Graphic Organizer

1. Reasons Labor Unions Formed

(Causes / Problems Workers Faced)

  • Extremely long work hours (10–16 hours a day, 6–7 days a week)

  • Low wages that barely supported families

  • Unsafe and unhealthy working conditions

  • Child labor was common

  • No job security (workers could be fired at any time)

  • No workers’ compensation for injuries

  • Factory owners had total control over workers

➡ Effect: Workers realized they had more power by organizing together.

2. First Labor Organizations & Their Goals

Knights of Labor (Founded 1869)

Who they accepted:

  • Skilled and unskilled workers

  • Women

  • African Americans

Goals:

  • 8-hour workday

  • End child labor

  • Equal pay for equal work

  • Better working conditions

  • Cooperative ownership of businesses

American Federation of Labor (AFL) (Founded 1886)

Led by: Samuel Gompers
Who they accepted:

  • Skilled workers only

Goals:

  • Higher wages

  • Shorter workdays

  • Better working conditions

  • Collective bargaining (negotiating as a group)

3. Protests and Violence: Major Strikes (Cause & Effect)

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Cause:

  • Railroad companies cut wages during an economic depression

Effect:

  • Nationwide strikes and riots

  • Federal troops were sent in

  • Dozens killed

  • Strike failed, showing government support for businesses

Haymarket Affair (1886)

Cause:

  • Protest for an 8-hour workday in Chicago

Effect:

  • Bomb exploded during the rally

  • Police officers and civilians died

  • Labor unions were blamed

  • Public opinion turned against unions

Pullman Strike (1894)

Cause:

  • Pullman Company cut wages but did not lower rent in company housing

Effect:

  • Railroad traffic nationwide was disrupted

  • President Cleveland sent federal troops

  • Strike was broken

  • Union leader Eugene V. Debs was jailed

4. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (1911)

(Cause & Effect + Impact on Women’s Rights)

Causes:

  • Locked factory doors

  • Overcrowded workplace

  • No fire escapes or safety equipment

  • Poor building safety standards

Effects:

  • 146 workers died (mostly young immigrant women)

  • Public outrage over unsafe working conditions

  • New fire safety laws passed

  • Stronger labor protections

Impact on Women’s Rights:

  • Highlighted exploitation of women workers

  • Increased support for women in labor unions

  • Led to reforms benefiting working women

  • Strengthened women’s voices in workplace reform movements

5. Tactics Businesses Used to Combat Labor Unions

  • Blacklists: Prevented union members from being hired

  • Lockouts: Closed factories to stop workers from organizing

  • Strikebreakers (scabs): Hired replacement workers

  • Yellow-dog contracts: Workers promised not to join unions

  • Private security forces: Pinkertons used to break strikes

  • Threats and violence: Intimidation of union leaders

6. Government Regulation & Why Government Sided with Businesses

Government Attempts to Regulate Business

  • Interstate Commerce Act (1887): Regulated railroads

  • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): Intended to stop monopolies

Why the Government Sided with Businesses

  • Belief in laissez-faire capitalism (limited government involvement)

  • Courts often ruled unions were illegal “restraints on trade”

  • Fear that strikes would disrupt the economy

  • Business leaders had political influence

  • Federal troops were used to stop strikes

➡ Effect: Labor unions struggled to gain legal and public support during the Gilded Age.