 Factory workers faced long hours, dirty and dangerous working conditions, and the threat of being laid off.  By the 1800s, working people became more active in politics. Labor Unions and Reform Laws

 Workers joined together in voluntary labor associations called unions to push for reforms.  Unions would speak for all the workers in a particular trade.  They would engage in collective bargaining, negotiations between workers and their employers.  If the factory owners refused to give better working conditions and higher pay, the union members could go on strike.

 Those who were skilled workers led the way in forming unions because they had specialized skills which made them more difficult to replace.  Eventually, reformers and unions forced political leaders to look into the abuse caused by industrialization.  Parliament passed laws making it illegal to hire children under 9 years old, and children from the ages of 9-12 could not work more than 8 hours a day. Making Change

 People from could not work more than 12 hours a day.  Later women and children were not allowed to work underground.  Laws were also passed for women who had children, by not allowing them to work more than 10 hours a day.

 With the fight for rights for women and children, also came the end of slavery in the British West Indies.  Later Britain finally abolished slavery in its whole empire. End of Slavery

 Some were against slavery, others were viewed slave labor as an economic threat.  So, a new class of industrialists developed who supported cheap labor rather than slave labor.

 The Industrial Revolution a mixed blessing for women.  On one side, factory work offered higher wages than work done at home.  On the other side, women factory workers usually made only 1/3 as much money as men did.  Women led reform movements to address this and other pressing social issues. Women’s Rights

 Women formed unions in the trades where they dominated.  In Britain some women served as safety inspectors in factories where other women worked.  In the U.S., college-educated women ran settlement houses.

 In Britain and the U.S., women who had rallied for the abolition of slavery began to wonder why their own rights should be denied on the basis of gender.  The movement for women’s rights began in the U.S. in the  Women activists around the world joined to found the International Council for Women in More Women’s Rights

 In the U.S. and Western Europe, reformers tried to correct the problems troubling the newly industrialized nations.  Public Education and prison reforms were hot topics.  During the 1800s, democracy grew in industrialized countries even as foreign expansion increased.  The industrialized democracies faced new challenges both at home and abroad. Reforms Spread