Chapter 18 Notes, part II

I. The Industrial Workforce


A. The factory system
1. Assembly line method of production was adopted in most industries making work tedious and repetitive.
2. Simple work could be done by lower-paid unskilled workers- increased use of women, children, and immigrants
3. More rigorous schedules, working conditions and focus on efficiency

B. Plight of the factory worker
1. Use of unskilled and child workers led to frequent accidents
2. Workers who were injured received few if any benefits
3. Very long hours, often 12 hours a day 7 days per week
4. Low wages $1.30/ day for unskilled male workers ($.84 in South) women as little as $5 for a 70-hr week
5. Instability- could be laid off whenever demand for factory’s products declined.
6. Illnesses- Black and Brown lung diseases, TB


II. Workers Strike Back


A. National Labor Union
1. Formed in 1866 by William Sylvis
2. Advocated 8 hour workday, higher wagers and limits on immigration
3. Welcomed women but believed in racially segregated unions
4. Has as many as 300,000 members but disintegrated soon after Sylvis’ death in 1869

B. Knights of Labor
1. Founded in 1869 by a group of Philadelphia tailors but grew explosively after Terence Powderly became its leader in 1880
2. Under Powderly, the union welcomed unskilled workers, blacks and women (no Chinese)
3. Though Powderly opposed strikes, the Knights gained prominence after the successful Wabash strike against Jay Gould’s railroad in 1885
4. Opposition to Chinese immigration which culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
5. Advanced socialist ideals-worker ownership of companies
6. Began to decline after failed strikes as well as the Haymarket Riot in 1886

C. American Federation of Labor
1. Led by Samuel Gompers starting in 1886
2. Accepted only skilled laborers and excluded blacks and women
3. More pragmatic than the Knights, they fought to improve factory conditions, higher wages and the 8 hour workday
4. Grew to 1.6 million members by1904, still exists as the AFL-CIO. Largest labor union in the US

D. Strikes and Labor Violence
1. 37,000 strikes between 1881- 1905 involving 7 million workers
2. Railroad Strike of 1887- first instance of government using troops to end a strike
3. Fearing unions, management began to demand “yellow dog” contracts (prevent and hire Pinkerton agents and other private security
4. May Day Strike of 1886- 340,000 workers walked off jobs in support of 8 hour workday
5. Haymarket square (1886)- confrontation between McCormick Harvester workers and police ends in casualties. Workers widely blamed by media
6. Coeur d’Alene (1892)- in response to wage cut, miners blew up mill and captured guards, Idaho Natal guard ended the strike, breaking up the union
7. Homestead Strike (1892)- Managers lowered wages and locked out union workers at a Carnegie Steel Mill. Workers fought with Pinkerton agents leading to casualties. Nat’l guard ended strike, breaking up the union
8. Pullman Strike (1894)- Railroad workers led by Eugene Debs paralyzed major railroads by refusing to switch Pullman cars. Workers refused a court order to return to work. Debs was arrested and federal troops sent in; a riot broke out in which 13 people died and 700 railroad cars were burned.
9. Manipulating the media, corporate leaders used strike violence as an example of anarchy and mobocracy to discredit unions
10. Union’s negative public image allowed government to generally side with corporations