{ Unions Chapter 12 Lesson 4

 6-7 day work week, 12 or more hours a day.  No vacation, sick leave, unemployment, or workman’s compensation for injuries on the job.  Did repetitive, mind-numbing tasks with dangerous and faulty equipment.  Wages were so low most families couldn’t survive unless everyone worked.  1889 – women earned $267 a year, men $498.  1900 – average worker made 22¢ an hour and worked 59 hours a week  Uneven division of wealth led to resentment among workers Labor Conditions and Deflation

 Despite this, the standard of living rose dramatically  Effects of Deflation ( )  Deflation = rise in the value of money  Price of goods fell, which meant you could buy more with little money  Wages were cut throughout the late 1800s but because prices fell faster, you still had good buying power  Workers resented having less money despite how much it could buy.  Felt they needed to organize to get higher wages and better working conditions

 There were 2 types of workers:  Craft workers  Had special skills and training  Received higher wages  Had more control over their working conditions and time  EX: machinists, iron workers  Unionized first  Common laborers  No real skills  Received lower wages  Eventually formed industrial unions Early Unions

 Employers had to negotiate with craft unions because they represented workers with needed skills.  Saw unions as conspiracies that interfered with property rights  Methods used to prevent unions from forming:  Workers were required to take oaths or sign contracts promising not to join a union  Hired detectives to identify union organizers  Workers who tried to unionize were fired and blacklisted so that no one else would hire them. Opposition to Unions

 Methods used to break up unions:  Lockouts = locked workers out of the property and refused to pay them  If there was a strike, hired strikebreakers to come in and work  These methods usually succeeded because there were no laws that gave workers the right to unionize or to require owners to negotiate.  Courts frequently ruled against unions and their leaders  Unions were also seen as being un-American and anarchist.

 The Knights of Labor (1889)  Organized non-skilled workers  Opposed strikes in favor of arbitration  Welcomed women and African-Americans  Wanted an 8-hour workday, equal pay for women, no child labor, and worker-owned factories New Unions

The American Federation of Labor (1886)   Focused on promoting the interest of skilled laborers   Had 3 main goals:   Convince companies to recognize unions and agree to collective bargaining   Pushed for a closed shop   Promoted an 8-hour workday   Would not allow women or African-Americans to join

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW; 1905)  Wanted to organize all workers according to industry, not whether they were skilled or unskilled  Were in favor of using strikes  Never gained a large membership due to its radical philosophy and controversial strikes.  Most successful was the 1912 Lawrence, MA textile strike.

 1900 = women were more than 18% of the workforce in jobs that were considered “women’s work”.  1/3 were domestic servants  1/3 were teachers, nurses, sales clerks, clerical workers  1/3 were industrial workers (garment industry or food- processing plants)  Paid less than men doing the same job – it was assumed she had a man at home to help her & men needed the money to support a family.  Most unions excluded women Women and Organized Labor

 Mary Harris “Mother” Jones  Worked as a labor organizer for the Knights of Labor  Eventually worked to organize mine workers  International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union  Founded in 1900, represented men and women in the women’s clothing industry  1909 strike got the ILGWU better wages and benefits for employees  Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL)  Pushed for an 8 hour workday, a minimum wage, an end to evening work for women, and the abolition of child labor

 Conditions:  Seeking to break the union, the Carnegie Steel Company rejects wage increase and proposes a 20% wage cut  Union:  Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers  Tactics:  Workers: Surround factory with pickets and armed workers to keep it shut down and keep strikebreakers out  Employer: Locks workers out of the plant; hires Pinkertons to break strike Homestead Steel Strike, 1892

 Rule of Government:  State government sends in militia to end violence between strikers and Pinkertons  Outcome:  Company hires strikebreakers  Strike collapses after an anarchist tries to kill plant manager Henry Clay Frick Homestead Steel Strike, 1892

 Conditions:  Deep wage cuts without cuts in rent and food prices at company housing and company stores  Union:  American Railway Union  Tactics:  Workers: Refuse to handle any railcars built by Pullman; railroads are tied up nationwide  Employer: Locks workers out of factory Pullman Railroad Strike, 1894

 Role of Government:  Federal government gets court injunction to end strike because it interferes with shipment of US mail  Federal troops end strike  Outcome:  ARU leaders jailed  Strike ends unsuccessfully  ARU membership declines Pullman Railroad Strike, 1894

 Conditions:  Very low wages; high mortality rate among workers (many workers are young girls); extreme poverty among workers; strike begins after new wage cuts.  Union:  International Workers of the World (IWW)  Strikers mostly female, immigrant textile workers  Tactics:  Workers: Picketing; union provides food and money to strikers; gains support by touring child workers around country  Employer: Uses fire hoses on picketing workers Lawrence Textile Strike, 1912

 Role of Government:  Local police and state and local militia make mass arrests, attack picketers  After attack on women and children, strike is publicized  Congress and President Taft investigate  Outcome:  Employers give in, grant workers’ demands Lawrence Textile Strike, 1912