American Labor Movement History, Unions, and Strikes

When: $1869$
Who: Founded with broad inclusivity; primary leading figure was Terrence V. Powderly. Included skilled and unskilled laborers, women, and Black workers (excluded Chinese immigrants, liquor dealers, gamblers, lawyers, bankers, and stockbrokers).
What: Major early labor organization advocating for mutual benefit, protection, and broad structural reforms.
Where: United States.
Why: Programmatic goals included implementing an $8\,\text{hour}$ workday, achieving equal pay for equal work, and ending child labor.

When: $1877$
Who: Workers from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), President Rutherford B. Hayes, and federal troops.
What: Recognized as America's first major strike, paralyzing rail transportation in the region.
Where: Northeast region of the United States.
Why: Initiated by workers to protest their second wage cut within a period of $2\,\text{months}$ . President Hayes deployed federal troops to run the rail lines and break the strike.

When: May 1 – May 4, $1886$
Who: Approximately $40{,}000$ Chicago strikers, labor leaders, Anarchist leaders, and nearly $200$ police officers.
What: A strike and rally that turned deadly when an unidentified person threw a dynamite bomb at police lines, killing $7$ officers and injuring $75$ people. Eight Anarchist leaders were charged with murder for inciting the riot ( $4$ executed, $1$ suicide in prison, $3$ pardoned).
Where: Chicago, Illinois.
Why: Began as a strike for an $8\,\text{hour}$ workday on May 1 (May Day) and escalated after police killed $2$ strikers during confrontations on May 3.

When: Established in the late 19th century; led for $40\,\text{years}$ by Samuel Gompers.
Who: Led by Samuel Gompers; strictly restricted membership to skilled workers, effectively excluding most unskilled factory immigrants.
What: An umbrella organization composed of distinct trade unions (e.g., United Steel Workers, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Teachers, Postal Workers, Firefighters, Farm Workers).
Where: United States.
Why: Focused strictly on core "bread and butter" issues: higher wages, shorter working hours, safer working conditions, and collective bargaining.

When: $1892$
Who: Carnegie Steel factory workers, plant manager Henry Clay Frick, $300$ Pinkerton Detectives, scab replacement workers, and an $8{,}000$ -man State Militia.
What: Striking workers overtook the steel plant after armed clashes with Pinkertons ( $30$ townspeople and $10$ Pinkertons killed). The State Militia suppressed the strike ( $16$ deaths), scabs were brought in, and the steel union was destroyed for $50\,\text{years}$ .
Where: Homestead, Pennsylvania (Carnegie Steel plant).
Why: Workers struck in response to management instituting a wage cut.

When: $1893$ (Labor Day established in $1894$
Who: American Railway Union (ARU) led by Eugene V. Debs, Pullman factory workers, President Grover Cleveland, and federal troops.
What: A nationwide rail boycott that paralyzed Western transportation. President Cleveland attached mail cars to trains and sent federal troops to enforce movement. Debs was jailed, the ARU was destroyed, and Congress created Labor Day in $1894$ as a national holiday.
Where: Chicago, Illinois and rail lines throughout the Western United States.
Why: Occurred during an economic depression when worker wages were cut by $3\%$ while rent in Pullman's company town remained unchanged.

When: $1955$ (following the $1946$ federal prohibition of closed shops)
Who: The American Federation of Labor (representing skilled workers) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (representing unskilled workers).
What: The union of two massive labor federations to form the combined AFL-CIO.
Where: United States.
Why: To unite skilled and unskilled workers into a single consolidated organization for greater collective bargaining strength.