1. Today working conditions Mini assessment Tomorrow Labor Unions
Agenda
Today
working conditions
Mini assessment
Tomorrow Labor Unions
Major leaders
Major strikes

2. State Standards
US.14 Describe working conditions in industries, including the use of labor by women and children.
US.15 Analyze the rise of the labor movement, including its leaders, major tactics, and the response of management and the government:
· Samuel Gompers
· Eugene Debs
· Haymarket Affair
· Pullman Strike
· Coal Creek Labor Saga
· Collective bargaining
· Blacklisting
· Open vs. closed shops

3. Essential Question

4. Working Conditions of the Industrial Revolution
While the video plays, write 8 different working conditions

5. The Pictures of Lewis Hine
Faces of Lost Youth
The Pictures of Lewis Hine

6. The majority of immigrants worked in industrial jobs
Industries were rapidly growing and in need of cheap workers
Most immigrants were unskilled and were willing to accept almost any kind of job, no matter how un-attractive or low paying

14. The Rise of Labor Unions
Working conditions:
Dangerous
Heavy machinery
Dangerous conditions in mines, construction etc.
Hot and unsanitary
Poor Treatment
Long hours, low wages, no job security, no worker benefits (example: healthcare, paid holidays, paid maternity leave).
Child labor, immigrant labor, and employment of women = lower wages

15. Who does the man being crushed represent?

16. If you were one of these workers, list your top three demands.
EQ Work
Of the 8 working conditions you listed, which needed to be addressed first?
If you were one of these workers, list your top three demands.
How would you set about to achieve said demands?

17. The Rise of Labor Unions
Labor Union: An organized group of workers formed to protect and further the rights of the said group of people.

18. Struggles and Conflict
– 24,000 strikes in the US 18

19. In response to the low wages, long hours, and dangerous working conditions, many workers joined labor unions to collectively bargain for improvements

20. The Rise of Labor Unions
Methods used by labor unions
Strike - refusal to work as a form of protest
Collective Bargaining (21) – negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organization of employees
“Open” vs. Closed Shops (22) – Companies who do NOT require their employees to join a Labor Union vs. companies who REQUIRE their employees to join them.
Blacklisting (23) – a list of people viewed with suspicion or disapproval

21. Among the first labor unions in America was the Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was open to all workers regardless of race, gender, or skill

22. The most successful union was the American Federation of Labor (AFL) led by Samuel Gompers
The AFL only included skilled workers, but it used collective bargaining to gain better pay, shorter hours, and better working conditions for its union members
Most workers of the time period were unskilled and therefore ineligible to join the AFL

23. The American Federation of Labor 1881
Founder: Samuel Gompers (3) was an early labor leader. led the labor movement in achieving solid gains for workers.
What they wanted: 8 hour work day, improved working conditions, higher wages
Who could joined: different skilled craft workers
Methods used: Strikes and Boycotts
Successes:
won the closed shop (where factories could only hire union workers)
Cigar makers, blacksmiths, shoe makers etc.

24. American Railway Union
Founder Eugene V. Debs (4): Labor Organizer and socialist leader of the U.S.
What they wanted: 8 hour work day, improved working conditions, higher wages
Who could join: skilled and unskilled workers
Won a major striker for better wages for its members

25. By the end of the Gilded Age, only 4% of all American workers were unionized

26. During some strikes, violence broke out
One of the tactics used by unions was to strike: Strikes were designed to stop production in order to force management to accept union demands
Business leaders resisted strikes by hiring replacement workers or private police to break up strikes
During some strikes, violence broke out

27. During the Chicago Haymarket Strike (1886), unionists demanded an 8-hr day; When violence broke out, public opinion turned against unions, viewing them as violent and “un-American”

28. Haymarket Square Riot (25)
1886, a labor protest rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned into a riot
Knights of Labor led a strike for 8 hour work day
A bomb was thrown during the protest meeting held by striker and the police were called in.
Impact:
Knights of Labor are identified as anarchists and associated with violence
American public turned against them, and against labor unions in general

29. Violence erupted in the Homestead Strike (1892) at Carnegie’s steel plant; Federal troops were called to re-open the factory with replacement workers

30. Railroad workers led a national strike when the Pullman Palace Company cut wages by 50%...
…President Cleveland sent the army to end the strike; Strikers in 27 states resisted & dozens died

31. Pullman Strike (26) 1894
A nation wide railroad strike that shut down most rail traffic west of Detriot, MI.
Pullman Palace (Rail) Car Company had cut wages
Strikers received help from Eugene V. Debs and American Railway Union
President Cleveland sent troops and Supreme Court obtained a court injunction to stop the strike.
Why? Court said the federal government may intercede when interstate commerce is affected.

32. 1893 Coal Creek Labor Saga (27) – **TN**
TN Coal miners went on strike, fought with state militia, and freed convicts in order to secure their jobs.
Post Civil War, Industrialist discovered there was an abundance of iron ore in the Mt. of East TN.
TN was in a lot of debt. To help pay back its debt they (TN) would rent out their convicts to the coal companies. Convicts were cheaper labor than citizens.
The coal miners