Reforming the Industrial Order Chap 9 Sec 2 Notes

Reforming the workplace 1900 the Avg. laborer worked 10hrs/day 6 days/week for $1.50/day women and children were paid less

Female and Child Labor ½ of women in jobs as factory workers, store clerks etc. earned $6 or less per week –Barely enough to survive Significant barriers when try to increase wages –Piece workers penalized for working too fast Outrage for a girl too earn $25 a week would be fired if you protest

John Spargo The Bitter Cry of Children in 1906 charged textile industry with enslavement of children Few children had attended school or could read Child worked or family starved

Labor Laws Prohibit or limit child labor and improve conditions for female workers Florence Kelley persuade Illinois legislature to prohibit child labor and limit number of hours women could work –More than 2 million children worked in factories in 1910 –Girls working 16 hours in canning factories

Prohibit or limit child labor and improve conditions for female workers Florence Kelley persuade Illinois legislature to prohibit child labor and limit number of hours women could work –More than 2 million children worked in factories in 1910 –Girls working 16 hours in canning factories

George Creel Children in Bondage 1913 describes problem of child labor –Also campaigned for laws to force factories to limit hours employers demanded 1903 Florence Kelley helped pass a law in Oregon limiting laundry workers to 10 hour days –Utah already had laws limiting workdays to 8 hours in certain jobs

Fought for higher wage –30 million men 7.5 million women employed in /3 lived in poverty –Catholic monsignor John Ryan called for establishment of minimum wage in 1910 level to approximate normal standard of living –Massachusetts passes first minimum wage law in 1912-set wages for women and children –1938 Federal government passes minimum wage law

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire March 25,1911 Saturday –500 employees mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant women –Finishing shift- fire starts in rag bin –8 th floor of 10 story building a blaze –Escape impossible 2 stairways- fire doors locked owners afraid girls would steal fabric Elevator shaft jams –60 workers jump to deaths to escape fire 143 die in fire Popular outrage forces lawmakers to pass laws to help workers –NY City enacted strictest fire safety code in U.S.

Progressivism and Supreme Court Business fought back through courts 14 th amendment prohibits states from depriving any person of life, liberty or property w/o due process of law –Owners claimed regulatory laws deprived them of property –Supreme Court sided w/business owners and declared early laws unconstitutional –Court also ruled some legislation violated freedom of contract

1905 Lochner vs. New Yorkoverturned law limiting bakers to 10 hour work days –Workers should be free to negotiate and accept any conditions of employment Muller vs. Oregon (1908) –Supreme Court upheld law limiting hours in laundries Louis Brandeis argued for keeping law- Brandeis Brief-format for defense of social legislation

Labor Unions Fought for closed shops- must belong to a union –Most favored working within system –Wanted changes but w/o replacing capitalism Some favored socialism- government ownership of factories, utilities, transportation and communication

AFL American Federation of Labor –Samuel Gompers leader AFL grew 4 fold from 1900 to 1914 –Excluded unskilled workers –Mostly eastern European and African American workers excluded Belief that skilled workers had greatest potential to cause change By 1902 only 3% of African Americans were union members

ILGWU International Ladies Garment Workers Union Established in 1900 in N.Y. City –Unionize workers in sewing shops 1909 workers in 3 shops walked off job wanted ILGWU to call General strike Nov 1909 Uprising of 20,000 –Workers walked off job and demanded recognition of ILGWU as union –Strike lasted throughout winter –Got assistance from Womens Trade Union League –Owners brought in African Americans to replace workers- some joined strike

Results mixed –Got wage increase –Got reduced working hours –However owners refused to recognize union Membership grew from 400 to 65,000

IWW Industrial Workers of the World –Wobblies opposed capitalism –Led by Big Bill Haywood Denounced AFL cooperation w/business owners and failure to include unskilled workers –Enlisted African -Americans, Asians and Hispanics

Successes –Philadelphia raised wages from $1.25/day to $4/day –Pursued goals through boycotts, general strikes and sabotage –1912 led strike of 10,000 textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts Failures – several strikes failed –Many Americans grew weary of IWW tactics –Government cracked down on union