1. Labor Unions How can we help the workers?

2. Today’s Objectives  Identify ways in which the working conditions were poor in the factories  Identify and explain what a labor union is  Explain how labor unions addressed the needs and concerns of the workers

3. What were the working conditions like?  Spider Map Activity

4. What is a labor union?  Labor Union- A group of workers that tries to help its members  They decided that the best way to improve the conditions was to work together  They worked together to improve the poor working conditions  They sought higher pay and better working conditions

5. Two Major Unions  Knights of Labor (KOL)  Founded in 1869  Made up of skilled and unskilled workers  They fought for rights of all workers  American Federation of Labor (AFL)  Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers  Skilled workers ex: Carpenters, cigar makers

6. Do labor unions and workers always agree?  Not always  When there are disagreements, union members may strike  Strike: to stop working until demands are met  Workers did not get paid during a strike  Company owners would not make money  At times, it turned violent

7. The Haymarket Square Riot  1886 union workers met in Chicago to protest a company that made farm machines  Members were striking to support an 8 hour day  Strikers attacked workers leaving the factory  Two people were killed  The next day, workers met to protest the police action  Violence broke out and more than 60 people were hurt  Seven people died

8. The Homestead Strike  1892, a manager at a Carnegie steel mill demanded union members accept lower wages  Workers went on strike  Company brought in private guards to fight the strikers  Strikers fired on the guards  People on both sides were killed

9. The Pullman Strike  1894, George Pullman owned a railroad company  He cut his workers’ pay, but did not lower the rents and high prices in the town he set up for his workers  Workers became angry and went on strike  Other railroad workers joined them on strike, railroads stopped working  Railroads asked for help, the President sent the troops in  Violence happened, people were hurt and killed. Railroad cars were burned

10. Did this violence help or hurt the unions?  It did not help the unions  Many workers felt it was dangerous to be a union member  By 1900, the unions lost much of their power