Warm-up 2/3/15 What kinds of conditions do workers face in the Gilded Age? What was the Populist Movement and what were their goals? What was the Gold V. Silver Standard debate about? How does this help us understand monetary policy today? Do the Populists succeed in changing the conditions of society? Do they change the Gold Standard? Why?

Labor Unions EQ: What impact did labor unions have on US society Labor Unions EQ: What impact did labor unions have on US society? UNIONS IN THE USA

LABOR UNIONS Labor Union Labor Strike Boycott Scab Worker Workers who organize against their employers to seek better wages and working conditions for wage earners. Labor Union One method for having demands met. Workers stop working until the conditions are met. It is a very effective form of attack. Labor Strike People refuse to buy a company's product until the company meets demands. Boycott New immigrants who would replace strikers and work for less pay. Often violence would erupt between strikers and scabs who were trying to cross picket lines to work. Scab Worker

Collective Bargaining A working establishment where only people belonging to the union are hired. It was done by the unions to protect their workers from cheap labor. LABOR UNIONS Closed Shop List of people disliked by business owners because they were leaders in the Union. Black List Type of negotiation between an employer and labor union where they sit down face to face and discuss better wages, etc. Collective Bargaining Lock Out Owner of industry would “lock out” workers who were trying to form a union and replace them with “scabs”.

Labor union, sought to organize unskilled workers Goals were: Knights of Labor Labor union, sought to organize unskilled workers Goals were: end of land grants to the railroads prohibition of child laborers under 14 gender equality in pay

American Federation of Labor (AFL) Founded by Samuel Gompers Organized skilled workers in a specific trade Goals of AFL 1) Companies recognize unions 2) Pushed for closed shops 3) 8 hour work day

Pt. 4: Major Labor Conflicts of the 1880s & 1890s

Railroad Workers Organize The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 Railway workers protested unfair wage cuts and unsafe working conditions. The strike was violent and unorganized. President Hayes sent federal troops to put down the strikes. From then on, employers relied on federal and state troops to repress labor unrest.

Haymarket Square: Chicago 1886 workers from McCormick Harvesting Machine Company struck for an 8 hour day (They wanted a reduction in the amount of hours they worked in a given day). However, the Knights of Labor (union) did not support their actions. police came - four strikers killed and several wounded. next day at a rally in Haymarket Square- anarchists spoke up against police & treatment of workers. Thousands protest the killings and during the rally the police break up the meeting - someone threw a bomb at police - 7 police die. In response the police spray the crowd with bullets and 10 more workers die with another 50 injured. Result: Anti-Labor feelings sweep the nation and membership in the Knights of Labor Union fell drastically!

Action of government? Police intervention, some tried for murder Effect? Americans become wary of labor unions Knights of Labor blamed

Homestead Strike 1892, in Pennsylvania Wages of steelworkers cut Action of Labor Union? Calls for a strike Action of Industry? Police force called the “Pinkertons” brought in to break up the strike

Action of Government? Troops & local militia sent in to calm the situation Effect? Steelworkers lose power after calling off the strike

Pullman Strike 1893, in Chicago Wages of employees cut without a decrease in living costs in the company town Action of Labor Union? Called Eugene V. Debs & the American Railway Union (ARU) Nationwide strike, halting railroad traffic

Strikes Rock the Nation Pullman, 1893 Eugene Debs instructed strikers not to interfere with the nation’s mail. Railway owners turned to the government for help. The judge cited the Sherman Antitrust Act and won a court order forbidding all union activity that halted railroad traffic. Court orders against unions continued, limiting union gains for the next 30 years. Origin of Labor Day.

Actions of Industry? Argued that the labor union was destroying free trade Actions of Government? President Grover Cleveland sends in federal troops; Eugene V. Debs is arrested Effect? Use of court system and military to limit power of labor unions

The Supreme Court Upholds Laissez-faire Lochner v. New York – 1905 New York state passed the “Bakeshop Act” limiting the hours a bakery employee could work in one week to 60. Lochner, a bakery owner, was fined for allowing employees to exceed limitation. He sued protesting the constitutionality of the law under the 14th Amendment and his liberty of contract. Supreme Court overturned his conviction stating: …this law interfered "with the right of contract between the employer and employees.“ To the Court, the right to buy and sell labor through contract was a "liberty of the individual" protected under the 14th amendment .

14th AMENDMENT Rights of Citizens “All persons born in the U.S. are citizens of this country and the state they reside in. No state shall make or enforce any law which deprives any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person with its jurisdiction to the equal protection of the laws.” Industrialists would use the 14th Amendment as a way to defend a corporation from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The Fourteenth Amendment In your opinion, what values are reflected in the Fourteenth Amendment? Are these values compatible with your ideas about a democracy? Why was this made in the first place? Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Back

Reaction of Employers -European influences of socialism Employers hated & feared unions. Why? -European influences of socialism -Labor strikes always tended to be violent. Some took steps to stop unions, such as: -forbidding union meetings -firing union organizers -forcing new employees to sign “yellow dog” contracts, making them promise never to join a union or participate in a strike -refusing to bargain collectively when strikes did occur -refusing to recognize unions as their workers’ legitimate representatives

Evaluation: (Giving your point of view on something and providing reasons why you think that way!) What was the role of labor unions in trying to solve the problems of workers during industrialization? Give your point of view of the helpfulness of unions during industrialization and in making changes for workers