1. The Rich And the
Working Poor

3. Working Conditions Lung damaging dust filled the air
Gas explosions were frequent
Fires were a common danger
Low pay
Child labor
13-14 hour work days with no “breaks”
6 day work week
Serious injuries common
No fresh air, windows & doors locked.
Gas lamps provided light.
No laws existed to protect factory workers.
Machines were dangerous.
Injuries common.
Many workers didn’t speak English & couldn’t read operating instructions.

4. Child Labor
By million minors under age 15 worked in dangerous factories throughout the country.
Young miners in Pennsylvania made 38 cents a day.
Worked underground up to 13 hours a day.
Sweatshop - Mostly young women working on sewing machines in filthy & overcrowded factories.

5. Wages & Labor Average work week = 60 hours
Typical work day = hours
Average wage for unskilled labor = 10¢/hr
Women paid less and children least
No compensation for injuries
Injured/sick and unable to work could mean losing a job.

6. Knights of Labor
In 1869, workers formed a union called the Knights of Labor.
Held secret meetings because employers fired workers that met and joined unions.
In 1879, the union let women, blacks, immigrants, and unskilled workers join.
The goals of the Knights of Labor
shorter workday
end to child labor
equal pay for women and men.

7. American Federation of Labor
The Knights of Labor failed in trying to help workers.
In 1886, Samuel Gompers formed The American Federation of Labor.
Workers did not join the AFL directly. You first had to have your own union, then you could join the AFL.
Used collective bargaining to achieve its goals. Collective bargaining is when unions would negotiate with the management for workers as a group.

8. The B&O Railroad Strike -1877
In 1877, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cut worker pay by 10%.
Workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia refused to run the trains.
Although this strike was not started by a union, many other cities and other industries joined in.
President Rutherford B. Hayes sent federal troops to stop the violence at these strikes.
During this two week periods, dozens of workers were killed.
This led to other organized strikes which encouraged thousands of workers to join the union.

9. Haymarket Riot
A demonstration, in protest of the killing of a striker by the Chicago police.
Nearly 200 policemen arrived to disperse the workers.
unidentified individual threw a bomb at them.
After the explosion and subsequent police gunfire, more than a dozen people lay dead or dying, & almost 100 were injured.
Eight men were convicted
Seven received the death sentence
One was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

10. Homestead Steel Strike
lockout/strike at the Carnegie Steel plant in Homestead PA.
Dispute between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (the AA) and the Carnegie Steel Company.
Began on June 30, 1892,
Ended in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6.
Battle was one of the most serious disputes in U.S. labor history.
Major defeat for the union & a setback for efforts to unionize steelworkers.

11. Pullman Strike – 1894
Workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts & the firing of union representatives.
They sought support from the American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene V. Debs.
The ARU called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. 50,000 rail workers complied & railroad traffic out of Chicago came to a halt.
Railroad owners asked the federal government to intervene.
President Cleveland sent troops to Chicago. Rioting & bloodshed ensued.
The government's actions broke the strike & the boycott soon collapsed.

12. Triangle Fire
March 25, A match or cigarette ignited a fire on the eighth floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City.
Many of the exit doors were locked to prevent employee theft.
146 people died in the blaze.
Died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths.
Most victims were recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women aged sixteen to twenty-three.