Labor Strives to Organize Unit 5

Question It is You work in a factory. Last month, your little brother was hurt in a workplace accident, but the company refuses to fix the machine that hurt him. Do you join a union to protest unsafe working conditions, even though you could lose your job, be blacklisted, or injured.

Government and Business Sherman Antitrust Act: – Established in 1890 – Outlawed monopolies and trusts that restrained trade – Failed to define what constituted a monopoly or trust – The law was difficult to enforce

The Knights of Labor One of the earliest national unions Union open to skilled and unskilled workers Women were allowed to join the union Union fought for: – Eight-hour work day – Equal pay for equal work – End to child labor In 1886 membership was more than 700,000 workers

Haymarket Riot Causes CAUSES =Workers from McCormick Harvesting Machine Company wanted an 8 hour work day. =Strike soon fell under the control of anarchists =People who oppose all forms of government =Police came - two strikers killed and several wounded. =Next day a small rally in Haymarket Square =When rally was nearly over 200 police officers arrived =Unknown bomb exploded in the midst of the police =70 police officers wounded =7 police and one civilian dead

Haymarket Riot Effects Effect/Result: Anti-Labor feelings sweep the nation and membership in the Knights of Labor Union fell drastically! Employers created blacklists, yellow dog contracts, and lockouts

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) =Founded by Samuel Gompers =Composed of skilled workers =The AFL had 3 goals = 1. Convince Companies to Recognize Unions = 2. Push for Closed Shops (companies should only hire members of the union). = 3. Promote the 8-Hour workday. =Grew slowly, but by 1900, it was the largest union in the country.

Homestead Strike Causes Steel mill owned my Andrew Carnegie Workers were protesting a wage cut Management refused and locked the workers out of the steel mill The workers broke into the mill and took it over Management hired the Pinkerton Police to take the mill back 300 Pinkertons arrived The Pinkertons and the workers battled for 12 hours 16 people died The Pinkertons surrendered

Homestead Strike Effects Carnegie requested help from the Pennsylvania National Guard Carnegie hired people to harass and injure strikers The strike was a failure

The Pullman Strike Causes Pullman created a company town were everything was owned by the corporation “debt slavery” money owed was deducted from workers paychecks Workers would never see their earnings Workers children were responsible for the debt if parents did not pay it off Pullman cut wages for workers but refused to lower rents or prices at the stores in the company town

The Pullman Strike Effects The American Railway Union refused to work or ride on trains that had Pullman cars – This stopped all rail traffic in the Midwest The Strike was eventually broken up by 12,000 US Army Troops President Grover Cleveland sent the troops to restore the delivery of the US Mail 13 strikers were killed 57 wounded And $80 million dollars of property damaged The American Railway Union was destroyed