1. The Growth
of the
American
Labor Movement

2. American working class and growth of industrial capitalism
Beneficiary - rise in standard of living for many
victim
- tough and dangerous working conditions
- diminishing control over their own work
- growing sense of powerlessness

3. Labor Force Distribution 1870-1900

4. Immigrant work force
Demand for factory labor grew – especially unskilled labor
Massive migrations resulted
- from rural towns and farms to cities
-immigration from Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia

5. 1865-1915 – 25 million, 4 times more than before
1st – England, Ireland, Northern Europe
2nd – Southern and Eastern Europe
3rd – Mexico, Asia in the West

6. Reasons for immigrating
Escape poverty and oppression
New opportunities
Railroads distributed leading advertisements overseas
Foreign born labor brokers, padrones, recruited work gangs of their fellow nationals

7. Labor Contract Law Allowed industrial employers to
-actively recruit immigrant workers
-paid them for their passage
-took it out of their wages later
ethnic tension

8. Wages and working conditions
Average income = $400 per year
$600 considered minimum for reasonable level of comfort
Boom and bust cycles
Adjustments from rural to city life
Assembly line work routine, repetitive, and monotonous

9. 10 hour work days
Six days a week
Industrial accidents
No workman compensation

10. Working Conditions

13. Child Labor

14. Child Labor

16. Less skilled needed
Could be paid lower wages
17% of women working 1900
Worked in all areas of industry
$6.00 per week
1.7 million children under 16 employed
Cold water thrown in face to keep awake; many accidents

17. “Galley Labor”

18. Labor Unrest:

19. Union Organization

20. Created large combinations – unions
Craft unions – small shops in past; not successful
National Labor Union – 1st labor union
-640,000 members – only men

22. Irish fraternal society
The Molly Maguires (1875)
Irish fraternal society
James McParland
Radical group in coal industry; used violence and murder

23. An injury to one is the concern of all!
Knights of Labor
Terence V. Powderly
An injury to one is the concern of all!

24. Knights of Labor
Included anyone who worked – all levels; barred “non-producers”
Included women and blacks
Loosely organized
Went from secret organization to open one with almost 1 million members
Success in Missouri Pacific strike
Failed in Texas and Pacific system – weakened their organization

25. Goals of the Knights of Labor
Eight-hour workday.
Workers’ cooperatives.
Worker-owned factories.
Abolition of child and prison labor.
Increased circulation of greenbacks.
Equal pay for men and women.
Safety codes in the workplace.
Prohibition of contract foreign labor.
Abolition of the National Bank.

26. Lasting achievements of Knights
Foran Act, no contract labor bringing in foreigners
Created Bureau of Labor Statistics
1880 – arbitration law required for labor disputes
Spread idea of unionism
Creation of industrial unions for both skilled and unskilled workers

27. Mary Harris, “Mother Jones”
“Miners’ Angel”
Speaker, labor organizer
“greatest woman agitator”
United Miners Union
Children’s march on Washington D.C.

28. American Federation of Labor
Most enduring in country
Skilled workers
A union of smaller craft unions
No women

29. The American Federation of Labor: 1886
Samuel Gompers

30. Relationship between labor and management
Closed shops
Better wages
8 hour workday
working conditions
Collective bargaining
Strikes
Slow downs
Provided mediations
Bread and butter goals

31. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

32. Railroads cut wages
Strikers disrupted rail service, destroyed equipment, riots
President Hayes ordered military to suppress (problem for delivering U.S. mail) – 1st major national labor conflict
Failed and weakened railroad unions and damaged reputation of labor unions

33. McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.
Haymarket Riot (1886)
McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.

38. Big Corporate Profits!

39. A “Company Town”:
Pullman, IL

40. Pullman Cars
A Pullman porter

44. President Grover Cleveland
If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered!

45. The Socialists
Eugene V. Debs

46. International Workers of the World (“Wobblies”)

47. “Big Bill” Haywood of the IWW
Violence was justified to overthrow capitalism.

48. I W W & the Internationale

49. Labor Union Membership

51. Reasons for labor weaknesses
Represented only small % of work force
Excluded unskilled workers and women
Tensions between ethnic and racial groups
Shifting nature of workforce
Brute force of owners
Espionage and sabotage of working communities and organizations

52. EOC Review
Why were labor strikes in the late 19th century not as effective in industries that depended largely on unskilled workers?
A. Most unskilled workers were paid high
wages.
B. Unskilled workers could be replaced more
easily than skilled workers.
C. Unskilled workers were not allowed to
join unions.
D. Many unskilled workers were deported for
supporting unions.

53. The Rise & Decline of Organized Labor

54. Partner PowerPoint Presentation
Choose a major labor event: Great Railroad Strike; Haymarket Square Riot; Homestead Strike; Pullman Strike
Take a point of view of laborer, business owner, or government official.
State your viewpoint.

55. Research a labor event.
Report 7 Ws of the event: The Great Railroad Strike; The Homestead Strike; The Pullman Strike
When was this event?
Where did this happen?
Who were the main people involved?
Why -what were the events leading up to this?
What documents and quotes did you find – summarize and analyze.
What happened?

56. What Next? What would someone with your point of view want to do next?
How would you prove that with the documents, quotes or pictures you have seen?
Who would you try to convince to take action? (Audience)
What would you want that person to do?
Cite your sources.