1. Chapter 6, Section 3 III. Labor Organization

2. A. Working Class 1.Because of the 2 nd Industrial Revolution, demand for labor soared 2. a. IMMIGRANTS: By 1900, one-third of industrial workers were foreign born b. AFRICAN AMERICANS: Some northern industries offered jobs to African-Americans, but most southern industries barred them from holding factory jobs

3. c. WOMEN: There were 4 million women working by 1890. Most women worked because their families needed the income. d. CHILDREN: By 1890, some 1.5 million children worked (ages 10 to 15).

4. B. Labor Conditions 1. People worked 10- to 14-hour days, 7 days a week. 2. Working conditions were dangerous and abusive. a. Miners breathed coal dust all day. b. Factory workers breathed sawdust, stone dust, cotton dust, or toxic fumes. c. Heavy machinery caused high injury rates.

5. 3. Wages were low. a. Most industrial workers earned between $400-$500 a year ($600 was the minimum annual income needed to maintain a decent standard of living.) 4. Children were often employed to move between these dangerous machines, as they were small enough to fit between tightly packed machinery. a. Some as young as six b. Injuries and deaths were common

7. C. Labor Unions 1. In retaliation of working conditions and for protection and reform, some workers joined labor unions. 2. Unions used strikes to improve conditions that they felt were demeaning to the working class. These strikes were often peaceful, but sometimes they turned violent -Ex. The Railroad Strike of 1877

8. D. Labor Unrest 1.Labor Unions had difficulties organizing because: a. Workers moved from job to job b. Influx of immigrants with differences in language, religion, and customs were hard to unite. c. Labor leaders had different goals

9. d. Lack of employer support i. Some used blacklists- records of troublemakers- and would fire workers involved in union activity ii. Lockouts- employers would shut down the factories, fire the workers, and replace them with scabs- replacement workers. iii. Yellow-dog contracts- workers were forced to agree not to take part in any labor action (i.e. strike)

10. e. Two major unions of the time: i. Knights of Labor (formed in 1869) ii. American Federation of Labor (1886)

11. 2. Railroad Strike of 1877 a. Ignited by a 10% wage reduction on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in July b. The strike spread to New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, and San Francisco. c. Pittsburgh: Rioters torched Union Depot and Pennsylvania Railroad roundhouse

12. d. State militia were ineffective; President Hayes dispatched federal troops to stop the strike – first time federal troops have ever been used in a labor dispute! e. By that point, 100 people had died, and two-thirds of the railroads were idle.

13. Railroad Strike of 1877

14. f. The intervention of the federal government sank the strikers' spirits and bolstered those of management. g. The strike of 1877 was the most violent labor-management confrontation to that point in American history. It was the starting signal for an era of strife between workers and owners.

15. “Drill Ye Tarriers Drill” - 1888 Written in a humorous way, the song is critical of the harsh treatment of railway workers. It expresses workers’ resentment of the foreman’s arrogance, questionable pay deductions, abusive treatment, and racial intolerance. ******************************* ******************************* Every morning at seven o’clock There were twenty tarriers workin’ at the rock; The boss comes along and says,“Don’t keep still Come down heavy on the cast iron drill.” Then drill, ye tarriers drill! Drill, ye tarriers drill. For we work all day for sugar in our tay Down behind the railway. So it’s drill ye tarriers drill.

16. The new foreman was Gene McGann, B’gosh he was a flaming man; One day a premature blast went off, And a mile in the sky went big Jim Gough. When the next payday came around, Jim Gough a dollar short was found When he asked “What for?” came this reply: "You're docked for the time you spent in the sky” Drill ye tarriers drill! (Chorus)