Labor Unions in the Late 19th Century
1820s – 1830s: first attempts to
organize disgruntled workers
(“Workingmen’s Parties”)
• usually middle/upper class
leaders, not laborers themselves
• believed that workers had the
power to reform society
• mostly skilled laborers
• didn’t feel alienated or
disadvantaged (believed in own
value to society
UNION
BEGINNINGS
CIVIL
WAR
• industrialization undermined the
status of skilled workers
• increased mechanization meant
owners had less need for highly
trained artisans and craftspeople
• unskilled laborers performed simple
tasks and were paid lower wages
•
urbanization
+ immigration
more workers = more competition
= less valued
PURPOSE/GOALS
IMPACTS
National
Labor
Union
1866
- est. by William
Sylvis
- “federation” of
citywide trade
unions
- brought together skilled craft workers
into one union
- worked for 88-hr. work day for federal
workers
- kicked out African
African-Amer’s in 1869
- set precedent of organization and some demands
- fairly weak (no enforcement of 8-hr.
8
work day)
- dissolved after Panic of 1873
Knights of
Labor
1869
- est. by Uriah
Stephens, but
expanded by
Terence Powderly
- most inclusive and reform-minded
reform
(in working
conditions and in society at-large)
at
- broad/varied interests meant difficulty sustaining
common commitment given the organization
resources (e.g., skilled and unskilled workers had
separate goals, therefore wanted separate unions)
- associated with Haymarket Riot (sharp decline
thereafter)
Molly
Maguires
1875
- Irish American
immigrants
- coal/rail workers
in Pennsylvania
- tried to unite all workers regardless of
skills, race, gender
- very reform
reform-focused: 8-hr. day, govt.
regulation of railroads; postal savings
banks, govt. paper currency; higher pay;
equal pay for women
- sought arbitration rather than industrial
warfare (not socialist!)
- African--Americans ~ 10% members
- objected to dangerous conditions and
low pay
- demanded right to organize
- used violence, intimidation, ar
arson
American
Federation
of Labor
1886
- est. by Samuel
Gompers
- ‘federation’ of
skilled trade
workers
- protect skilled workers rights
- fairly conservative (anti
(anti-socialist)
- accepted existence of conflict between
workers and employers
- wanted labor to win its fair share
(better wages/hours, improved working
conditions)
tions) through walk
walk-outs/boycotts
- less concern for societal reforms
- mostly non
non-political, but persuaded
members to vote for pro
pro-union
candidates
- favored the “closed shop”
(employment only for union members,
which therefore increased resources for
support
port during strikes)
- eclipsed the Knights of Labor in early 1890s,
though Panic of 1893 reduced its numbers
- by 1917, had 3 million members
- remained the largest union in U.S. until merger
with Congress of Industrial Organizations (1955)
- was the "mainstream" voice of labor during
much of this period
- crushed by Pinkertons, 19 members hanged
- became martyrs to much of labor movement
- Catholic connections contributed to existing
nativist sentiments (and contempt for unions)
STRIKE /
RIOT
“Great
Railway
Strike”
(1877)
CAUSE(S)
COURSE
CONSQUENCE(S)
- wage cuts by railroads during
depression following Panic of
1873
- shut down rail traffic in 14
states (10 railroad networks)
- led to economic parlaysis
- over 100 people killed,
significant property destruction
- farmers/coal miners joined in
- first nationwide strike
- a general strike (beyond single
type of work)
- Pres. Hayes authorized federal
troops to intervene in PA
- over 100 deaths
- terrified propertied classes
- inspired support for the
Greenback-Labor
Greenback
party in 1878
Haymarket
Square
(1886)
- gathering to protest recent
police brutality at Chicago
factory
- 1886 was the year of the
“great upheaval” (over 1000
strikes, including a May Day
general strike)
- growing fears of anarchists
and foreigners who called
workers “to arms”
- anarchists gave speeches
- police called
- bomb thrown (guilt?)
- rioting erupted when police
attacked workers (who were
armed)
- many arrested and/or killed,
though statistics never released
(!)
- at trial, 5 sentenced to death
despite alibis (posthumously
pardoned)
Knights of Labor falsely assoc.
convicted anarchists & declined
sharply; triggered a national wave
of fear; public officials, civic
leaders, the press, and some union
leaders joined in equating foreign
birth with anarchism and terror. In
Chicago hundreds of socialists,
anarchists, and other radicals were
rounded up (mini red scare).
sc
Homestead
Strike
(1892)
- Carnegie’s steel plant near
Pittsburgh
- 3-year
year contract about to
expire (won after earlier strike)
- negotiations broke down
when management announced
would cut wages
- anarchist attempted to
assassinate manager (Fri
(Frick)
- workers went on strike, then
locked out
- workers wouldn’t let scabs in
- Pinkertons called out, along
with state militia
- 14 killed, many wounded
- PA governor ordered militia and
scabs to replace workers!
- demonstrated a strong employer
could break a
union if it
hired a private
police force
and gained
govt. support
- Homestead
union broken
(all striking
workers were fired, wages were cut
for new ones
Pullman
(1894)
- Pullman Co. built a model
company town (factory,
residence, stores, etc.)) for
workers near Chicago
- Pullman Co. hit hard by the
depression, cut wages by 1/3
(but maintained rent and prices
in the company town)
- Eugene Debs organized
American Railway Union to
strike
- under Debs, workers struck,
boycotted trains with Pullman
cars, overturned some railcars
- rail traffic from Chicago to
Pacific Coast paralyzed
- US Attorney General (fed’s top
prosecutor got court injunction to
send federal troops to stop strike -stating strikers interfering with
transit of U.S. mail, which Pres.
Cleveland supported
- Debs arrested
- federal troops sent in over IL
governor’s objections
- violence spread to other states
- strike crushed, ARU destroyed
- strike failed; workers lose again
- while in jail, Debs begins change
to Socialist movement in U.S.
(would later run for President)
- first govt. use of an injunction to
break a strike
- made striking a crime (though not
previously defined as illegal)
- Populists, etc. saw reaction to
strike
ke as proof of an alliance
between Big Business and fed’s