under 9 banned from working in the textiles industry and 10-13 year olds limited to a 48 hour week. Factory Act 1844: Maximum of 12 hours work per day for Women. Factory Act 1847: Maximum of 10 hours work per day for Women and children. Factory Act 1850: Increased hours worked by Women and children to 10 and a half hours a day, but not allowed to work before 6am or after 6pm. Factory Act 1874: No worker allowed to work more than 56.5 hours per week