8.4 The Changing Workplace

Cottage Industry

Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution.

Master

Having or showing very great skill or proficiency.

Apprentice

a person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages.

Journeyman

A person who has learned a particular trade or craft but has not become an employer, or master

New Manufacturing Techniques Revolutionized US Economy

Production time drops, allowing a surplus of goods to be created fast

Cost of making and repairing goods was reduced

Allowed unskilled workers to take jobs at lower salaries

Why did factory owners tend to hire young women instead of men?

Employers could pay them lower wages to do same job as men

Behavior and productivity could be closely controlled

Mill Girl

unmarried farm girl, under age of 30 who worked under strict supervision and scrutiny

Strike

a work stoppage intended to force an employer to respond to demands

How did strikes for higher wages at the Lowell mills end?

Companies won earlier strikes because they could easily replace striking workers with cheap immigrant labor

Later strikes were more effective because workers organized into unions and held out for better conditions

National Trades' Union

the first national association of trade unions, united workers from many occupations into one labor organization

The Changing Workplace

Unskilled labor brings omen and immigrants in the work place

Strikes based on poor working conditions

Unions created to protect workers' rights