Reforming the New Industrial Order Chapter 9 Section 2 Reforming the New Industrial Order

Female and Child Laborers In 1900 the average laborer worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for about $1.50 a day. Women and children earned less {In the early 1910’s almost half of all women who worked in factories, laundries and stores earned less than $6.00 a week} {In The Bitter Cry of the Children, author John Spargo reported that few child laborers had ever attended school} or could read.

Labor Laws Reformer Florence Kelley worked tirelessly campaigning for new laws that would prohibit child labor and improve conditions for female workers In 1904 Kelley helped organize the National Child Labor Committee and by 1912 child labor laws had been passed in 39 states Enforcement of such laws was lax. Many employers claimed that their business’ depended on cheap child labor and simply ignored the laws

Progressivism and the Supreme Court As more states passed protective legislation, business owners fought back through the courts The business owners hid behind the 14th Amendment The Supreme Court sided with the business owners but {they also ruled that some social legislation violated the Constitution by denying workers their freedom of contract, or the workers right to negotiate the terms of their employment} {In 1908 the case Muller vs. Oregon the Supreme Court did make a ruling that upheld a law limiting the number of hours women could work in a day} based on women's’ physical structure

Using the freedom of contract as freedom to strike

Labor Unions Labor unions also fought for better working conditions and for the {closed shop or a workplace where all employees are required to belong to a union} {Most members of labor unions wanted to preserve the capitalist system but make changes to it} Led by Samuel Gompers, one union group, {The American Federation of Labor (AFL), refused to accept unskilled laborers as members} This approach still left many workers without organized support

Labor Unions Continued… One AFL union that tried to organize unskilled workers was the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) In November female garment workers staged a strike known as the “Uprising of 20,000” demanding their companies recognize the ILGWU as their union Some employers met the demands . However, most employers were determined to run an {open shop or a workplace where employees may choose whether or not to belong to a union} Thus they refused to recognize the union. After this strike the ILGWU’s membership grew from 400 to 65,000

The IWW While the AFL did its thing, a new union with a different agenda came to be {Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) opposed capitalism} The IWW denounced the AFL for not including unskilled workers and enlisted African American, Asian American and Hispanic American workers The government cracked down on the union with force and within a few years the IWW collapsed

Review Questions What did progressivism focus on? Why did some of the Journalists not like being called muckrakers? In the early 1910’s how much did women earn in a week on average? What did John Spargo report in The Bitter Cry of the Children? What is freedom of contract? In 1908 the case Muller vs. Oregon the Supreme Court did make a ruling that did what? The American Federation of Labor (AFL), refused to accept what type of workers?

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