Labour Strikes in the late Gilded Age Flashcards
What was significant about the 1877 Railway Strike?
WThe strike was a turning point encouraging further labour upheaval. It highlighted the potency of a labor force and spread beyond the state. Terence Powderly was inspired and Eugene Debs recognised need for negotiation. Employers became increasingly wary of unions and would fire unionised workers but offered coverage for sickness and injury.
What was the background to the 1892 Homestead Strike?
Dispute occurred in Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. The AA had led strike on 1 Jan 1882 to prevent management from forcing contracts and succeeded by March. On 1 July 1889 negotiations for a three year collective bargaining agreement failed so strike occurred again. Success but workers had cuts.
What happened at the 1892 Homestead Strike?
In 1892 collective bargaining negotiation failed. The company locked the union out of the plant leading to 143 days of unrest. Violence heightened when replacement workers were sought after leading to Henry Frick being stabbed, Carnegie’s partner. It ended with battle between the strikes and the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
What were results of the 1892 Homestead Strike?
Workers were made to unconditionally surrender and the union was destroyed, with membership falling from 24,000 in 1891 to 10,000 by 1894. Carnegie Steel wasn’t unionised for 40 years and employers in industries were reluctant to recognise unions. By 1900 not a single plant in Pennsylvania was unionised.
What was background to the 1894 Pullman Strike?
In 1893 America was in the grip of an economic depression. George Pullman of the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages by 25% and laid off a third of workers. The workers could no longer afford to live in the industrial company-owned town by Chicago and attempts at negotiation led to workers being fired. Two years before the ARU, American Railway Union, was formed by Eugene Debs to unite railway workers.
What happened at the 1894 Pullman Strike?
; Eugene Debs lead the strike and encouraged members of the ARU to refuse to operate trains with Pullman Carriages. Trains hit a standstill. Passenger trains pulled mail cars. The Attorney-General responded to requests from railroad companies and retrained anyone from interfering with movement of mail or inciting others to do so.
How did the 1894 Pullman Strike end and what was significance?
On 3 July 1894 President Cleveland sent in federal troops. The ARU offered to end the strike if workers were reinstated but on 2 August 1894 leaders weren’t given back jobs.
Significance; Company owners resisted collective bargaining; federal authorities showed commitment to suppress assertion of labor rights; Supreme Court legalised injunctions giving employers a powerful tool against union – injunctions were used until 1932.
How had trade union membership grown by the end of the 19th century?
By the end of 19th century there were 500,000 trade union members reaching two million by 1910 but underrepresented in steel, textiles, and automobiles with unrecognised unions. Too many employers resisted unions due to disruptive strikes.
How did the AFL change up its tactics?
American Federation of Labour pushed for political action with Gompers having victory as Wilson set the Department of Labor and passed the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914 to limit court injunctions.
