2. Labor’s Response to Industrialism

3. Working Class
Society begins to divide into two unequal groups based on wealth and power
Working class includes : Men, Women and Children
Treated like parts of the “machinery”
6 days/10 hours a day or More
Earned $1 a day

6. Division of Labor~ Factory system relied on this
Production divided into separate tasks, with one task assigned to each worker.
Efficiency
Hazardous Conditions: Deaths, toxic gas and dust
Sweat Shops- constant threat of diseases-such as tuberculosis
Lose job if protested

10. Child Labor Families couldn’t survive
Children earned less then Adults- expected to do the same amount
Some states enforced age laws usually 14 yrs-companies ignored
6 year olds-worked in cotton mills, 8 year olds-worked in coal mines

12. Unsanitary Living Conditions
Slums-Heavily populated parts of a city marked by filth and squalor
Tenements- run down apartment buildings of four to six stories, usually 4 families on each floor

15. Labor Living conditions and work conditions were horrible
Worst part as economy slumped so do workers pay
Workers could not bargain with employers or seek help from the government

16. Workers Unite
Labor Unions- group of workers organized to protect the interests of its members
3 Goals= High wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions
Power~ threats of strikes
Strike- labor action in which workers simply refuse to go to work. ~easily shut down factories, railroads, or mines.

17. Difficult Start for National Labor Organizations
Smaller unions join together to create large “national labor federation”- union in which they sought 8 hour work day, poor leadership led to collapse in 1872
“Yellow-dog contracts”- written pledges not to join a union ~ not hired unless you sign
Black Lists- Union members and organizers are refused to be hired.

18. Common Goals, Different Strategies
Knights of Labor- 8 hr work/day, equal pay, education for working class, Abolish child labor
American Federation of Labor- increase wages, improved working conditions, limit work hrs, recognition of AFL
Industrial Workers of the World- one single union, overthrow capitalism
Page 181 Chart

19. Socialism- Political theory that advocates ownership of the means of production such as factories and farms, by the people rather than by capitalists and landowners.
Collective Bargaining- Negotiations between employers and employee representatives by concerning wages, working conditions, and other terms of employment.

20. Railroad Strike of 1877 Government - Laissez-Faire (hands-off)
Workers starved, children died, rage boils
Railroads slash wages
1877 workers in WV strike – Nation wide
Half the nations railways shut down
Rutherford B Hayes- Calls Army-used federal troops to restore order and get trains rolling again (1st time)

21. Destruction of Union Depot

22. Haymarket Affair May 4, 1886- Haymarket square in Chicago
Began as a rally for support of workers

23. Homestead strike June 30, 1892- Homestead, PA
Carnegie steel and Association of Iron and Steel workers (AA)

25. Pullman Strike
May 11, Pullman Palace Car Company, walk out.

26. Government Favors Owners over workers
Heroes of the Labor Movement
Rose Schneiderman
Samuel Gompers
Mary Harris “mother” Jones
Eugene V. Debs

27. Rose Schneiderman
devoted most of her time to the Women's Trade Union League, which she later called "the most important influence on my life." Within a year, she was elected vice-president of the New York chapter, and thanks to a stipend provided by a member, she was able to work full-time organizing for the WTUL.
After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, she helped established the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and led its 1913 strike. Determined to outlaw sweatshop labor, she told New Yorkers, "I would be a traitor to those poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship Every year thousands of us are maimed. The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred."
Fought for fire-Safety laws and other union backed reforms

28. Samuel Gompers Started as a cigar maker and local union leader in NYC
American Federation of Labor – president for 40 years
Favored cooperation over strikes and resisted efforts to introduce socialist ideas into the AFL

30. Mary Harris “mother” Jones
Helped coal miners, textile workers, and other form unions
“Hell-Raiser”

32. Eugene V. Debs Locomotive fireman
Helped found the American Railway Union and the Industrial Workers of the World
Ran for president as member of Socialist Party of America (5X), last time while in prison