Reforming the New Industrial Order
Female and Child Laborers In 1900 the average laborer worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for about $1.50 a day. Women and children earned less In the early 1910’s almost half of all women who worked in factories, laundries and stores earned less than $6.00 a week In The Bitter Cry of the Children, author John Spargo reported that few child laborers had ever attended school or could read.
Labor Laws Reformer Florence Kelley worked tirelessly campaigning for new laws that would prohibit child labor and improve conditions for female workers In 1904 Kelley helped organize the National Child Labor Committee and by 1912 child labor laws had been passed in 39 states Enforcement of such laws was lax. Many employers claimed that their business’ depended on cheap child labor and simply ignored the laws
Progressivism and the Supreme Court As more states passed protective legislation, business owners fought back through the courts The business owners hid behind the 14 th Amendment The Supreme Court sided with the business owners; BUT they also ruled that some social legislation violated the Constitution by denying workers their freedom of contract, The Supreme Court sided with the business owners; BUT they also ruled that some social legislation violated the Constitution by denying workers their freedom of contract, or the workers right to negotiate the terms of their employment Muller vs. Oregon In 1908 the case Muller vs. Oregon the Supreme Court did make a ruling that upheld a law limiting the number of hours women could work in a day - based on women's’ physical structure
Using the freedom of contract as freedom to strike
Labor Unions Labor unions also fought for better working conditions and for the closed shop Labor unions also fought for better working conditions and for the closed shop or a workplace where all employees are required to belong to a union Most members of labor unions wanted to preserve the capitalist system but make changes to it The American Federation of Labor (AFL), Led by Samuel Gompers, one union group, The American Federation of Labor (AFL), refused to accept unskilled laborers as members This approach still left many workers without organized support
Labor Unions Continued… One AFL union that tried to organize unskilled workers was the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) In November female garment workers staged a strike known as the “Uprising of 20,000” demanding their companies recognize the ILGWU as their union Some employers met the demands. However, most employers were determined to run an open shop Some employers met the demands. However, most employers were determined to run an open shop or a workplace where employees may choose whether or not to belong to a union Thus they refused to recognize the union. After this strike the ILGWU’s membership grew from 400 to 65,000
The IWW While the AFL did its thing, a new union with a different agenda came to be Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) opposed capitalism The IWW denounced the AFL for not including unskilled workers and enlisted African American, Asian American and Hispanic American workers The government cracked down on the union with force and within a few years the IWW collapsed
Management vs. Labor “Tools” of Management “Tools” of Labor “scabs” P. R. campaign Pinkertons lockout blacklisting yellow-dog contracts court injunctions open shop boycotts sympathy demonstrations informational picketing closed shops organized strikes “wildcat” strikes
Industrial Workers of the World More radical labor organizations also emerged, most notably the Industrial Workers of the World, nicknamed the Wobblies, founded in More famous for their militant anti- capitalism than for being large or influential, the Wobblies never grew to more than 30,000 members before fading away in about 1920.
International Workers of the World (“Wobblies”)
“Big Bill” Haywood of the IWW Violence was justified to overthrow capitalism.
The Hand That Will Rule the World One Big Union