1. Labor Conditions and Impending Labor Union Strikes
Essential Question:
After reading through the Shop girl stories, formulate a description of working conditions these women faced, then determine what it is they are trying to convey in their writings.

2. Unsafe Working Conditions
Steel Mills required 7 day workweeks
Seamstresses worked 12 or more hours/day, 6 days a week
No one entitled to vacation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, or reimbursement for injuries suffered on the job
In 1882 and average of 675 laborers were killed in work-related accidents each week!
Wages were so low that everyone in the house had to work to make enough money to eat
Between 1890 and 1910 the number of women working for wages doubled from 4-8 million
20% of the boys and 10% of girls under age 15 held full-time jobs

3. Read the accounts written by sweat shop workers

4. How much were they paid?! In 1889 – Guesses?
As low as 27 cents for a child’s 14 hour day
Women earned an average of $267 a year
Men earned an average of $498 a year – twice as much as women
Andrew Carnegie made $23 million – with no income tax
What do you think the workers could do to improve their situation?

5. Early Labor Organizing
In 1866 the first large-scale labor union was formed, the National Labor Union (NLU)
Membership grew to 640,000
In 1868 they persuaded Congress to legalize an 8 hour day for government workers
The Colored National Labor Union was created out of the refusal to admit blacks into the NLU

6. In 1869, Uriah Stephens founded the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor
They focused on individual needs whereas the previous unions focused on workers as a whole
Motto – An injury to one is the concern of all

7. Two Major Types of Unions
Craft Unionism –
Included skilled workers from one or more trades
Samuel Gompers lead the Cigar Makers’ International Union to join with other craft unions in 1886
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) with Gompers as their leader used strikes as a major tactic winning them higher wages and shorter workweeks
From
Wages rose from $17.50 to $24
Average workweek fell from 54.5 hrs to just under 49 hrs

9. 2. Industrial Unionism
Included all laborers of a specific industry, skilled and un-skilled
Eugene V. Debs formed the American Railway Union (ARU)
In 1894 they won a strike for higher wages
Their membership because of this climbed to 150,000

11. Strikes Turn Violent
The Great Strike of 1877 was the country's first major rail strike
Spawned violence that briefly paralyzed the country's commerce and led governors in ten states to mobilize 60,000 militia members to reopen rail traffic.
The strike would be broken within a few weeks, but it helped set the stage for later violence in the 1880s and 1890s, including the Haymarket Square bombing in Chicago in 1886, the Homestead Steel Strike near Pittsburgh in 1892, and the Pullman Strike in 1894.

13. The Haymarket Affair May 4, 1886
3,000 people gather together at Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest police brutality
Once police arrive, someone (unknown still today) tossed a bomb into the police line
Police opened fire
Seven officers and several workers died
3 speakers and 5 other radicals were charged with inciting a riot
All 8 were convicted – 4 were hanged, 1 committed suicide in jail

16. The Homestead Strike
In June 1892 Carnegie Steel Plant president, Henry Frick announced he was going to cut wages of workers
On the 29th the workers went on strike
Frick calls in the Pinkerton Detective Agency to keep the strike under control, and he replaced striking workers – infuriating strikers
Unclear as to how, but a battle ensued
3 detectives and 9 workers died
The National Guard had to be called in to stop the fighting

18. The Pullman Company Strike
In 1893, Pullman laid off more than 3,000 to 5,800 employees
Also reduce the wages of the remaining staff by 25-50% - but DID NOT cut cost of employee housing
In 1894, Eugene Debs asked for change, but was refused by Pullman
The ARU began boycotting Pullman trains
Pullman calls in strikebrakers and thing turned violent
The President Grover Cleveland had to call in federal troops
Debs was jailed and Pullman fired most of his workers and blacklisted the rest

20. Women Organize
Although they were barred from unions, women organized behind powerful leaders
Demanded better working conditions
Equal pay for equal work
End to child labor
Most prominent was Mary Harris Jones
Supported the “Great Strike”
Endured death threats and was jailed for supporting minor workers strikes – was given the nickname “Mother Jones”

22. 30 Million Children March
In 1903, to expose child labor cruelties, she lead 80 million children on a march to the home President Theodore Roosevelt
These children had hideous injuries from labor accidents
This powerful march influenced the passing of child labor laws

24. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
It is no surprise that the government and business owners had to reassess the safety of their factories to prevent something like this from happening again.

25. Labor Conditions and Impending Labor Union Strikes
Essential Question:
After reading through the Shop girl stories, formulate a description of working conditions these women faced, then determine what it is they are trying to convey in their writings.