The Changing Workplace Ch. 8, Sect. 4 What problems were created for the emerging industrial workforce by changes in manufacturing in the 1800’s?

FILL IN THE BLANK Skilled workers are called __________. The most experienced workers are called ________. Young workers are called __________. Early textile factories were built in __________, Massachusetts. System of producing clothing at home was called the ________ - out system.

FILL IN THE BLANK System of producing clothing at home was called the ________ - out system. Young workers are called __________. The most experienced workers are called ________. Skilled workers are called __________. Early textile factories were built in __________, Massachusetts.

SHIFT FROM RURAL TO URBAN MANUFACTURING Weaving factories end the “putting-out system” of the “cottage-industry” or production in homes Decline of hand-produced goods Unskilled laborers replaces skilled laborers (masters, journeymen, and apprentices) Factory products become cheaper, more available Changes split families & traditional Communities

Lowell, Massachusetts: Birthplace of American Industry 1828: Women are 90% of the mill workforce Mill owners use women b/c they are paid less “Mill Girls” are primarily unmarried girls, supervised closely by female supervisors Opportunity to earn money and leave the farm

STRIKES AT LOWELL Worked 12 hour day, 6 days a week Poor wages, poor ventilation, poor conditions 1834: Mill workers strike over a pay cut; it fails 1836: Second strike over new pay cuts; it also fails. 1844: Mill workers form Lowell Female Labor reform Association & petition state legislature. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Women begin to organize for political and social change.

Workers Seek Better Conditions 1835: Nations first general strike in Philly (=a strike by skilled and unskilled workers) Employers use “strikebreakers” to crush strikes, using poor immigrants By 1840’s new immigrants are organizing their own strikes: Irish Dockworkers strike in NY in 1840’s Ladies Industrial Association, NY in 1845

National Trades’ Union Workers, or journeymen, begin to organize collectively, rather than by specific trades  more bargaining power. 1834: Journeymen from several industries organize the National Trades’ Union. Courts declare the Unions illegal. 1842: Mass. Supreme Court affirms worker’s rights in Commonwealth v. Hunt. 1860: only 5,000 workers are unionized, though 20,000 participate in strikes