Labor Unions, 1866-1910 1
APUSH
Economic
AMERICAN LABOR & UNIONS
(Created and edited by Steve Armstrong, SHS 1994-2006)
I.
Wage earners in the late 19th century A. Positive benefits increased between 1880 and 1914
• real wages rose $7 per year between 1870-1914, expanded health and educational opportunities, increasing
influence in national politics
B. Negative conditions confronting workers in the late 19h century
• worked a minimum 10 hours per day, 6 days per week,
• earned roughly $400-$500 per year (while needing a minimum of $600 just for basic necessities
for the average family)
• few holidays or paid vacations
• little change from the gruesome routine
• easily replaced, as employers fired union members, hired scabs to replace strikers
• poor safety standards, e.g., 1 in 26 railroad workers could expect to be severely injured, thousands
suffered from dust & chemical pollution
• use of child labor was staggering (children under the age of 14)
• unequal pay between men & women (some women earned as little as $2.50 per day, paying the employer
$1.00 for her room, and $1.50 for food, clothes, etc.
• employers used court injunctions to stop strikes
SPECIAL NOTE: Most industrial leaders came from middle or upper class homes, despite the Horatio
Alger stories from the era , for example, of 360 steel leaders in Pittsburgh, only 5 fit the story of Carnegie
II. Most workers never belonged to unions - throughout 19th century, less than 2% of the workforce belonged to any unions
• most workers perceived unions as radical & out of step with American tradition
• most workers were further divided by their craft, ethnicity & other differences
A. By the end of Civil War, many workers began to accept the necessity of labor unions
"The night I joined the Cattle Butchers' Union, I was led into the room by a negro member. With me were
Bohemians, Germans, and Poles. . . We swore to be loyal to our union above everything else except the
country, the city and the state -- to be faithful to each other -- to protect the women workers -- to do our
best to understand the history of the labor movement, and to do all we could to help it on."
A young Lithuanian immigrant
SPECIAL NOTE: Between 1881-1905, there were 36,757 strikes involving 6 million workers
B. National Labor Union (1866) - organized by William Sylvis, this was a union of skilled craft members from the
Pennsylvania iron mills
• grew to 640,000 members prior to Sylvis' death in 1869 -- his death leading the dissolution of the union
• an attempt to form a political party, coupled with the Panic of 1873, ultimately caused the death of the NLU
1. Goals and Objectives - 8-hour work day, temperance, women's rights & suffrage -- they also sought other
humanitarian reforms such as formation of workers' cooperatives
2. The Colored National Labor Union - white NLU members didn't want Blacks to have joint membership within
the NLU
C. The great railway strike (1877) - this occurred at the height of one of the greatest depressions of the era (dating back
to the Panic of 1873)
1. Reasons for the strike - Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads cut salaries by 10% to 20%,
Labor Unions, 1866-1910 2
dropping wages for some workers to 90¢ per day - - workers began walking off their jobs
"We eat our hard bread and tainted meat two days on the sooty cars up the road, and when we come home,
find our children gnawing bones and our wives complaining that they cannot even buy hominy and
molasses for food."
A description of life from a railroad worker
2. The Chicago Daily News was one of the few newspapers to support the railroad strikers
3.
Railroad management - requested that the Governor of West Virginia call out the state militia to stop the strike
• workers began walking off their jobs
• shots were fired, and some militia men, sympathetic to the workers, left their posts
4. Role of the federal troops - President Hayes ordered federal troops to quell the strike, the first time since the
1830s that a president had done this
5. Continuing strike - as more troops entered the scene, townspeople threw rocks and stood in front of trains
• the strike quickly spread to New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio; and in each state, local state militias were called
out
• 20 civilians were killed in one day in Philadelphia (including 3 small children)
• By the end of July, all major railroad lines were stopped, including the major lines between New York &
Chicago, and Chicago and St. Louis
6. Impact of the strike - factories & banks closed in Chicago
• President Hayes ordered six companies of the federal army to Chicago, and further ordered the army to open the
rail lines between Philadelphia & Pittsburgh
• The strike lasted about 2 weeks, impacted 11 states, effected 11,000 miles of the nation's tracks, and involved
80,000 railroad workers & 500,000 other workers
7. Effect of the strike on factories
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Employers tightened hiring procedures, cracked down on unions, and strengthened their own police forces
Management "blacklisted" people who attempted to organize workers
By 1880, most railroads increased the salaries for workers to pre-strike levels
Heightened demands for government to regulate railroads
D. The Knights of Labor grew to over 700,000 members - organized by Uriah Stephens and a group of Philadelphia
garment workers (1869)
1. Goals and objectives • 8-hour work day, abolition of child and prison labor, eliminate trusts and drunkenness,
creation of worker-run factories, railroads, and mines
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a.
started as a secret fraternity until the election of Terrance Powderly as the union president in 1879
sought to unite all labor regardless of job, race, creed, skill, gender
pushed for the creation of a national labor contract law, plus a national Department of Labor
supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to keep Chinese workers out of the labor forces in California
and throughout the West coast
Excluded only certain people - the "parasites" were liquor dealers, bankers, professional gamblers, and lawyers
"There is no reason why labor cannot, through cooperation, own and operate mines, factories and railroads."
Terrance Powderly
• organized women, and had 60,000 African-American members
• utilized Jacksonian period philosophy of being against big business
• initially stated that workers should not strike
2. Membership growth - 42,000 in 1882 to 110,000 by 1885, soaring to 700,000 by the end of 1885
a.
Membership grew after the K of L dropped many of its secret rituals - which were opposed by the Catholic
Church
Labor Unions, 1866-1910 3
• By 1885, the K of L sponsored political candidates in 200 towns and 34 states
3. Initial strikes - the strikes were done by local affiliates of the K of L, without Powderly's sanction
a.
Missouri Pacific Railroad Strike (1885) - gained initially from the strike; however railroad owner Jay
Gould crushed the K of L employed by the Texas and Pacific Railroad, causing many members to leave the
union
b. Master Builders Association of Boston (1885-86) - an affiliate of the K of L, this union struck for the 8hour work day
1]
Initial phase of the strike was a resounding success - hundreds of strikers were successful in preventing
the importation of "scab" replacements
2]
Compromise agreement was reached for a 9-hour day with a provision for overtime
• this strike was crucial in that it demonstrated the new rise of unions following the decline of unions
during the economic slow downs of the 1870s
4. McCormick Harvester strike and the Haymarket Riot - Knights of Labor workers were demanding an 8-hour
work day
• early May 1886, police officers breaking up a strike, shot and killed 2 workers
• May 4, 1886, local leaders called for a general meeting at Haymarket Square, a meeting that some initially
described as peaceful & dull (3,000 attended)
• Police ordered the strikers to disperse, and then a dynamite bomb was thrown into the crowd, killing
one police officer and six other bystanders
• eight anarchists were arrested and convicted of murder. Four were executed, and another committed suicide
"Let the world know that in A.D. 1886, in the state of Illinois, eight men were sentenced to death because
they believed in a better future; because they had not lost their faith in the ultimate victory of liberty and
justice"
August Spies
a.
Caused negative publicity for the Knights of Labor - by 1890, membership in the K of L dropped to less
than 100,000; they were defunct by the end of the 1890s
• Powderly was never able to unify his followers, nor control the militants within the K of L
D. Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor - formed in 1886 as a loose alliance of craft unions
by Samuel Gompers
"I have my own philosophy and my own dreams, but first and foremost I want to increase the
workingman's welfare year by year."
Samuel Gompers
1. A "federation" of smaller craft unions - organized only skilled workers, as Gompers that specific skilled workers
should put their own trade above the unification of all workers
2. Gompers accepted the capitalist system - Gompers adopted a pragmatic approach to solving the issues
between labor and management
• Gompers did not argue for fundamental changes to the capitalist system -- did not oppose monopolies &
trusts, as long as laborers obtained a fairer share of the wages
• wanted workers to be recognized as instrumental to the capitalist system, and that they should share in its
rewards
• sought higher wages, shorter hours, & better working conditions
• would use strikes and boycotts to achieve limited gains
Labor Unions, 1866-1910 4
"The working people find that improvements in the methods of production and distribution are constantly
being made, and unless they occasionally strike, or have the power to enter upon a strike, the improvements
will all go to the employer and all injuries to the employees. A strike is an effort on the part of the workers
to obtain some of the improvements that have occurred . . . We are producing wealth today at a greater ratio
than ever in history . . .
Samuel Gompers, 1899
a.
if treated fairly, A F of L would provide a stable labor force
• this was crucial: one of key complaints of factory owners were of workers who were chronically absent,
inefficient, and drunk at work
3. Membership growth - 140,000 in 1886; 250,000 by 1892, 1 million by 1901, and 2 million by 1914
• A F of L was not eager to have women or African-Americans join the union
- A F of L used high membership fees, technical examinations, etc., to discourage African-American
membership
- Gompers felt that women undercut the pay of men, plus men were hostile to any attempt to include women
in their efforts
". . .The man is the provider . . . [and women who work in factories] bring forth weak children. . . . The
growing demand for female labor is not founded upon philanthropy, as those who encourage it would have
sentimentalists believe; it does not spring from the milk of human kindness. It is an insidious assault upon
the home; it is the knife of the assassin, aimed at the family circle. . . It debars the man through financial
embarrassment from family responsibility, and physically, mentally, and socially excludes the woman
equally from nature's dearest impulses. . .
The wholesale employment of women in the various handicrafts must gradually unsex them, as it most
assuredly is demoralizing them, or stripping them of the modest demeanor that lends charm to their kind,
while it numerically strengthens the . . . army of loafers, paupers, tramps . . .
A F of L View of Women Workers, 1897
E. 1892, mining strike in Couer d-Alene, Idaho - crushed by federal troops
• Mine owners mechanized drilling in the silver mines, and reduced skilled miners to positions of mere
"shovelmen" with lower salaries
• Miners then formed the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), seeking the 8-hour day
F. Opposition from Industrial giants 1. Homestead steel strike (1892) - Carnegie and Frick lowered wages of workers, hoping that their actions
would help break the A I & S W Union
• Amalgamated Iron & Steel Workers (an affiliate of the A F of L) called for a strike
• Frick locked out the workers, then hired a small army of Pinkerton guards to disperse the workers
- Frick ordered the construction of a barbed-wire fence around the factory
a.
Role of troops - Pennsylvania Governor ordered the 8,000 state militia troops to impose peace on
Homestead
• Frick was shot twice by an anarchist not affiliated with the A F of L
• Homestead strike ended, with workers returning to their jobs without the gains they had sought
• Americans became concerned that industrialization might carry too heavy of a social price
b. Carnegie was pleased that the strike had been put down
2. Mining strike (1894) - United Mine Workers called out over 170,000 mine workers in Pennsylvania to strike
• New immigrant miners from Ireland & England were more prone to the use of violence
• Division of "old" miners and "new miners;" e.g., in Illinois, Italian anarchists resorted to inciting riots
Labor Unions, 1866-1910 5
against the wishes of "old" miners - - public opinion shifted against the strikers
- Pennsylvania & Illinois state legislatures enacted laws keeping Irish and English miners out of the mines
- thousands of "old" miners voted Populist in 1894, since the party platform called for immigration
restriction
- United Mine Workers called for the national government to end the "demoralizing effects" of immigration
3. Eugene Debs and the Railroad Workers Union - with the Panic of 1893, Debs seized the opportunity to create
the American Railway Union (ARU), with over 150,000 members
"If the year 1892 taught the workingman any lesson worthy of heed, it is even that the capitalist class, like
a devilfish, had grasped them with its tentacles and was dragging them down to fathomless depths of
degradation."
Eugene Debs
a.
Debs tried unsuccessfully to gain Black admission to the ARU
b. The Great Northern Strike (1893) - Debs & the ARU won concessions after the Great Northern Railway
attempted to slash wages
c.
Pullman Strike (1894) - Pullman was a model company town, controlling all aspects of their worker's
lives
"We are born in a Pullman house, fed from the Pullman shop, taught in a Pullman school, catechized in the
Pullman church, and when we die we shall be buried in the Pullman cemetery and go to the Pullman hell."
a Pullman worker
• During the Panic of 1893, Pullman cut wages by one third, & made no reductions rent and other expenses
• Pullman workers, seeing no way out, joined the ARU in 1894
- remembering the violence of 1877 strikes, Debs urged strikers at Pullman to use not use violence
- Debs wanted to use boycotts of trains using Pullman cars
• Pullman hired 2,500 strike breakers and asked the government for help
- Governor Altgeld of Illinois was sympathetic to workers, & did not want to call out federal troops to
stop the strike
d.
Use of the court injunction - Attorney-General Richard Olney got a court injunction to stop the strike. The
injunction ordered strikers not to interfere with the free operation of the railway
• Olney also persuaded President Cleveland to order federal troops to Chicago to stop the strike
e.
Escalation of the strike - bitter fighting erupted between strikers and guards
• Newspaper headlines were anti-labor - "Frenzied Mobs Still Bent on Death and Destruction"
f.
Note that Gompers refused to assist Debs - Debs' plea for worker solidarity failed
"Capital has combined to enslave labor. We must all stand together or go down in hopeless defeat."
Eugene Debs
g. Debs was ultimately jailed and became a socialist - Debs had been a lifelong Democrat
• U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of injunctions in 1895 (In re Debs)
• Unions began to face middle-class objections that strikes were "un-American"
SPECIAL NOTE: By the end of the 19th century, only 8.4% of all workers were union members.
III. Progressive era reforms - workman's compensation, safety regulations
A. TR believed that industry should submit to some regulation
B. Role of scientific management - Frederick Taylor's new ideas for factories markedly altered the demands on workers
Labor Unions, 1866-1910 6
• many factories incorporated Taylor's ideas, seeing an opportunity to increase efficiency and profits
"The work of every workman is fully planned out by the management at least one day in advance, [and] each
man receives in most cases complete written instructions, describing in detail the task which he is to
accomplish, as well as the means to be used in doing the work."
Frederick Taylor
C. Gompers recognized the threat to workers - Gompers continued to focus on the skilled craftsmen, raising their wages
and improving their benefits
• some industries negotiated with the A F of L in order to avoid strikes
a.
National Association of Manufacturers - formed to counter the A F of L, this group provided employers
with strikebreakers, industrial spies, and further blacklisted union members
• 1908, U.S. Supreme Court that unions were subject to the same anti-trust restraints of industry. This meant
that unions could potentially be held liable to companies which lost money during strikes
D. International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) - formed to support women employed by New York's
garment district (an affiliate of the A F of L)
"The organization of women is not merely a moral question, but also an economic one. Men will never be
certain with their conditions unless the conditions of millions of women are improved."
Fania Cohn of the ILGWU, 1925
• garment workers made about $6 per week for their 56 hour week, usually in overcrowded and unventilated
buildings
- women had to rent their sowing machines & pay for the electricity they used
1. Shirtwaist workers strike (1909) - many social reformers of the era supported the strike, and the workers
eventually won some of their demands
• some companies accepted the demands while others did not
2. Triangle Fire (1911) - over 100 women died in this blaze in New York
a.
Commission - Francis Perkins (later Secretary of Labor), led the investigation into the Triangle Fire,
resulting in state legislation creating a work-week limited to 54 hours, limiting child labor to 14 years old,
& improving safety conditions
E. Ludlow Massacre (1913) - strikers protested conditions at the Ludlow mine in Colorado
a.
Commission - determined that the violence probably was a result of mine owner Rockefeller hired armed guards
to keep miners in line
F. Industrial Workers of the World (1905) - formed by a group of radicals in Chicago, this union went back to the
one big concept of the K of L, & would allow unskilled and skilled workers to join, as well as women, AfricanAmericans, Asians
1. Leadership included Daniel de Leon of the Socialist Party, "Mother" Jones of the K of L, Eugene Debs, and "Big
Bill" Haywood
"This is the Continental Congress of the working class. We are here to confederate the workers of this
country into a working-class movement that shall have for its purpose the emancipation of the working
class from the slave bondage of capitalism."
Bill Haywood
2. Denounced Gompers and the A F of L - IWW's greatest success was in the Pacific Northwest, organizing
miners and lumbermen
Labor Unions, 1866-1910 7
"The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as
hunger and want are found among millions of working people and the few, who make up the employing
class, have the good things in life.
Between these two classes, a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take
possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system."
I W W Preamble, 1908
G. Obstacles from management
1. Infiltration - management hired people to raise trouble within the unions
2. Setting up of violent strikes
3. Ideological basis for opposing unions v. the power involved - some workers believed that unions were an
infringement of individual rights
• some unions, however, were fused by the A F of L
4. Ethnic and racial divisions fragmented the unions early on - the American working class became foreign born,
plus, conflicts arose between white and Black workers