Warm up
 Sentence Correction
 Journal: In “History Alive” textbook read pg. 180, section
titled “Workers Unite for Better Conditions”.
 Question: What is a labor union?
 What were their goals?
 Where did a lot of a union’s power come from?
Unions
 Labor unions = Group of workers organized to protect
it’s members!
 Generally, big business owners HATED unions. Tried
to squash them!
History of Labor Day
 http://www.history.com/videos/history-of-laborday#history-of-labor-day
How did the Pullman Strike
end?
 Strikers refused to follow injunction and didn’t break
up.
 Debs and other union leaders were arrested.
 Cleveland sent in 2,000 troops to end the strike.
 Fighting broke out
 Strike was broken and many returned to work.
 Pullman died in 1897 – he believed he was still a
morally upright man.
Working Conditions
 Long hours, long weeks.
 Did NOT have vacation, sick leave, unemployment
compensation or workers compensation.
 Factories = dirty, poorly ventilated, poorly lit
 Repetitive tasks done hour after hour after hour….after
hour…
 Some women and children had no choice but to work.
Child Labor
 Size allowed them to move in small spaces.
 Didn’t have to pay them as much.
 Children easier to control.
 Forced to forgo education.
 http://www.history.com/videos/the-fight-to-end-childlabor#the-fight-to-end-child-labor
Labor Unions
 National Labor Union (NLU)
 Consisted of 300 local unions in 13 states
 Persuaded congress to legalize an eight-hour day for
government workers
 William Sylvis (founder) encouraged unions to open
doors to African Americans and women.
 Knights of Labor
 Focus on individual workers
 Open to all – any race, gender or degree of skill
Labor Unions con’t
 American Railway Union
(ARU)
 Eugene V. Debs.
 Includes skilled and unskilled
workers.
Socialism
 Government controls business and property and equally
distributes wealth.
Strikes!
 The Great Strike of 1877
– Protesting second wage
cut
 The Haymarket affair
 The Homestead Strike
 The Pullman Strike
 All were very violent!!
Government Pressure
 Employers recruited the
government to put down
strikes.
 Court rulings stated if a
strike, picket line or
boycott would hurt
interstate trade, the state or
government would issue
and injunction or court
order.
 Basically making all of
that illegal