LABOR UNIONS
AP US HISTORY
MAIN IDEA
• WHILE UNIONS DEVELOP AS EARLY AS 1790, THEY ARE RELATIVELY
IMPORTANT
• ONE OF THE REASONS WAS THE DOMINANCE OF AGRICULTURE – 90% - 1790
• CHEAP LAND – ONE DAY’S WAGES = ONE ACRE
• SCARCITY OF LABOR IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM
• DOMINANT ATTRACTION TO LAND OWNERSHIP RATHER THAN FACTORY WORK
EARLY INDUSTRIALIZATION
• EARLY INDUSTRIALIZATION 1820S-1830S – CAUSES A CHANGE IN THE
CONCEPT OF LABOR
• DECLINING CAMARADERIE WITH OWNERS
• INCREASINGLY LABOR BECOMES A COST PRODUCTION TO BE MANAGED – MORE IMPERSONAL
• EXPLOITATION OF LABOR RESULTED FROM THIS
• HOURS 12-14 PER DAY
• $1-6 PER WEEK UNSKILLED – 4-10 PER WEEK FOR SKILLED
• AVG INCOME OF AMERICAN WORKERS WAS $400-500 PER WEEK WHEN A REASONABLE STANDARD OF LIVING
REQUIRED $600
• LEGAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE WERE IMPOSED – MANY VIEWED ORGANIZED LABOR AS A
CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY
• PRIOR TO 1835 ONLY 24 STRIKES
• 1842 – COMMONWEALTH V HUNT RULES THAT LABOR UNIONS ARE NOT ILLEGAL CONSPIRACIES AND THAT STRIKES
ARE ILLEGAL
WOMEN AND CHILDREN
• 1820 ½ OF THE INDUSTRIAL WORKFORCE WAS COMPOSED OF CHILDREN
• BENEFITS OF EMPLOYING WOMEN AND CHILDREN
• WAGES COULD BE KEPT LOW
• EASIER TO CONTROL AND COERCE
LABOR UNION
• SUCH EARLY UNIONS AS WERE FORMED FUNCTIONED MUCH LIKE CRAFT
GUILDS – LIMITING ENTRY INTO A PROFESSION
SERIOUS OBSTACLES IN ORGANIZING THE AMERICAN
LABOR FORCE
• WORKERS TENDED TO VIEW THEMSELVES AS INDIVIDUALS – NEVER DEVELOP A CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS
AS EUROPEAN WORKERS DID
• PASSIVE NATURE OF AMERICAN WORKERS – NOT GREATLY MOTIVATED BY RADICAL POLITICAL DOCTRINE
• IMMIGRANT LABOR POOL TENDED TO DEPRESS PRICES – PARTICULARLY LATE IN THE 19TH CENTURY (MAY
HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY INDUSTRIAL ADS FOR LABOR IN EUROPE)
• ETHNIC TENSION – BETWEEN VARIOUS EARLY IMMIGRANT GROUPS AND BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES
• TREMENDOUS POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF INDUSTRY
SERIOUS OBSTACLES IN ORGANIZING THE AMERICAN
LABOR FORCE
• MOBILITY – TWO ASPECTS
• LABORERS – EASIER TO MOVE THAN TO ENDURE HARDSHIPS AND WIN VICTORIES THAT REQUIRE A MAJOR
EFFORT
• INDUSTRY – EASY ACCESS TO STRIKEBREAKERS
• INCREASE IN THE ABSOLUTE STANDARD OF LIVING DURING THE PERIOD SUPPRESSED DISSATISFACTION
• CHEAP GOODS CONTRIBUTED GREATLY TO THIS
• AMERICAN DREAM CONCEPT – FOCUS ON THE IDEA THAT IF ONE COULD NOT RISE ABOVE HIS CONDITION WITH
INDIVIDUAL EFFORT, THE PROBLEM WAS WITH THE CHARACTER OF THE MAN – POSSIBILITY OF SOCIAL MOBILITY IN
THIS COUNTRY – EVERYONE THOUGHT THEY WOULD SOMEDAY BE BETTER (CARNEGIE)
• ASSOCIATION OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT WITH RADICAL FOREIGN ELEMENTS – THEREBY GIVING LABOR UNIONS
THE CONNOTATION OF BEING UN-AMERICAN
GAINS DURING THE CENTURY
• COMMONWEALTH V HUNT 1842 – UNIONS AND STRIKES LEGAL
• STATE ADOPTION OF THE 10 HR IN NH AND PA – EXCEPT FOR EXPRESSED CONTRACTS –
PRE-SIGNED AGREEMENTS TO VARY THE CONDITION OF HIRING
• JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY AND THE GAINS IN SUFFRAGE FOR THE COMMON MAN –
THIS MEANT THAT THE INDUSTRIAL WORKER BEGAN TO HAVE MORE POLITICAL CLOUT
• 1840 – VAN BUREN ESTABLISHES THE 10 HOUR DAY ON PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT
• 1868 8 HOUR DAY ESTABLISHED ON PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS
• 1884 – ESTABLISHED OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR – INDICATION THAT THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT WAS MORE RECEPTIVE TO WORKING CONDITIONS
GAINS DURING THE CENTURY
• 1885- PROHIBITION OF THE IMPORT OF CONTRACT LABOR
• 1892 – ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 8 HOUR DAY FOR GOVT EMPLOYEES
• 1898 – ERDMAN ACT – ARBITRATION REQUIRED FOR INTERSTATE CARRIERS
• AS WELL, STATES PASSED SIMILAR LABOR LAWS DURING THE PERIOD –
HOWEVER, BY THE END OF THE CENTURY- 70% OF ALL WORKERS STILL
WORKED 10-12 HOUR DAYS, 6-7 DAYS PER WEEK
POST CIVIL WAR LABOR CLIMATE
• CIVIL WAR CAUSED THE EXPANSION OF UNIONS – LOOK AT HARD TIMES
AS OPPOSED TO GOOD TIMES RELATIVE TO LABOR MOVEMENT GROWTH
• DURING GOOD TIMES LABOR UNIONS ARE VIEWED AS UNNECESSARY
• DURING BAD TIMES WORKERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD
MEMBERSHIP- STRIKES ARE MORE EASILY BROKEN
POST WAR PROBLEMS REGARDING ORGANIZATION
• INCREASED TECHNOLOGY
• LONG TERM GAINS IN EMPLOYMENT MAY REQUIRE SHORT TERM SACRIFICES – PARTICULARLY FOR SKILLED
WORKERS
• INCREASINGLY GLUTTED LABOR MARKET
• INCREASINGLY DOMINATED BY IMMIGRANTS
• RAILROAD ACCESSIBILITY ALLOWED GREATER LATITUDE IN WHERE INDUSTRY WAS LOCATED
• AWAY FROM STRONG UNION CENTERS
• INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED EMPLOYER TOOLS USED TO DISCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF LABOR
INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED EMPLOYER TOOLS USED TO DISCOURAGE
THE GROWTH OF LABOR
• SCABS – JAY GOULD “I CAN HIRE ONE HALF OF THE WORKING CLASS TO KILL OFF THE OTHER HALF”
• BIG BUSINESS TIES TO GOVT
• COURTS PARTICULARLY PRONE TO ISSUE INJUNCTIONS AGAINST UNIONS – COULD ISSUE CEASE AND DESIST
ORDERS
• PUNISHMENTS – FINES OR IMPRISONMENT OF LEADERS
• STATE AND FEDERAL TROOPS WERE USED TO PROTECT THE PROPERTY OF OWNERS AND TO PUT DOWN
STRIKES (CIVIL UNREST)
• LOCKOUT – WHY WOULD THIS TOOL WORK? OWNERS COULD HOLD OUT LONGER THAN THE WORKERS
INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED EMPLOYER TOOLS USED TO
DISCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF LABOR
• YELLOW DOG CONTRACTS –
• PRE HIRING AGREEMENTS (CONTRACTS) THAT ESTABLISHED GUARANTEES OF NON UNION INVOLVEMENT AS
CONDITION OF ONE’S EMPLOYMENT
• BLACKLISTS –
• CIRCULATED LISTS OF UNION ACTIVISTS WHICH PRECLUDED THEIR HIRING BY OTHER EMPLOYERS
• NEWSPAPER BIAS –
• TIES TO BIG BUSINESS (THEY WERE PART OF BIG BUSINESS)
• PUBLIC BIAS AGAINST UNION STEMMING FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM MENTALITY
• GENERAL DISTRUST OF IMMIGRANTS –
• FEAR OF UNION TIES WITH RADICAL GROUPS – ANARCHISTS
EARLY LABOR UNREST
• MOLLY MCGUIRES – PA COAL MINERS UNWILLING TO ACCEPT PAY CUTS
AFTER THE PANIC OF 1873
• MINE OWNERS CUT WAGES, CRUSHED STRIKES WITH STRIKEBREAKERS AND ARMED GUARDS
• MOLLY MCGUIRES RESORT TO VIOLENCE AGAINST MINE OWNERS – SABOTAGE, INTIMIDATION,
MURDERS, AND BEATINGS
• PINKERTON DETECTIVES HIRED – EVENTUALLY TEN MOLLY MCGUIRES WERE CONVICTED AND
HANGED
• NET EFFECT – “NO STRIKE WAS INAUGURATED BY THIS SECRET SOCIETY, BUT THE MURDERS,
BEATINGS, AND OTHER ACTIONS BY IT CAUSED A FEVERISH CONDITION IN THE PUBLIC MIND, SO
THAT WHEN THE GREAT ERA OF HISTORIC STRIKES REALLY OPENED THE PEOPLE FEARED FOR THE
CONTINUANCE OF INDUSTRY AND FOR THE GENERAL PROSPERITY
RAILWAY STRIKES
• SERIES OF WAGE CUTS TIED TO THE PANIC OF 1873
• STRIKE BEGAN NATIONWIDE
• STATE AND FEDERAL TROOPS WERE CALLED OUT TO RESTORE ORDER
• IN BALTIMORE – NINE WERE KILLED
• IN PITTSBURGH – 10 MILLION IN PROPERTY DAMAGE
• BY JULY 100 KILLED; 300 WOUNDED
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR
• ESTABLISHED IN 1869 BY URIAH STEPHENS
• SIMILAR TO THE NATIONAL LABOR UNION
• GOALS
• SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH ONE BIG UNION OF SKILLED AND UNSKILLED WORKERS
• ESTIMATES OF MEMBERSHIP AT ITS PEAK RANGE – 700,000 TO 1 MILLION
LEADERSHIP CHANGE IN KNIGHTS OF LABOR
• TERRANCE POWDERLY REPLACES STEPHENS
• PROVIDED RELATIVELY POOR LEADERSHIP
• IS OPPOSED TO STRIKES
HAYMARKET SQUARE RIOTS
• WORKERS STRIKING AT MCCORMICK
• PINKERTON STRIKEBREAKERS STAGE A LOCKOUT
• WORKERS PROTEST OUTSIDE THE GATE – 5-3-86; GATES OPENED AND
SHOTS FIRED – SIX STRIKERS KILLED AND 20 WOUNDED
• RALLY SCHEDULED FOR FOLLOWING DAY AT HAYMARKET SQUARE
• RAINING – LAST SPEECH OF DAY – ONLY 500 PEOPLE REMAIN
• POLICE DESCEND ON HAYMARKET AND ORDER THE CROWD TO DISPERSE
• BOMB THROWN – 7 POLICE AND 4 DEMONSTRATORS KILLED- 200 WOUNDED
KNIGHTS OF LABOR
• KNIGHTS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENT IN THE PUBLIC MIND
• 8 ANARCHISTS ROUNDED UP (NO PROOF)
• 4 HANGED
• 1 SUICIDE
• 3 GIVEN PRISON TERMS
• EVENTUALLY PARDONED BY GOVERNOR JOHN ALTGELD (LIBERAL GOV OF IL)
EFFECTS OF HAYMARKET
• HAYMARKET CONDEMNS THE KNIGHTS – IN THE PUBLIC MIND THERE IS
GUILT BY ASSOCIATION
• NEWSPAPERS PLAY UP THE INCIDENT AND THE ANARCHIST NATURE OF THE
LABOR MOVEMENT
• MEMBERSHIP DECLINES TO 100,000 BY 1890 – BY 1900 ITS DEAD
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
• MAJOR DIFFERENCES FROM EARLIER LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
• THEY ORGANIZE SKILLED WORKERS ONLY – THUS THEY HAVE GREATER LEVERAGE
• INDIVIDUALS DO NOT JOIN THE AFL BUT LOCAL LABOR UNIONS JOIN
• BLACKS ARE EXCLUDED
AFL CONCRETE GOALS
• CONCRETE MANAGEABLE GOALS
• IMPROVED WAGES
• SHORTER HOURS
• BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS
AFL – HOW TO REACH GOALS?
• SOUGHT TO USE STRIKES AS THE PRIMARY WEAPON TO ATTAIN GAOLS
• TO A DEGREE IT AVOIDED POLITICS
• GAVE UP ON EDUCATED PUBLIC
SAMUEL GOMPERS
• SAMUEL GOMPERS HEADED THE AFL = DYNAMIC, FORCEFUL, AND TIRELESS
• REELECTED FOR 26 TERMS IN 27 YEARS
• SURVIVED DEPRESSIONS, AND STRIKES
• BY 1900 – 500,000 STRONG
• BY 1900, PUBLIC OPINION HAD BEGUN TO SWING IN THE FAVOR UNIONS – PERHAPS PUT OFF BY
EXCESSIVE ABUSES OF BIG BUSINESS – AFL BENEFITS FROM THIS CHANGE IN ATTITUDE
LABOR VIOLENCE IN THE 1890S • MOST BROUGHT ON BY THE PANIC OF 1893
• 1881-1900 – 23,000 STRIKES INVOLVING 6.6 WORKERS – RESULTING IN
450 MILLION IN LOST PRODUCTION
HOMESTEAD STRIKE OF 1892
• OCCURS AT CARNEGIE STEEL – CARNEGIE WAS ACTUALLY RECEPTIVE TO UNIONS BUT
WAS OUT OF COUNTRY – HENRY FRICK IN CHARGE (ANTI-UNION)
• AT ISSUE WAS A WAGE CUT FOR A SMALL MINORITY OF THE WORKERS
• SUPPORTED BY OTHER UNION MEMBERS
• LOCKOUT ENSUES – THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORT FRICK BEGINS
• 300 PINKERTON GUARDS ARE CALLED FOR
• 8000 STATE MILITIA CALLED OUT TO RESTORE ORDER
• PUBLIC OPINION SHIFTS AGAINST THE UNION WHEN AN ANARCHISTS ATTEMPTS TO
ASSASSINATE FRICK – TOTALLY UNRELATED TO THE UNION – NEVERTHELESS – THE
UNION REAPS THE ILL WILL RESULTING FROM THE ACT
OUTCOME OF THE HOMESTEAD ACT
• FRICK ABOLISHES THE 8 HR DAY AND INSTITUTES 2 12 HOUR SHIFTS –
SEVEN DAYS PER WEEK
• 40% PAY CUT FOR SKILLED WORKERS – 16.5 CENTS PER HOURS FOR
UNSKILLED WORKERS
• 30 YEARS BEFORE THE UNION IS AGAIN EFFECTIVE IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY
• CARNEGIE PROFITS – IN THE 17 YEARS PRIOR TO THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE –
27 MILLION – IN THE 9 YEARS FOLLOWING THE STRIKE – 106 MILLION
PULLMAN STRIKE
• 1894 – DIRECTLY BROUGHT ON BY THE PANIC OF 1893
• GEORGE PULLMAN – SLEEPING CAR INVENTOR – ESTABLISHED THE MODEL
TOWN OF PULLMAN FOR HIS WORKERS
• PANIC OF 1893 FORCES LAYOFFS OF 3000 WORKERS
• OTHER SUFFER WAGE REDUCTIONS 25-40%
• SERVICES AND RENTS IN PULLMAN WERE NOT REDUCED
• “A WORKER SELDOM EARNED AS MUCH AS SIX DOLLARS A WEEK AFTER THE COMPANY HAD TAKEN
ITS DEDUCTIONS. IN ONE INSTANCE, AN EMPLOYEE FOUND THAT AFTER PAYMENT FOR HIS RENT WAS
TAKEN OUT HIS PAYCHECK CAME TO 2 CENTS. HE NEVER CASHED IT”
PULLMAN STRIKE
• STRIKERS SOUGHT SUPPORT FROM EUGENE DEBS (SOCIALIST LABOR
LEADER) AND HIS AMERICAN RAILWAY UNION
• ORIGINALLY HE WAS UNINTERESTED – AFTER A VISIT TO PULLMAN HE
CHANGED HIS MIND
• AMERICAN RAILWAY UNION STOPPED HANDLING TRAINS WITH PULLMAN
CARS ATTACHED CREATING A BOTTLENECK IN CHICAGO
• RAILROADS WANTED FEDERAL TROOPS CALLED IN – COULDN’T GET
ALTGELD TO AGREE TO MAKE THE REQUEST
PULLMAN STRIKE
• CLEVELAND’S ATTORNEY GENERAL WAS RICHARD OLNEY (FORMER RAILROAD LAWYER) WHO WAS
ANXIOUS TO HELP FORMER EMPLOYERS – HE URGED PRESIDENT CLEVELAND TO ACT
• RAILROAD OWNERS HIT UPON THE IDEA OF ATTACHING MAIL CARS TO TRAINS WITH PULLMAN CARS –
THUS STRIKERS WOULD BE INTERFERING WITH THE DELIVERY OF THE MAILS
• COURT ISSUE AN INJUNCTION – DEBS DEFIES IT AND IS JAILED
• CLEVELAND CALLS OUT FEDERAL TROOPS – “IF IT TAKES THE ENTIRE ARMY AND NAVY OF THE US TO
DELIVER A POSTCARD IN CHICAGO, THAT POSTCARD WILL BE DELIVERED”
• ALTGELD REACTION “I WILL SAY THAT THE STATE OF IL IS NOT ONLY READY TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF,
BUT STANDS READY TO FURNISH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITH ANY ASSISTANCE IT MIGHT NEED
ELSEWHERE”
• 2000 FEDERAL TROOPS ARE CALLED OUT – 30 STRIKERS KILLED – LEADERS ARRESTED
DEBS
• DEBS WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT 5 TIMES AS A SOCIALISTS
• 1900- 96,000
• 1904 – 402,000
• 1908 – 420,000
• 1912 – 901,000
• 1920 – 919,00 WHILE IN PRISON
• NET EFFECT – INDICATE THAT THE ROAD LABOR TRAVELED WAS NOT AN EASY
ONE IMAGINE THE PERSEVERANCE NECESSARY FOR THE LABOR LEADERS OF THE
DAY TO CONTINUE ON THAT PATH