Strikes Rock the Nation Pullman Homestead Haymarket

Factory Work Some workers were paid for each finished piece the produced. Most piecework was completed in sweatshops. Frederick Taylor improved work productivity and profit with the Principles of Scientific Management that resulted in the division of labor. Workers were seen as “hands” or “operatives” In factories, workers logged long hours with little pay in unsafe conditions.

Working Families Children were 5% of the labor force. Between the ages of 10 and 16, children left school to worked long hours for low wages. Many were maimed or deformed for their efforts.Other families depended on charities to survive.

Rise of Labor Unions By 1890, 9% of Americans owned 75% of the nation’s wealth. Workers began to seek solutions to get their fair share of the wealth. One option was Socialism that wanted the government to own production and distribute the wealth equally. Socialism became more radical when Karl Marx issued the Communist Manifesto denouncing capitalism. A violent choice was anarchism Unions Knights of Labor A National Union protecting all unskilled men and women including African Americans Leader - Terence Powderly who demanded equal pay for equal work, the 8 hour workday and an end to child labor The Knights did not want to use the strike to get their demands because strikes turned violent and that hurt the unions

Unions American Federation of Labor A craft union that organized only skilled workers and excluded women and African Americans Leader was Samuel Gompers who used strikes and boycotts to force owners to participate in collective bargaining IWW or Wobblies Industrial Workers of the World Founded in 1905 by Bill Haywood Radical union that helped the unskilled worker and relied on violence and strikes

Owners Response to Unions Forbade union meetings Fired union organizers Forced workers to sign “yellow Dog” contracts promising never to join a union or a strike Refused collective bargaining if workers were on strike Refused to recognize union representatives

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 July 1877, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads cut wages by 10%, this was the second wage cut in 8 months. Other railroads did the same and also ran “double headers” Workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia declared a strike. When they tried to prevent scabs from running the train, they clashed with militia. Violence spread to Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis Strikers attacked railroad property and state governors asked for federal help. President Hayes sent in federal troops When troops in Pittsburg killed many rioters, a crowd of 20,000 men and women set fire to the railroad company causing $5,000,000.00 in damages The stage was set. Employers got federal and state help when labor unions went on strike and strikes turned violent.

Haymarket Riot 1886 May 1st, 1886, Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions prepared for an eight-hour day and were joined by the Knights of Labor and IWPA International Working People’s Union) Anarchists (80,000) 1. McCormick had cut wages but not rent in his company town despite a 71% profit. Ordered a lockout in response to the union plan for a strike and hired strikebreakers and 400 police officers to guard them. 2. Lumber workers and McCormick workers joined forces at the Cyrus McCormick Reaper Plant to protest the hiring of strikebreakers. 3. Police attacked protestors without warning, killing two and wounding several others 4. IWPA called for a meeting on May 4th to protest Police Violence and memorialize victims at McCormick Plant. 5. IWPA posted leaflets that called for unions to fight back; Revenge Workingmen to Army 6. Demonstration was peaceful as Spies and others spoke. Even the Mayor found it peaceful. 7. Later, 180 police moved in to break up meeting, a bomb exploded killing police officer, Mathias Degan, and eleven people. Seven other policemen died from their injuries. Police opened fire killing eleven more. 8. Eight IWPA workers arrested and tried for murder. All eight found guilty, four were executed and Louis Lingg killed himself.Three others released in 1893 and pardoned by Governor

Homestead Strike 1892 Price of steel dropped so Frick and Carnegie looked to cut production costs Henry Frick tried to cut workers’ wages so workers hanged Frick in effigy Frick began closing the mills, and locked out 1,100 men Frick would no longer negotiate with the unions, only individuals Carnegie did not respond to efforts to reach him 3,000 of 3,800 workers voted to strike (only 780 were union) Frick fenced off the mill, adding peep-holes for rifles Workers seized Fort Frick June 1 Frick hired Pinkertons, a private police force July 5, 300 Pinkerton guards hired by Frick came up the Monongahela River under darkness Gunfight broke out between union and guards who tried to surrender 3 times. July 23, Alexander Berkman tried to assassinate Frick Union called off strike. State militia moved in to protect mill

Pullman Strike 1894 Pullman Company manufactured sleeper cars Pullman City was built to house employees and workers were required to live In 1893, Pullman laid off workers & cut wages by 25% but kept rent and food prices high On May 11,1894, three thousand Pullman workers went on strike. They were members of the American Railroad Union (ARU) founded by Eugene V. Debs. who ordered that strikers not touch the mail (federal offense) General Managers Assoc. asked federal government for help because they claimed the mail could not get through On July 2, 1894, Attorney General Olney got an injunction saying that the strike was illegal. This federal injunction and the fact that mail-trains might be delayed caused President Grover Cleveland to send in federal troops Debs was arrested and several workers were blacklisted