INDUSTRIALIZATION IN AMERICA PART IV – UNIONS

I. LABOR PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION a.Lower wages and longer hours b.Woman and children c.Machines increasingly used unskilled labor d.Workers had to work at the speed of machines e.Poor working conditions

II. WORKERS TURN TO UNIONS a.Individual Bargaining i.Little power to compel employer to meet demands ii.Could be fired for complaining b.Collective Bargaining i.Workers could halt production and hurt employers profits ii.Workers formed unions

III. PEACEFUL MEANS OF SETTLING DISPUTES a.Collective bargaining – employer and union meet, negotiate directly, settle the issue, and complete a labor contract b.Arbitration – a neutral 3 rd party hears both sides and hands down a decision c.Mediation – a neutral 3 rd party induces concessions d.Fact-finding board – listens to dispute and hands down a recommendation

IV. WEAPONS OF UNIONS a.Strike b.Strike fund c.Picketing d.Boycott e.Public relations

V. WEAPONS OF EMPLOYERS a.Strikebreakers – “scabs” – replacements b.Financial resources c.Lockout d.Injunction e.Public relations

CapitalismSocialism Ownership of Property Individuals and businesses own property and the means of production The government should own the property and means of production Progress Occurs when individuals follow their own self-interest Results when a community of producers cooperate for the good of all Businesses Follow their own self-interest by competing for the consumers money Believe that capitalists exploit their workers. Distribution of goods Consumers compete to buy the best goods at the lowest prices. The competition shapes the market by affecting what businesses make and sell Capitalism creates an unequal distribution of wealth. A better system is to distribute them according to each person ’ s need Governments role Government should not interfere in the economy. Let competition work. Government must act to protect workers, protect consumers, and regulate businesses. CAPITALISM VS. SOCIALISM

According to Karl Marx: Working class will revolt, seizing the factories and mills from the capitalists The working classes would then control the means of production and produce what society needed Workers would share the profits and bring about economic equality Society would be ruled by a “dictatorship of the proletariat” Government would no longer be needed and would wither away This is COMMUNISM! Really…it is. While it sounds great in theory, it has never worked that way in practice. (See Soviet Union, Maoist China, and Cuba….and the hundreds of millions they killed to implement it)