Alex Lawrence
Workers in the Progressive era
General context: (economy/public mood)
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Economy: Short depression in 1893; economic growth from 1890-1929. Mechanisation of industry & agriculture on the rise  blast furnaces were mechanical; 1,300% increase in steel production
(1890-1929). Machine tools more common; had been enlarged and made more efficient. Value of capital rose 25% (1899-1929); output tripled 1900-40. Labour force grew from 22m – 53m: 22%
industrial (1900), 24% industrial (1940). Freight traffic rose 500%; intercity trucking employed 1 million p/a (more than railroads in their peak (1903)). Automobiles on the rise. Lower demand for
skilled workers with mechanisation; more of a place for semi-skilled & unskilled workers. Acceleration of concentration of ownership.
Public: Rise of progressive movements. Problems: spread of slums & poverty, exploitation of labour; breakdown of democracy, rapid movement towards industrial & financial concentration. Fears
of large combinations of political & economic power destroying American democratic tradition. Movement aligned itself with labour; improving working & living conditions.
Key sfd and examples
1: Would their
political influence
change the
situation for
workers?
Socialist Party of America (SPA): Formed in 1901 by Debs; had been influenced by Marx.
Presidential candidate in 1900 (96k votes), 1904 (400k votes), 1912 & 1920 (915k).
Aims: regulation of labour, trusts, mines transportation & communication facilities, shorter
hours & no child labour.
1912: >118k SPA members in office: 1 Congressman & 56 mayors.
2: Did the actions
and attitude of
the Federal
Government
change?
Roosevelt: Formed Dept of Commerce & Labour (1903) through Congress.
Reinstated the Sherman Act; 44 corporations faced suits: JPM, American Tobacco Company &
Standard Oil were large targets.
Anthracite Coal Strike: Roosevelt negotiated with the strikers and granted them a 10% increase
in pay and a reduce in working hours.
Created the Meat Inspection Act 1906; having mandatory inspection of meat packing.
Taft: Created Federal Children’s Bureau & Dept of Labour
Wilson: Clayton Anti-Trust Act 1914: attacked anti-business policies & protected unions by
preventing injunctions of unions; creating the Federal Trade Commission.
Owen-Keatings Act banned children U14 to work.
Adamson Act: 8-hour day for rail workers.
Congress: Clayton measure: Gompers (Pres of AFL) praised it as it protected the right of unions
to strike and to organiser workers & outlawed injunctions on workers.
Adamson Act affirmed by New vs Wilson (1917) fixing minimum wage & maximum hours for
rail workers.
Senator La Follette’s Seaman’s Act: improved working & living conditions for seamen;
abolishing imprisonment for desertion, improved pay, living conditions & food allowances.
State Governments: Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire: A sweatshop in NYC caught fire on the
8th floor of a building, doors were locked to prevent theft and many jumped out the windows
(died) and 146 were killed, many immigrant females. Lead to creation of health & safety acts
as well as factory fire codes & child labour laws.
Compulsory Accident Insurance Schemes introduced by states: workers should be
compensated for any accidents in the workplaces and considered costs of production. 190913, 32 states launched committees investigating accidents and hazards in the workplace. 30
states enacted compulsory compensation laws. SC case NYC Railroad Co. v. White upheld these
laws.
Analysis in response to the question
The large backing of the SPA changed the political influence for workers as the
workers could be represented on a political scale, especially with the success of the
SPA as even the Democrats & Republicans had to compete with them; which could
have sculpted Democratic & Republican policy to appease workers for the sake of
gaining votes.
Attitude of the federal government was very diverse. The most liberal was the
President which became more liberal after Roosevelt came into office. This
consequently made the Congress more liberal and despite the occasional Progressive
attitude of the Supreme Court, the SC upheld large amounts of Progressive era
legislation. Overall however, the attitude changed and fit the era more tidily with the
advent of more liberal Presidents which accommodated for unions and improving
working/living prospects of the workers.
Alex Lawrence
Minimum wage laws for women were introduced into 12 states and upheld by SC. SC ruling
Muller vs Oregon upheld the right to minimum hour laws for women.
SC: Was anti-labour in the early stages of the Progressive Era; changed after Roosevelt.
Cases were mostly upheld prog era laws: Stetler v O’Hara (upheld minimum wage law) Muller v
Oregon (maximum hour laws), NYC Central Railroad Co v White (accident insurance laws),
Wilson v New (confirmed Congress’ right to enact wage & hour laws).
3: Did Unions
make more
progress in the
Progressive era?
AFL: Rises of SPA & Industrial Workers of the World, as rivals, reduced AFL support.
As plans to strengthen foundations of the AFL, funding became more dependable & control
over local unions increased. Workers looked to the national organisations rather than the
local/region organisations. Structure did cause problems as the unions were divided by
craft/skill rather than industry which divided industries into smaller unions (craft autonomy);
and weakened collective influence.
This caused tensions as motivation of improvement became a conflict of interests: issues over
the Brotherhood of Carpenters (carpenters) & the Amalgamated Carpenters (wood-workers)
which threatened their resignation of the AFL but merged instead.
Lack of craft made a worker vulnerable as they could be easily replaced due to mechanisation.
Thus, the AFL only had skilled workers. This rule was actually breached by the AFL with
situations with the United Mine Workers (UMW) who refused to break up into craft-based
unions. Membership of the AFL actually rose from this flexibility however, after united coal
strikes (1902) across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana & Illinois which was noticed by Roosevelt
who granted them a pay rise, and actually increased AFL membership; 1904 membership
reaching a high of 1.675 million workers.
Ludlow Massacre won more sympathy of the AFL. 1917: 2.3m members.
Average working week of skilled labourers fell by 15 hours from 1897 – 1917 compared to no
change for unskilled workers. Average wage of AFL members increased by 60% compared to
30% for unskilled at a time where costs of living had risen by 40%.
AFL was an economic success.
Industrial Worker of the World (IWW/Wobblies): Believed the solution was to organise “one
great industrial union embracing all industries” arguing that the AFL had created an aristocracy
of skills; forgetting about mechanisation and resulting degradation of labour; failing to address
the gap between capitalists and the workers.
1907: won “Free-speech fights in CA, Kansas, Missouri & Washington.
1912: Managed to raise wages of Eastern US textile workers who were unskilled, unable to join
the AFL, who were paid $8.76 per 56-hour week. The 25,000, mostly immigrant workforce,
went on strike, supported by the IWW, and succeeded in raising wages.
Turned attention to the lumber, silk & mining industries. However, their work attracted
violence: a lumber strike resulted in 36 IWW dead & 21 vigilantes dead; IWW supporters
involved charged with murder. New Mexico mob rounded up 1,200 IWWs & took them to the
desert with cattle cars, taking the local authorities 36 hours to find them.
The IWW attracted great attention for immigrant and unskilled workers, however, while doing
so, also attracted brutality and violence following strikes.
Huge fluxes of immigrants (18m 1890-1920) making patriots assume crime, disease and
pauperism rates were the fault of immigrants. These patriots formed unions managing to pass
compulsory literary tests for aspiring immigrants despite a presidential veto (Wilson - 1917).
Both the AFL & the IWW made large differences on their respected working
groups with the AFL doing far more work for skilled workers. However, the
IWW managed to bring in violence and brutality towards striking members
making unskilled workers vulnerable; showing the influence of firms over
state government as they hired state militia and private militia to get past
strikes still.
However, unions did contribute largely to improving economic prospects for
workers.
Alex Lawrence
4: Were
Management/Big
Business acting in
the same was as
during the Gilded
Age?
Open Shop Firms: (a firm which employs non-union workers). Employer cooperatives were
formed and huge open shop campaigns were launched by businesses. Undermined progress of
AFL. 38 companies in Drayton, Ohio formed an employer cooperative, Drayton Employers
Association where all the factories closed for “repairs” and stated that workers would have to
apply to work there again on the conditions that they would work alongside non-union
workers. AFL membership dropped by 85% in this area after this event. A National Association
of Manufacturers was launched in 1903 after these successes, which attacked closed-shop
firms as being “un-American”; blaming labour for all industrial disturbances.
AFL suffered defeats in the NY construction industry, Amalgamated Meat Cutters defeated and
Teamsters (transport union) forced to give up demands of improved conditions. US Steel Corp.
broke a 14-month strike of its holdings of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel & Tin
Workers and became open shop (1910). US Steel employed tactics of; profit sharing wage
agreements, voluntary health & accident insurance schemes & creation of vocational, social &
medical facilities for employees; all in order to draw workers away from unions.
Violence still occurred from employers though; Ludlow Massacre (1914); militiamen killing 17
sit-in strikers at the Standard Oil Co’s Colorado Fuel & Iron Co.
Violence of workers: Bombing of the LA Times building 1910: After the publisher, Otis, led a
propaganda campaign to undermine unions, stimulating industry which stirred class
resentment. A dynamite explosion on the LA Times building killed 22 people and damaged the
property hugely with JB & JJ McNamara pleading guilty & JB receiving a life sentence. This
attack lead to another 38 guilty from the Iron-Workers Union wrecking labour sympathy and
wrecking Harriman’s Socialist Labour LA mayor candidacy; which he was on track to win until
this event.
Welfare Capitalism: Became very prominent across employers in the 1910s-20s. Employers set
up programs e.g. sports team, recreational facilities, music groups, insurance programs, profit
sharing plans etc, to keep workers from joining unions; keeping them happy & loyal.
Businesses changed their ways in the prog era and welfare Capitalism
became very prominent; showing that workers’ rights and respect from firms,
improved as measures were taken to keep them happy as opposed to having
only productivity and output related aims.
However, violence of workers did occur, both ways, from grass roots, to the
top end where militia were hired, by the capitalists, to keep the workers in
order and loyal, though by fear.