1. III. Labor Organization
Chapter 6, Section 3
III. Labor Organization

2. A. Working Class a. IMMIGRANTS: By 1900, one-third of
Because of the 2nd Industrial Revolution, demand for labor soared.
a. IMMIGRANTS: By 1900, one-third of
industrial workers were foreign born
b. AFRICAN AMERICANS: Some
northern industries offered jobs to
African Americans, but most southern
industries barred them from holding
factory jobs

3. c. WOMEN: There were 4 million women working by 1890
c. WOMEN: There were 4 million women working by Most women worked because their families needed the income.
d. CHILDREN: By 1890, some 1.5 million children worked (ages 10 to 15).

4. e. While captains of industry like Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Rockefeller prospered because of the cheap labor available, workers faced poor conditions and no protection.
Home of Andrew Carnegie, built in 1903 in NYC
Tenement home for family of 7, NYC in 1908

5. B. Labor Conditions
1. People worked 10- to 14-hour days, 7 days a week.
2. Working conditions were dangerous and abusive.
a. Miners breathed coal dust all day.
b. Factory workers breathed sawdust, stone dust, cotton dust, or toxic fumes.
c. Heavy machinery caused high injury rates.

6. 3. Wages were low.
a. Most industrial workers earned between $400-$500 a year ($600 was the minimum annual income needed to maintain a decent standard of living.)
4. Children were often employed to move between these dangerous machines, as they were small enough to fit between tightly packed machinery.
a. Some as young as six!
b. Injuries and deaths were common

8. C. Labor Unions
In retaliation of working conditions and for protection and reform, some workers joined labor unions.
Labor Union: An organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions
3. Unions used strikes to improve conditions that they felt were demeaning to the working class. These strikes were often peaceful, but sometimes they turned violent
-Ex. The Railroad Strike of 1877

9. a. Knights of Labor (formed in 1869)
4. Two major unions of the time:
a. Knights of Labor (formed in 1869)
b. American Federation of Labor (1886)

10. 5. Knights of Labor Founded in 1869
Uriah Stephens- Philadelphia tailor and first elected officer
c. Terence Powderly elected as the Grand
Master Workman in
membership peaked in 1886
under his leadership

11. d. Membership in K.o.L. i. All-inclusive membership
Grouped workers by industry – regardless of trade (accepted skilled & unskilled workers)
Allowed employers
Bankers, lawyers, gamblers, stockholders, and liquor manufacturers were excluded because they were considered unproductive members of society
ii. Accepting of (most) Minorities!
Allowed women
Allowed African-Americans (except Southern branches of the Knights of Labor)
VERY discriminatory against Chinese-Americans!!!

12. e. The Knights of Labor used boycotts and peaceful negotiations
e. The Knights of Labor used boycotts and peaceful negotiations. They opposed the use of strikes! f. They opposed:
Excessive hours
Child and prison labor
Unequal pay for men and women
Dangerous working conditions
Contract foreign labor

13. 6. American Federation of Labor
Founded in 1881/ (reorganized in ‘86)
Samuel Gompers – served as president
until his death in 1924
i. Membership included skilled labor
ii. Union excluded women, African Americans, and other racial minorities (this will change years later)

14. c. Organized workers into craft unions, unifying workers in an industry by their particular craft and by skill level. d. Merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955, creating the AFL-CIO, which is the largest federation of unions in the U.S. today!
Samuel Gompers

15. e. How did the AFL help workers?
Catered to the skilled worker.
Represented workers in matters of national legislation.
Maintained a national strike fund.
Evangelized the cause of unionism.
Prevented disputes among the many craft unions.
Mediated disputes between management and labor.
Pushed for closed shops.

16. Labor Union Membership

17. E. Labor Unrest a. Workers moved from job to job
1. Labor unions were the only organizations which
protested the working conditions during the
Industrial Revolution
Labor Unions had difficulties organizing
because:
a. Workers moved from job to job
b. Influx of immigrants with differences in language, religion, and customs were hard to unite.
c. Labor leaders had different goals

18. d. Lack of employer support
i. Some used blacklists- records of troublemakers- and would fire workers involved in union activity
ii. Lockouts- employers would shut down the factories, fire the workers, and replace them with scabs- replacement workers.
iii. Yellow-dog contracts- workers were forced to agree not to take part in any labor action (i.e. strike)

19. Management vs. Labor “Tools” of Management “Tools” of Labor “scabs”
Pinkertons
lockout
blacklisting
yellow-dog contracts
open shop
boycotts
sympathy demonstrations
informational picketing
closed shops
organized strikes
“wildcat” strikes

20. 2. Railroad Strike of 1877
a. Ignited by a 10% wage reduction on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in July
b. The strike spread to New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, and San Francisco.
c. Pittsburgh: Rioters torched Union Depot and Pennsylvania Railroad roundhouse

21. d. State militia were ineffective; President Hayes dispatched federal troops to stop the strike – first time federal troops have ever been used in a labor dispute!
e. By that point, 100 people had died, and two-thirds of the railroads were idle.

22. Railroad Strike of 1877

23. f. The intervention of the federal government sank the strikers' spirits and bolstered those of management.
g. The strike of 1877 was the most violent labor-management confrontation to that point in American history. It was the starting signal for an era of strife between workers and owners.

24. Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill (1888)
Every morning at seven o'clock There were twenty tarriers a workin' at the rock The boss comes along and he says, "Keep still And bear down heavy on the cast iron drill." Chorus: And drill, ye tarriers, drill Drill, ye tarriers, drill For it's work all day for the sugar in your tay (tea) Down beyond the railway And drill, ye tarriers, drill And blast and fire! The foreman's name was John McCann By gosh, he was a blamed mean man Last week a premature blast went off And a mile in the air went big Jim Goff. And drill, ye tarriers, drill... And when next payday it came around Jim Goff a dollar short was found When he asked, "What for?" came this reply "You were docked for the time you were up in the sky!" And drill, ye tarriers, drill...