Assess the impact of labor unions on industry and the lives of workers NCSCOS 5.03 AP USH Unit 16 Michael Quiñones, NBCT www.socialstudiesguy.com

Macro Concepts Micro Concepts Change-transformation of a person, place or thing. Power-authority of a government to carry out the law. Conflict-problem or issue that is controversial and can cause problems without compromise. Industrialization-process of people producing things using mass production and machinery. Immigration- process of mass entrance into a new country to live permanently. Socialism-the process of citizens collectively owning property. Negotiation-the process of attempting to settle disagreements by talking. Mediation-the process of having a neutral 3rd party help settle a dispute. Collective Bargaining-the process of having a group of workers decide employment terms [usually by a union]. Arbitration-the process of having a 3rd party settle a dispute between two groups [like a judge].

The Workplace and workers During the late 1800s and early 1900s places people worked were often very dangerous. The risk of serious injury and death was always present. Poor and dangerous working conditions such as faulty equipment, long work hours and low pay often made working in factories unbearable. Very low wages [the amount of pay workers received] forced people to work many hours which made them very tired, angry and ineffective. Because many families in large cities were often poor they sent their young children [age 3 to teenagers] to work. Their lack of strength and experience put them at high risk of injury.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire http://www. pbs Click or type in the link above to view the film called Triangle Fire Watch movie quietly without putting your head down or sleeping. Make a list of five [5] tactics the bosses of the factory did to workers that was unfair [make sure you briefly state why the tactics are unfair]. Write a letter [one complete side of a page] to the U.S. government explaining why the bosses’ tactics need to stop immediately and what the federal/state or local government should do about the workers’ situation. or… Write a letter [one complete side of a page] to the editor of the New York Times newspaper explaining your opinion about what happened to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers [if you have criticisms be sure to list and explain them; if you have suggestions for preventing this type of incident from reoccurring make sure you list and explain them].

Workers United Eventually many workers got smart and united together to fight for better working conditions and higher wages. The groups of workers called themselves labor unions. Unions usually organized themselves by the type of work they did such as carpenters and shoemakers. Trade unions and craft unions were types of unions that were specific to types of industries to protect those types of workers. For example a carpenters’ trade union would protect the rights of carpenters.

Conflicts and labor leaders Even with labor unions there were still problems between workers and business owners. Businesses often forced workers, as a condition of employment, to sign yellow dog contracts which forbade them from joining labor unions. Labor union leaders such as Eugene V. Debs encouraged members to go out on strike [walk out of work] when they believed they were being treated unfairly by employers. Debs led the Pullman Strike in 1894 which led to over 100,000 workers walking out on their railroad jobs. Debs was jailed for his participation in the strike because the effect of the strike was too negative.

Samuel Gompers Gompers learned from the failures of other unions. Gompers led the American Federation of Labor [A.F.L.] for over 40 years. Federation=Group of separate entities [in his case unions] that combines. His most important strategy was to pool the resources of different types of unions. The funds were used to support workers during prolonged strikes. He also championed closed shops which did not allow non-union workers to work in union dominated jobs.

Labor Strife and Unrest Business/Labor conflicts were not always peaceful. On May 4, 1886 rioting in Chicago’s Haymarket Square led to multiple deaths and a bad reputation for unions. The greatest mistake by the Knights of Labor [labor union with different types of workers] was including skilled and unskilled workers under one unified group. Unskilled workers could be replaced by strike breaking scabs while craftsmen [skilled workers] were not. Skilled workers believed their jobs were unprotected.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act The U.S. Government in 1890 tried to rein in the power of business trusts. The shrewdest of businessmen hired lawyers who were able to find loopholes in the law and avoid compliance. Trusts were sometimes forced to break up into separate companies. The best example of a corporate break-up was the 1911 break up of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Corporation. The U.S. Government was bent on Trust busting after passage of the law 9

Homestead Strike and Steel Company tactics Workers at Carnegie’s steel company wanted better working conditions and better pay. The steel labor unions went on strike at the Homestead Steel Works. Because the workers refused to agree to Carnegie’s terms they were locked out [not allowed to work by the company]. Violence was threatened from both the Steel company and their workers. After much negotiation, fighting and legal battles most of the striking workers were blacklisted by U.S. Steel and not allowed to work in the industry again.

Labor Union/Conflict Assignment Join with 3-4 other students [no more than 4 students to a group] and create a 2-3 minute skit/video describing a labor conflict and solution from the list of topics we learned in Objective 5.03. Must be at least 2 minutes in length.5

Image sources http://historyplanet.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/luddite.jpg http://www.owdna.org/graphics/millvill2/childlabor.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MorganWoodworking.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swanson_Shoe_Repair_18.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knights_of_labor_seal.gif http://www.tinytreasuresrescue.com/Yellow_dog_wonders.gif http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/march_03/debs.jpg http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/d5/unsecured/media/1119379849/1119379849_1576312159_33589e53c214f8ff4a77a0de7cb0c07fcdb74a2c.jpg?pubId=1119379849