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What problems did workers face?
1) Low Wages
2) Long Hours
3) Unpleasant or dangerous working conditions
4) Child Labor
5) Periodic Unemployment
6) Lack of Opportunity for advancement
7) Unpleasant Living Conditions
How did workers respond to their problems?
They organized into groups call Labor Unions
Labor Unions
An organization formed by workers to strive for better wages, shorter hours and better working conditions.
Knights of Labor
Union that took Skilled, Unskilled labor, African Americans, women and rural farm workers. They wanted
1) An eight hour workday.
2) Higher wages.
3) Safety Codes and equal pay for women.
4) Immigration restrictions
What did the Knights of Labor oppose?
1) Child Labor
2) Convict Labor
American Federation of Labor
They only took Skilled Workers like carpenters, Cigar-makers and shoemakers. They did not take women. Only a few AFL unions admitted African Americans at this time (1886)
What were the goals of the American Federation of Labor
1) Higher Pay
2) An 8 hour workday
3) Better Conditions in the workplace
4) a "Closed Shop".
closed shop
An agreement in which a company agrees to hire only union members
Samuel Gompers
He was the creator of the American Federation of Labor. He provided a stable and unified union for skilled workers.
Haymarket Riot
1886 labor-related protest in Chicago which ended in deadly violence. As a result , unions became associated with violence.
Homestead Strike
1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. "Scab" labor was brought in to force an end to the strike. Violence also took place here.
Pullman Strike
in Chicago, Pullman cut wages but refused to lower rents in the "company town", Eugene Debs had American Railway Union refuse to use Pullman cars, Debs thrown in jail after being sued, strike achieved nothing.
What did all three strikes demonstrate?
The continuing sympathies of the government and the public supported the employers against the labor union.
Ideology
A system of related beliefs and ideas about people, society, economics and government.
Social Darwinism
The belief that humans compete for survival and only those who are naturally superior (the fittest) will meet with the greatest success and survive.
Capitalism
An economic system based on privately own the means of production.
Socialism
A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.
Anarchism
A political theory opposing all forms of government in favor of self-governing communities.
Communism
An Ideology calling for revolution by workers (proletariat) to overthrow the "bourgeoisie" and establish a classless society; this led to a "Planned Economy" in which the government controlled the production.
