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Labor movements concise notes

Overview of Labor Unions

  • Labor unions emerged after the Civil War to advocate for workers' rights and improve conditions.

  • Aimed to address poor treatment of workers in industries like steel mills, cotton mills, and mining.

Key Objectives of Labor Unions

  • Influence: Labor unions sought to become more influential politically and socially to gain better rights for workers.

  • Organization: Unions aimed to unite workers, believing collective action would lend them more power.

  • Legislation Goals: To push for laws against child labor and improve working conditions.

Membership Challenges

  • Low Participation: Less than 5% of workers actually joined unions due to fears and the violent nature of many strikes.

  • Strikes: Between 1881 and 1905, there were nearly 37,000 strikes, often perceived negatively by the public and government.

Major Labor Unions

National Labor Union (1866)

  • Founder: William Silvis.

  • Goals: Establish an eight-hour workday, abolish convict labor, create a federal department of labor, end immigration of Chinese workers.

  • Tactics: Used strikes but was largely ineffective in achieving their goals.

Knights of Labor (1869)

  • Founders: Uriah Stevens and Terrence Powderly.

  • Inclusive Membership: Allowed all workers regardless of race or gender, excluding certain professions seen as exploitative.

  • Goals: Equal pay for women, ending child labor, cooperative ownership of businesses, and progressive tax.

  • Approach: Focused on political action rather than strikes; discouraged strikes due to potential violence.

American Federation of Labor (AFL) (1886)

  • Founder: Samuel Gompers.

  • Focus: Skilled trades, primarily white male craftsman.

  • Goals: Higher wages, eight-hour workday, liability laws for employers.

  • Strategy: Utilized collective bargaining, becoming one of the most powerful labor organizations.

Major Strikes

Great Railroad Strike (1877)

  • Cause: Wage reductions leading to nationwide strikes.

  • Response: State and federal governments intervened using militia and federal troops to suppress the strike.

McCormick Harvester Strike (1886)

  • Cause: Wage cuts despite company profits; escalated into violence during a protest in Haymarket Square.

  • Outcome: Violent confrontation and arrests of anarchist leaders led to deep mistrust of unions.

Homestead Strike (1892)

  • Cause: Wage reductions at Carnegie Steel led to conflict between workers and management.

  • Outcome: Violent clashes with Pinkerton detectives and state militia; unions remained weak afterward.

Impact of Strikes and Public Perception

  • Ineffectiveness: Striker demands frequently unmet due to government siding with business owners.

  • Violence and Xenophobia: Strikes often resulted in violence; public associated strikes with immigrants and anarchists, leading to negative perceptions.

Employer Tactics Against Unions

  • Yellow Dog Contracts: Required workers to promise not to join or support a union.

  • Strike Breakers: Employers often hired replacements to undermine strikers.

  • Blacklisting: Strikers could be fired and denied future employment.

Sociopolitical Context

  • Social Darwinism: Favored minimal government intervention and survival of the fittest ideology.

  • Marxism: Popularized the idea that class struggle is the root of societal conflict, advocating for a revolution of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie.

Key Figures

  • Mother Jones: An influential activist focused on child labor reform and rallying support from families for union efforts.