Industrial Workers and Labor Unions Gilded Age

Transcription

1 Industrial Workers and Labor Unions Gilded Age

2 Gilded Age As the rich made millions Small class of people (upper class) made fortunes and created a new lavish/rich lifestyle Mark Twain referred to the era of national expansion as The Gilded Age which meant the glittering surface of the wealthy lifestyle concealed corruption and greed!

3 Mugwumps Higher than politics Republicans who wanted change, left their party and voted Democrat in the 1884 election Swung election in New York and Democrat Grover Cleveland won! Recall Elections: Sometimes elected officials were too corrupt with patronage and grafting and another election was held to remove them

4 Compromise Negotiations(2 Parties) Two parties or groups reach a compromise to solve an issue Collective Bargaining (2 Parties) Company management (employers) and Union workers (employees) negotiate issue like pay and benefits Mediations(3 Parties) A third party is brought in to help resolve the issue (guides negotiation) Arbitrations(3 Parties) A third party decides the issue and is binding

5 Entrepreneurs Risk-Takers Businessmen who took their money and talents to launch new ventures Capitalism: 1800 businessmen believed in private businesses running industries without government intervention Competition determines prices and wages Market Economy: Supply & Demand

6 Mergers John D. Rockefeller Started Standard Oil and bought up other similar businesses to become richer Merger: When two competing companies join together to dominate the market of a good or service Horizontal Mergers: Taking over companies with similar products Vertical Mergers: Acquiring all of the businesses that supplied or made the product of that one product.

7 Socialism Late 1800s ideas that went against Capitalist industries that were hurting the people. State or group ownership of property More regulation and equal distribution of profits Cooperatives are a type of all benefit for the common good ideas

8 Factory Mass amounts of people were needed to work in the factory system Products were created in the factory system Unsafe

9 Work Force Work Force: Many of the workers were from Europe or rural America Most workers were native born Americans or European white immigrants African Americans usually worked as laborers for less than factory workers

10 Wages Employees worked for wages There were no federal minimum wages during the Industrial Revolution

11 Child Labor By /6 of children between held a job

12 Working Conditions 10 hour work days 6 day work weeks No paid vacations No sick leave No compensation for injuries Work sped up as demand increased Terrible accidents with new unsafe machines and factories

13 Worker Protection Craft Union: members hold specific job like plumbers or welders Trade Union: members hold a broad range of occupations but with the same tradeor industry like steel, auto,..

14 Sweatshops Worst workshops Garment industry (clothes, bags) Crowded tenement workshop buildings

15 1869 Knights of Labor Philidelphia Torence Powderly Reformers Accept unskilled laborers, women, African Americans and employers as members 1886 over 700,000 members Pressed for 8 hour workday End of child labor Equal pay

16 Strike When talks fell through, workers refuse to work Work stoppage: costs employers money each day work stops More rights or benefits

17 The Great Railroad Strike 1877 First major strike Several northern railroad companies cut waged in 1877 Workers refused to work, stopped freight trains and blocked the railroad lines Lasted for a week Federal Government stepped in and called state militias to put down strike Militias killed some strikers over 100 people died from strike Federal troops called in and ended strike

18 Great Strike of 1877!

19 1886 Haymarket Riot Wage cuts again in many industries Violence between workers and police Chicago Crowds protested violent police action A bomb was thrown in the crowd, gunfire erupted and people panicked Over 100 injured and 11 died People blamed foreign born unionists for the violence Americans blamed immigrants or foreigners for problems

20 Haymarket Riot

21 Xenophobia Fear of foreigners Arrests of foreign born Americans Led to arrest of 8 men who were charged with conspiracy Had foreign sounding names!

22 Blacklist American employees were blacklisted or known as trouble makers if they joined unions Employees forbid workers from joining unions

23 1886 American Federation of Labor Samuel Gompers organized workers and formed the AFL Union Increased wages and shorter work weeks Still around today

24 1892 Homestead Strike Carnegie Steel Industry Pennsylvania 5 Months long Managers held a lock-out (refuse workers to work) Workers were fearful of increasing production (dangerous) and seized the plant Police detectives were hired by the company to control the situation Gun battle emerged and 16 people died Governor called in state militia to end the strike

25 Homestead Strike

26 1893 Pullman Strike Pullman Company laid off 1/3 rd of company Cut wages of remaining workers but rent stayed the same Eugene Debs (American Railway Union) led the workers on a strike President Grover Cleveland called in federal troops to end strike as it stopped US Mail Strike collapsed and workers who did not quit the ARU were blacklisted

27 Pullman Strike

28 Yellow-dog Contract 1920s Unlawful contracts that forced employees to sign a contract that they will not join a union before being hired The National Labor Relations Board outlawed Yellow-dog contracts to protect workers 1932 Senator George Norris and Congressman Fiorello LaGuardia passed the Norris- LaGuardia Act which outlawed the Yellow-dog contracts

29 Union/Closed Shop Pre-closed Shop: Employers agree to hire union members only for a job Employees must remain in union as long as they work for that company Post-closed Shop: New employees who are hired must join union right away after being hired Taft-Hartley Act outlawed the closed shop method in 1947

30 Workers who are not union and cross strikers and take strikers jobs. Work for less and just want a job No loyalty and hurt the worker who is on strike Many violent outbursts between strikers and scabs Scabs

31 Injunction A court Order that requires a group or company to refrain or do a specific act Criminal penalty if the group or company does not comply with the court order (law)

32 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890: Congress passed a law that banned monopolies. Capitalism needs competition to create supply and demand Monopolies created no competition