Labor unions in the gilded age
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Transcript of Labor unions in the gilded age
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LABOR UNIONS IN THE GILDED AGE
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What’s a union?Why unions?The rise of unions
Major unions Major events Women in the labor movement
OVERVIEW
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WHAT’S A UNION?
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Groups of workers in the same industry
Elect leaders to negotiate with employers
Engage in collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions
Sometimes launch strikes to enhance bargaining power
WHAT’S A UNION?
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Strike: when a group of workers refuses to work in the hopes of getting better pay, benefits, or working conditions
STRIKES
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WHY UNIONS?:WORKING
CONDITIONS IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA
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More people start working for wages
Work becomes much more unpleasant for many
Low-wage, low-skill jobs makes workers easier to replace less bargaining power
INDUSTRIALIZATION
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Long hours Low payMost family members had to workExtremely difficult manual labor, often with no
restDangerous work
1880-1900: 35,000 deaths/year in factory/mine accidents
500,000 - 1 million more injuriesPanic of 1873 leads employers to lay off
workers and cut wages
WORKING CONDITIONS
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Strikebreakers (“scabs”): workers hired by companies to replace striking workers Immigrants African Americans
Intimidation/firingSabotage/infiltrationPinkerton guards
Pinkerton National Detective Agency: founded 1850 in Chicago
Private security and law enforcement firm Frequently hired by factory owners to intimidate union
activists and protect strikebreakers Reputation for violence
RETALIATION
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Many small, local, trade-specific unions and guilds July 1877: railroad unions organize strikes to protest
wage cutsViolent confrontations between strikers and police
huge impact on rail travel and shippingWorst violence in Pittsburgh
July 21: State troops fire on demonstrators, killing 10 Mob sets railway property on fire, burning 2,000 train cars Troops shoot their way out, killing 20 more Rutherford Hayes sends federal soldiers
Strikes collapse thanks to imbalance of force, weak economy (more strikebreakers), and lack of central leadership
Spurs workers to organize across trades
THE RAILROAD STRIKES OF 1877
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UNION MEMBERSHIP, 1900-2000
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THE RISE OF UNIONS
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Founded 1869Terence V. PowderlyIncluded skilled +
unskilled, women, immigrants, black workers
Ultimate goal: workers’ cooperatives
Generally opposed to strikes, but engaged in some militant action
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR
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May 1, 1886: general strike for an 8-hour day led by all unions in Chicago
3 days of peaceful demonstrations; police shoot and kill two union members while breaking up a fight on May 3
May 4: rally to protest police violence in Haymarket Square Police approach to break up the orderly rally Someone in the crowd throws a bomb 7 killed, 67 injured
Mass arrests of anarchists and union activistsResult: public becomes suspicious of labor
unions; destroys the Knights of Labor
THE HAYMARKET AFFAIR
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Founded 1886Samuel GompersGenerally moderateConcrete goals:
wages, hours, collective bargaining
Generally excluded unskilled workers, immigrants, women, and African Americans
THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
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June 1892: Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steelworkers (AA) negotiating with Carnegie steel plant in Homestead, PA
Henry Frick closes plant and hires Pinkertons to protect strikebreakers
July 5: Firefight between workers and Pinkertons
State militia called in to break the strike and protect new, non-union employees
July 23: Anarchist attempts to assassinate Frick
Impact: setback for AFL; loss for strikers
THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE
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Pullman, Chicago: a “company town” for workers building Pullman railway cars
1894: Pullman lays off workers and cuts pay, but does not lower rents
Eugene V. Debs travels to Pullman and recruits factory workers to the American Railway Union (ARU)
The ARU calls for a boycott of all trains carrying Pullman cars
THE PULLMAN STRIKE: CAUSES
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June 26, 1894: ARU members begin refusing to work on trains carrying Pullman cars
125,000 workers walked off the job within the next four days
Huge disruption to transportation, shipping, and the economy in much of the country
Rail traffic shut down in 27 statesRailroads hire strikebreakers (“scabs”), including
black workersViolence by some union supporters angers the
public and increases calls for federal intervention
THE PULLMAN STRIKE: BOYCOTT
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President Cleveland directs the government to shut down the strike
Federal troops protect strikebreakers and force an end to the boycott
30 strikers killed, 57 wounded
$800 million in property damage
By August 2, ARU ends the boycott; most strikers abandon the union and return to work
THE PULLMAN STRIKE: INTERVENTION
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Founded 1905 by radical Colorado miners
Known as IWW or “the Wobblies”
“One big union”: all laborers, regardless of race or trade
Ultimate goal: socialismOften supported violence
and sabotageCollapsed during WWI and
Red Scare
INTERNATIONAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD
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Most unions excluded women from membership; nearly all excluded them from leadership
A few exceptions: International Ladies Garment Workers Union; Lawrence textile mills
1919: IBEW Telephone Operator’s Department strikes, shutting down phone service in five states
Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) – founded 1903; link between women’s and labor movements
WOMEN IN THE LABOR MOVEMENT
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Lived approx. 1837-1930
Traveled the country organizing coal miners and other laborers
Unconventional tactics Included black and white workers
Used women and children in her protests
Didn’t wear a bow tie, but…
MARY HARRIS “MOTHER” JONES