The document summarizes the rise of labor unions in the late 1800s and early 1900s as workers organized strikes and protests to demand better working conditions and wages. Key events included the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Square Riot in 1886, and major strikes led by Samuel Gompers and Eugene Debs. The passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 protected unions and led to increased membership.
The document summarizes the rise of labor unions in the late 1800s and early 1900s as workers organized strikes and protests to demand better working conditions and wages. Key events included the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Square Riot in 1886, and major strikes led by Samuel Gompers and Eugene Debs. The passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 protected unions and led to increased membership.
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The document summarizes the rise of labor unions in the late 1800s and early 1900s as workers organized strikes and protests to demand better working conditions and wages. Key events included the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Square Riot in 1886, and major strikes led by Samuel Gompers and Eugene Debs. The passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 protected unions and led to increased membership.
Direitos autorais:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Formatos disponíveis
Baixe no formato PPT, PDF, TXT ou leia online no Scribd
Labor Unions Labor unions sprang up in the late 1800s as workers fought to improve wages and working conditions in factories and businesses across the United States. Samuel Gompers and Eugene Debs led nationwide strikes in major industries in an effort to improve pay, hours, and general working conditions in the U.S. Working Conditions There were large numbers of unskilled workers, many of them immigrants, who were willing to work for low wages. Children from poor families skipped school to work in dangerous factories for very little money. Women and children were both paid significantly less than men. Factories did not have safety requirements, and many injuries occurred on the job. Working Conditions Those who sustained injuries were left to pay their medical bills without any assistance from their company. Factories forced their employees to work twelve, fourteen, and sixteen hour days or more for at least six days of the week. Some factories employed the sweatshop technique for their workers. In sweatshops, people worked long hours, but instead of being paid by the hour, they were paid based on how much work they did. Rise of the Labor Unions These working conditions slowly started to change as national labor unions emerged in the late 1800s. The Knights of Labor was founded in Philadelphia in 1869, and its goals included having an eight-hour workday, improved wages, and an end to child labor. In 1886, Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), a union made up of *skilled* workers. Gompers served as the president of the organization from 1886 to 1895 and again from 1896 to 1924 and became the leading spokesman during the labor movement. Great Strike In order to be heard, the labor unions helped employees organize strikes at major companies in the United States. The first of many was The Great Strike in 1877. Railroad workers across the U.S. refused to work in the first nationwide strike. Haymarket Square Riot In 1886, the Knights of Labor led a strike against the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in Chicago. The police and the strikers clashed, and a striker was killed. The next day, when people gathered to protest the death of the striker, a group of anarchists joined in the protest. Police came to break up the group, and a bomb was thrown at the police, killing seven policemen. Because many people blamed the Knights of Labor for what is now known as the Haymarket Square Riot, membership in the union declined, and its influence was weakened. Homestead Strike In 1892, iron and steel workers who belonged to the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers struck the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania to protest a proposed wage cut. The company's manager hired 300 Pinkerton detectives to protect the plant and the strikebreakers who were still working. In an armed battle between the workers and the detectives, several men were killed or wounded. The governor called out the state militia, and the nonunion workers stayed on the job, ending the Homestead Strike. Pullman Strike The last major strike of the 1800s occurred in 1894. Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. They got help from the American Railway Union, which had been founded by Eugene V. Debs in 1893. The American Railway Union called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. As a result of the Pullman Strike, rail service in the Midwest was severely disrupted. Pullman Strike The strike went on for two months until the federal government issued an injunction to end the strike because the strike was interfering with interstate commerce and was preventing the delivery of U.S. mail. Eugene Debs did not end the strike after the injunction and was sentenced to six months in jail. The strike finally ended when federal troops were sent to Chicago and other cities to break up the strike. Coal Miners Strike John L. Lewis was another important leader of organized labor. In 1919, he led a strike of 400,000 coal miners. The strike ended after President Woodrow Wilson ordered an injunction to stop the strike, and Lewis agreed to end it. He served as the president of the United Mine Workers from 1920 to 1960, and was one of the founders of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The CIO was formed because of a differing philosophy than that of the American Federation of Labor. Leaders of the CIO thought that both skilled and unskilled workers should be included in union membership, whereas the AFL was only for skilled workers. National Labor Relations Act In 1935, the Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act, was passed by Congress. This act established the National Labor Relations Board and protected the rights of unions as they organized workers for collective bargaining. With the passage of this act, union membership grew dramatically. United Auto Workers In 1936, workers at a General Motors factory in Flint, Michigan, organized a sit- down strike. This meant that they refused to leave the factory while they were on strike. The workers remained in the factory for 44 days. At the end of the strike, General Motors allowed the United Auto Workers to unionize its workers.