1. Labor Movement

2. Essential Question
What were the strategies used by organized labor and why were some strikes successful when others failed?

3. Major Causes of Strikes
#1---Cuts in worker wages.
Unsafe working conditions:
No compensation for injury or death.
Company towns.
Management cheating:
Piece work
Mining scales

4. Knights of Labor founded in 1878 by Terrence V. Powderly
membership open to all workers
skilled & unskilled
men & women
all races, religions, & ethnic groups

5. Goals of Knights 8 hour day end to child labor end to convict labor
equal pay for women & minorities
safety codes for workplace
nationalization of RR & telegraph

6. Haymarket Square, 1886 May Day demonstration for 8 hour day
Strike at McCormick reaper factory, Chicago
May 4th rally in Haymarket Square
3000 attend

7. Bomb thrown--7 policemen dead
Police fire on crowd—12 dead
Newspapers blame unions
8 anarchist arrested & charge with instigation
4 hanged, 1 suicide, 3 jailed then aquitted
Destroyed Knights of Labor

8. United Mine Workers founded by John L Lewis Goals: 8 hour day
end child labor in mines
safety codes for mines
health care for workers with “Black Lung”

9. IWW: Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies)
founded in 1905
lead by Big Bill Haywood
also Joe Hill & Mary Harris “Mother” Jones
revolutionaries
Lawrence Textile Mill Strike
“Bread & Roses”

10. AFL: American Federation of Labor
founded 1881
by Samuel Gompers
full-time union officials to...
organize, negotiate, control strikes
skilled workers only
no women or minorities