Labor Unrest Unionization and the Populist Party. The Changing American Labor Force 1/6/15. Chapters 23-24

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1 Labor Unrest Unionization and the Populist Party Chapters The Changing American Labor Force By 1880, 5 million people worked in factories. What were the working conditions like? Unsafe: workers killed/week Low wages: Men averaged $500 a year (1899) Women averaged $267 a year (1899) Long hours: 12 hr. days/6 days per wk. Unsafe machinery Sweatshops Workers had few rights Workers were easily replaced. 1

2 Unionization Nationally Unionization movement began again after Civil War. 1866: National Labor Union 600,000 members by early 1870s Several craft unions combined Skilled, unskilled, farmers also included Call for 8 hour day Disagreements and Depression of 1873 killed it. Depression of 1873 Caused by overconstruction of railroads, failure of banks, businesses, removal of paper money from circulation (contraction) After Depression (1877ish), unionization increased again Workers Protest As companies pooled their strength, workers realized they needed to as well for their voice to be heard. Hidden protests: work slow downs, sick days, disciplining the over-achiever Increased use of the strike in the late 19th c. 2

3 Labor Unrest: Great Railroad Strike (1877) Nationwide railroad strike over reduced wages Workers destroyed railroad property Federal troops sent in 100 die Propertied classes saw this as the beginning of a revolution The Great Railroad Strike of

4 Knights of Labor Terence V. Powderly An injury to one is the concern of all! Goals of the Knights of Eight-hour workday.. Labor Abolition of child and prison labor. Increased circulation of greenbacks. Equal pay for men and women. Safety codes in the workplace. Prohibition of contract foreign labor. Abolition of the National Bank. Open to all laborers except for the idle ad corrupt Haymarket Riot (1886) McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. 4

5 Haymarket Riot (1886) Chicago police try to disperse Bomb explodes killing 7 police Eight anarchists tried and convicted (3 were executed) Businesses now try to crush unions Hurt unionization in mainstream America--linked to anarchy End of Knights of Labor Haymarket fear, disagreements over membership of blacks and women, unauthorized strikes killed the Knights of Labor by 1890s The American Federation of Labor: 1886 Samuel Gompers 5

6 How the AF of L Would Help the Workers Catered to the skilled worker. Pushed for closed shops. Used the strike to its advantage Saw average workweek drop from 54 hours a week to 49 hours a week Saw pay increase from $17.50 a week to $ : 1 million members Rejected blacks, women, unskilled Working Class Setbacks Workers lost many battles Owners often supported by government and troops Use of scabs Unskilled workers could be replaced Economic depressions in 1873 and 1893 But workers kept organizing Homestead Steel Strike (1892) The Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers Homestead Steel Works 6

7 Homestead Strike (1892) Owned by Andrew Carnegie Carnegie locked out workers when they refused a wage decreased Armed guards and fences protected the building Gun battle brought in 8000 troops to crush the strike and the union The Pullman Strike of 1894 Pullman Strike (1894) Pullman required workers live in a company town. 1893: Pullman cuts wages by 1/3, laid off workers and did not cut rents and prices Demanded increased output Pullman union leader was Eugene V. Debs (AFL) 7

8 Pullman (1894) Continued Major strike and sympathy strikes Pullman Co. and Railroad companies ask federal government to get court injunction to end strike Grover Cleveland sent in troops to enforce injunction Violence at Pullman Violence burning of cars, $340,000 in damage, death Strike collapses and several leaders were arrested Supreme Court ruled in 1895 injunctions to stop strikes were illegal Some in Unions Lose Faith in American Capitalism Some don t see the advantage of working within the system Some become more radical Some turned to socialism (Eugene Debs) Formation of a socialist union International Workers of the World Hurt reputation of unions in the mainstream 8

9 The Socialists Eugene V. Debs International Workers of the World ( Wobblies ) Big Bill Haywood of the IWW M Violence was justified to overthrow capitalism. 9

10 Mother Jones: The Miner s Angel M Mary Harris. M Organizer for the United Mine Workers. M Founded the Social Democratic Party in M Led children s march to White House in 1903 M One of the founding members of the I. W. W. in The Formula unions + violence + strikes + socialists + immigrants = anarchists 10