Rise of Labor Unions

Government Regulations These big businesses acquired enormous financial wealth. They often used this wealth to dominate and control many aspects of American cultural and political life, and as a consequence of these practices, by the beginning of the 20th century big business became the target of government reform movements at the state and national levels.

The Labor Movement Factory workers worked 12 or more hours a day; six days a week. Employees were not entitled to vacation; sick leave; unemployment compensation; or reimbursement for injuries suffered on the job. They worked in dirty; poorly ventilated factories; workers had to perform repetitive minddulling tasks; sometimes with dangerous or faulty equipment. Wages were so low that most families could not survive unless everyone held a job.

In sweatshops or workshops rather than in factories; workers had little choice but to put up with the conditions. Sweatshop employment required few skills; it was often open to women and children. Sweatshop paid the lowest wages: 27 cents for a child’s 14 hour day. Women earned an average of $267 a year; nearly half of men’s average pay of $498

Child Labor Many of the child laborers were orphans that had no other way of getting food. These children were especially subject to slave-like labor. Most of the time, they were not paid. Employers justified this by saying that they were already providing the children with food, clothing, and shelter. Children suffered freezing temperatures, breathed bad air quality (in the mines), and worked around dangerous machinery. They had to work long hours, sometimes up to 19 hours a day.

Children were subject to harsh forms of punishment, especially for being late or for not meeting their quota. One type of punishment was to be “weighted.” The overseer would tie a heavy weight to worker's neck, and have them walk up and down the factory aisles in front of the other children as an example. With little time or energy left for school; child laborers forfeited their futures to help their families make ends meet. Though some saw child labor as an advantage, Lewis Hine’s photos of thousands of children awakened society to the cruelties of child labor. The children’s circumstances slowly started changing as the government began making new laws.

Child Labor

Where does most child labor occur?

1904 The National Child Labor Committee forms. It is not until 1938 that federal law preventing the labor of children under the age of 14 goes into effect. (One Hundred Years Toward Suffrage: An Overview) (The History Place: Child Labor in America 1908-1912 )

“Galley Labor”

The Knights of Labor The first successful labor organization An organization of both skilled & unskilled laborers Due to conflict between skilled & unskilled workers; many members left the organization. By 1890 the Knights had disappeared.

Goals of the Knights of Labor Eight-hour workday. Abolition of child and prison labor. Equal pay for men and women. Safety codes in the workplace. Prohibition of contract foreign labor.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL): 1886 The AFL was not one union but groups of crafts and trade unions. Every kind of work should have their own union. Samuel Gompers favored collective bargaining over strike. It was attempt to negotiate contracts between workers and employers. Samuel Gompers-President of AFL

How the AF of L Would Help the Workers Catered to the skilled worker. Eight hours workday Maintained a national strike fund. Higher wages Safer working conditions and benefits for injured workers Mediated disputes between management and labor. Pushed for closed shops.

How the AF of L Would Help the Workers Catered to the skilled worker. Eight hours workday Maintained a national strike fund. Higher wages Safer working conditions and benefits for injured workers Mediated disputes between management and labor. Pushed for closed shops.

Labor Unrest Major Strikes of the Late 1800s Year/City Industry or Company Causes Effects Great Railroad Strike 1877 at Martinsburg West VA Baltimore & Ohio RR Wages cut by the RR Workers destroyed rails; train stations and train cars. Federal troops were called in to end strike. Haymarket Riot 1886 at Chicago IL Factory workers across Chicago Workers protested police actions 7 police were killed by a bomb. The Knights of labor were blamed

Labor Unrest Major Strikes of the Late 1800s Year/City Industry or Company Causes Effects Homestead Strike 1892 at Homestead PA Carnegie Steel Company Wage Cuts and a 70-hour work week. Workers & private guards were killed. State militia broke up the strike. Union broke up Pullman Strike 1894 at Pullman IL Pullman Company Wages cut without cutting cost of employee housing Chicago had no trains for 2 months; 27 states had partial or no train services

The End