Labor, Socialism and Responses to Big Business 1. Under what circumstances might it be a good idea to strike? 2. Under what circumstances would it be a bad idea?

Government Response to Big Business Sherman Antitrust Act: it is illegal to interfere with free trade between states or other countries Problems: – Not easy to use: what exactly is a trust? – Corporations easily reorganize to avoid suits Question: what does this picture imply about the Antitrust Act? How do you know?

Plight of Industrial Workers Grievances: – Unsafe working conditions – Long hours – Low wages – Child labor – Low job security – No accident or unemployment insurance – No vacations or sick days Question: What is unsafe about this picture?

Labor Unions Knights of Labor (1869): open to all workers – 8 hour day – Equal pay for equal work (men and women) – Strikes as a last resort American Federation of Labor (AFL): – Samuel Gompers joins cigar makers and other craft unions into one large union (1886) – Focuses on collective bargaining: negotiations between labor and management – Strikes are a major tactic American Railway Union – Eugene V. Debs – Supports all labors- skilled and unskilled- in the railroad industry

Socialism Socialism: economic and political system based on government control of business and property and equal distribution of wealth. -Less extreme than communism Question: Pros/cons? Socialists work with labor unions to achieve better working conditions Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)- a.k.a. “the Wobblies” – Radical unionists and socialists – Miners, lumberers, cannery and dock workers – Welcomes African Americans