Industrial Workers Chapter 4 Section 3

Changing Economy America’s change from an agricultural (farming) economy to an industrial (factories) economy brought many benefits It also brought problems One problem was the horrible working conditions faced by industrial workers

Life in Factories Low pay Long Hours Dangerous working conditions

Child Labor It was not uncommon for children as young as 6 to work to help support the family Children often worked for long hours for less pay than adults People fought for changes to the child labor laws to protect children

Here is a general view of a spinning room.

Some boys and girls were so small they had to climb up on the spinning frame to mend broken threads and to put back empty bobbins.

Young knitters in a factory in Tennessee.

Oyster shuckers working in a canning factory Oyster shuckers working in a canning factory. All but the very smallest babies worked. Began working at 3:30 a.m. and were expected to work until 5 p.m.

Cutting fish in a sardine cannery. Large sharp knives are used Cutting fish in a sardine cannery. Large sharp knives are used. The slippery floors and benches and careless bumping into each other create accidents.

A boy making melon baskets in a factory.

Young workers in a cigar factory

This young newsie was so tired from his long day he fell asleep on the steps

5 Year old Manuel working in an oyster factory 5 Year old Manuel working in an oyster factory. He had already been working for a year when this picture was taken

12 year old Furman Owens has been working in the mills since he was 8 12 year old Furman Owens has been working in the mills since he was 8. He can’t read and doesn’t know his ABCs. “I want to learn” he said “but I can’t when I work all the time”.

This is the breaker room This is the breaker room. Notice the man with the stick on the right…I wonder what that is for?

The Coal Mines Probably the most dangerous places to work were the coal mines

Waiting for the cage to go up Waiting for the cage to go up. The cage is entirely open on two sides and not very well protected.

Dangerous Machinery

Hazardous Conditions

Young boys working in the coal mines in Pennsylvania.

A young greaser- Jefferson Mine, Dora, AL

Labor Unions In the late 1800s many workers began to form labor unions to fight for better wages and safer working conditions Unions used collective bargaining and strikes to try to change pay and working conditions Labor Union-an organization of workers with the same trade or skill

Labor Unions continued… Collective bargaining- all workers acting collectively or together- workers had a better chance of success Mary Harris Jones- worked for better conditions for miners

Unions: organization of workers who fought against bad working conditions in factories Knights of Labor: members included immigrants, African Americans, women, unskilled workers Leader- Terrance Powderly American Federation of Labor members: skilled workers Leader- Samuel Gompers

HAYMARKET RIOT After workers went on strike to get shorter work days, a RIOT broke out. Many police officers and people were killed and wounded. *Eight protestors were arrested. One of them had a Knights of Labor membership card. Even though the Knights of Labor did not have any involvement with the bombings and riot, this event led to the decline in Knights of Labor membership.

Homestead Strike This violent strike took place at Carnegie’s Homestead Steel factory in Pennsylvania. The union members there protested a plan to buy new machinery and cut jobs. The company hired strikebreakers to perform the strikers jobs.

Pullman Strike Workers protested against George Pullman because he laid off half the workers and cut pay for those were left. The workers stopped traffic on many railroads lines until President Cleveland sent the federal troops to stop the strike.