Response to Industrialization - Labor

Aim: What was labor's response to Industrialization & Laissez Faire Capitalism?

Do Now: Take Quiz - You have 5-7 Minutes

Lesson Overview:

Item	Approx Time
Do Now	3-5 Min
Mini Lesson	15-20 Min
Activity	15 Min
Discussion	5-7 Min

Overview

In the 1870's, the United States became a leading Industrial power. Advances in technology drove American Industrialization. Industrialization caused the growth of American cities and the decline of the importance of Agriculture. Though Industrialization caused many long-term positives, it did cause problems in the short-term. Rich farmers who could afford new machinery grew even richer, while poorer farmers were forced to move into urban areas as they could not compete in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, in factories,

Early labor unions were an exclusive group. At that time, most Americans were Western European in heritage. When Catholics from Italy, Ireland and Poland began to arrive in the early 1800s, they were often treated poorly by the majority white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (W.A.S.P.) already here. Blacks, especially, were excluded from union membership. Ethnic and religious minorities often found assimilation into American culture difficult.

Laborers and companies often clashed over wages, sanitary conditions, working hours, benefits, and several other issues. Laborers organized themselves into unions to negotiate with companies. The companies, however, attempted to shut down labor unions. Some imposed yellow dog contracts, under which an employer could dismiss a worker who participated in union activity.

The companies sometimes retaliated against strikes by suing the unions. Congress had passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to prevent trusts, or corporations that held stock in several different companies, from obstructing the activities of competitors.

Knights of Labor

The Knights of Labor, founded in Philadelphia in 1869, were more successful. The union was organized by industrial workers who welcomed women, blacks, and even accepted employers, an uncommonly open attitude at the time. The Knights of Labor tried to expand their appeal through demanding an eight-hour work day, and the end of child labor.

By 1886, the Knights of Labor, who accepted both skilled and unskilled workers, counted over 700,000 farmers, laborers and shopkeepers among its members. The union discouraged the use of strikes and supported remaking society along more cooperative lines. Many Americans considered such ideas socialist or communist thinking, and opposed labor reform movements because of it.

Haymarket Riot

In 1886, a series of violent strikes by railroad workers stained the union's reputation. Police were called in when fighting broke out between striking workers and strikebreakers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in the Haymarket area of Chicago, Illinois.

Two union men were shot by police. Later an explosion killed seven policemen. Although the person who set off the bomb was never identified, four labor leaders were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and hanged. The Haymarket Riot made the idea of the eight-hour-day seem very "radical," and this lessened popular support for the organized labor movement.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

As the power of the Knights of Labor declined, the American Federation of Labor rose to the top. Founded in 1886, and under the leadership of Samuel Gompers, the A F of L tried to reform the length of the work day and protect children with child labor laws, and also tried to protect the independence and rights of other existing unions. This union was only for skilled labor in contrast to the Knights of Labor which was for unskilled & skilled labor.

Management vs. Labor

Government vs. Unions

Government leaders feared labor unions would disrupt business, and adversely affect the economy of the United States. In 1895, the Supreme Court used the Sherman Anti-trust Act against unions, ruling that strikes were illegal because they interfered with interstate commerce. Both federal and state troops were used to stop strikes.

Following the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, where 146 workers were killed, the government began to change its opinion. Public sympathy for workers grew, and as a result. Congress passed laws helpful to unions.

In 1913, Congress created the Department of Labor to help enforce labor laws, and study labor statistics. The next year, Congress passed the Clayton Antitrust Act, which exempted unions from antitrust laws and federal injunctions, or court orders, prohibiting strikes.

Congress did not order an eight-hour day until 1933. Even then, the National Industrial Recovery Act was an emergency act taken by President Franklin Roosevelt to help counter the economic ruin caused by the Great Depression. The Act defined maximum hours, minimum wages, and the right to collective bargaining. Struck down by the Supreme Court in May 1935, the Recovery Act was soon replaced by the Wagner Act, which assured workers the right to unionize.

Labor Vocabulary

Term	Definition
Labor Union	Workers who organize against their employers to seek better wages and working conditions for wage earners.
Labor Strike	The unions\' method for having their demands met. Workers stop working until the conditions are met. It is a very effective form of attack.
Boycott	People refuse to buy a company\'s product until the company meets demands.
Scab Worker	New immigrants who would replace strikers and work for less pay. Often violence would erupt between strikers and scabs who were trying to cross picket lines to work.
Closed Shop	A working establishment where only people belonging to the union are hired. It was done by the unions to protect their workers from cheap labor.
Black List or Black Balled	List of people disliked by business owners because they were leaders in the Union. Often would loose their jobs, beaten up or even killed.
Collective Bargaining	Type of negotiation between an employer and labor union where they sit down face to face and discuss better wages, etc.
Lock Out	Owner of industry would “lock out” workers who were trying to form a union and replace them with “scabs”.

Classwork & Homework

Lesson PowerPoint: The Labor Movement Late 1800-1920s

Lesson Extension: Pictures of Child Labor - Late 1800-1920s

Lesson Activity: Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire 1911

Homework: Complete Classwork Activity - Due Thu 3/1/2012