Why are monopolies bad? Reduce consumer choice Increase product price Decrease product quality...
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Transcript of Why are monopolies bad? Reduce consumer choice Increase product price Decrease product quality...
Why are monopolies bad?
• Reduce consumer choice
• Increase product price
• Decrease product quality
• Decrease worker’s wages
Workers of the Nation Unite
Unions, Strikes, and Death at the Turn of the Century
Exploitation of Workers
• Factory life consisted of:– Long hours (12/day, 6
days/week)– Hazardous conditions– Low wages
Low wages forced many women and children to work to support family.
The Birth of Labor Unions
• Labor Unions emerged because workers felt, at the very least, they deserved fair wages and safe conditions.
• Labor unions soon divided into two groups
1. Skilled Unions
• The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was the most popular skilled worker union. Elitist.
• Skilled worker- any worker whose job required some special skill, knowledge, or ability to do it.
• Lead by Samuel Gompers….this guy
2. Industrial Unions
• Industrial Unions included skilled and unskilled workers.
• Some people felt unions would be stronger if they included all workers
• Eugene V. Debs was the most famous supporter of industrial unions…this guy
STRIKES
• When workers would stop working.
• Strikes were often the most effective means by which labor unions took action to improve conditions.
• Some strikes lead to riots, violence, and even death.
• The Haymarket Affair (1896) was a particularly violent strike which actually lead to a decline in popularity of unions.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
• Factory in NYC• Fire broke out in upper floors and
spread quickly due to hazardous conditions
• Workers (many of them women) were locked inside. 145 killed.
Effects of the fire
• Caused a huge uproar across the nation
• Lead NY to establish:– Stricter fire codes– 54 hour work week for women and minors– A prohibition on Sunday work– Abolition of labor by children under 14 years