1. A Brief History of Labor Unions in the United States

2. TERM(S): Factors of production
Land (you must have space in order to produce anything)
Labor (workers, people. . .and now, in many cases, machines)
Capital (without money, you would not be able to purchase supplies or pay your workers)
Can you produce anything without each of the three factors of production?

3. Working Conditions: 1850s Average work day – 16 hours
Average pay – $6 per week
Had to purchase their own tools
Fined for being late (half day’s pay)
Protesting = immediate dismissal (fired)

4. TERM(S): Labor Union Strike Scab
an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals.
Strike
a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to perform work.
Scab
Derogatory term for a strikebreaker, a person who works despite strike action or against the will of other employees

5. TERM(S)
Socialist – someone who desires common ownership and cooperative management amongst workers.
Anarchist – someone who considers government to be undesirable and unnecessary.
Radical – someone who desires a massive change in society.

6. People’s History of the United States reading

7. Haymarket Square protest
Why did the workers protest?
working conditions
low wages
long hours
violence against union members (workers protesting for an 8-hour workday at the McCormick Harvesting Co. were killed by police the previous day)
The major goal of the protestors was to earn the right to an 8-hour work day.

8. Haymarket (Affair, Riot, or Massacre – call it what you will)
Occurred in 1886 in Chicago’s Haymarket Square
Police, after hours of peaceful protest and speeches by leading union members, began to march towards the protestors.
An unknown individual threw a bomb into a crowd of police officers
The bomb killed 8 police officers and 4 civilians
It is estimated that over 100 protestors were killed by the police when they opened fire on the crowd.
8 anarchists were arrested and tried for murder
4 were convicted and executed, a 5th committed suicide in prison

9. Haymarket: Effect on Labor Unions
What were the effects of Haymarket?
continued distrust
creation of more radical leaders
more national attention (both in support of and in opposition to labor unions)
unified workers across the country
The universal 8-hour work day was not fully realized until 1937, but Haymarket was the beginning. Immediately following Haymarket, many employers began setting an 8-hour day as company policy.

10. TERM(S): Haymarket Affair
discuss in your group and come up with a 2-3 sentence summary.

11. Ludlow Massacre Where: Colorado 1913-1914
Who: Miners (United Mine Workers of America), Rockefeller family Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, National Guard.
Why Strike?
Living and Working conditions
What Happened?

12. TERM(S): Ludlow Massacre
discuss in your group and come up with a 2-3 sentence summary.

13. Twenty Years at Hull House reading (pg. 299)

14. Twenty Years at Hull House
What was “Hull House”?
Community Center in urban neighborhood founded by Jane Addams.
Residence, Research and Reform
What recourse did parents have if their child was injured in the workplace?
What was Jane Addams working towards?
Improve the lives of those that lived in slums through legislation and education.

15. American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Original goals:
Prohibition of child labor
National eight hour work day
Exclusion of foreign contracts
Attempted to achieve these by legislation
Accepted “trade unions” and opposed “industrial union” WHAT?
“Hard work conquers all!”

16. AFL Leader: Samuel Gompers

17. TERM(S): American Federation of Labor (AFL)
discuss in your group and come up with a 2-3 sentence summary.

18. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies)
International union founded in 1905 in Chicago by socialists, anarchists and radicals
Opposed the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
The IWW believed that the AFL had failed – only 5% of workers in the U.S. were unionized
Unionized skilled and unskilled workers, unlike the AFL

19. IWW Leader: Eugene V. Debs

20. IWW Leader: William “Big Bill” Haywood

21. IWW (Continued) IWW Goals
Worker solidarity – “an injury to one is an injury to all”
Workplace democracy / self-management
Eventual overthrow of the employing class with the factors of production being owned by the workers

22. TERM(S): Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies)
discuss in your group and come up with a 2-3 sentence summary.