Trade Unions in the Gilded Age Flashcards
What was the Haymarket affair?
- Violence broke out at the McCormick Harvester Plant and 4 workers were killed. The next day a protest was held at the Haymarket square and a bomb was thrown, the police opened fire. 7 police die and 4 protestors. Blamed on immigrant, largely German, activity. Kills the KOL.
When was the Homestead Strike?
1892.
What did Trade Unions campaign for?
For trade unions to be able to exist, to be recognised as representing members and negotiating with employers for improvements in pay and working conditions.
Establish systems for mediation, conciliation and arbitration.
Also the freedom to strike without fear of losing job or being intimidated.
What was the most important factor needed for improvement in labour rights?
Unity.
How did were labour rights development limited to in 1865?
What workers could negotiate with their employers in their own workplace. Unions that existed were small and exclusive to skilled workers. Employers had no legal obligation to recognise unions let alone give them any bargaining power.
Between 1860 and 1900 how much did industrial workers increase?
From 885,000 to 3.2 million.
What did small craft unions get their strength from in 1865?
The fact that they were a closed shop. They were dominated by one union and where all workers are obliged to belong to one union.
When was the NLU (National Labour Union) formed and what was it?
- William H. Sylvis was one of the first to promote working class solidarity. The NLU was an attempt to form a single association that crossed craft lines and draw mass membership. Campaigned for an 8 hour day, currency and banking reform, the abolition of convict labour, immigration restrictions (mostly Chinese).
Why and when did the NLU collapse?
A strike between 1866 and 1867 by the Iron Founders failed and Sylvis’ death in 1869.
What was the impact of industrialisation on position of workers?
Traditional skills were disappearing and workers were becoming increasingly low skill and low pay. Expansion of factory labour created more demand .
What was the contract system?
It involved the employment of workers that could be laid off in slack periods. Expolitation.
By the 1880s how many workers were common labourers in railroad and steel industries?
1/3
How much did bricklayers, unskilled labourers and southern millworkers earn in 1870?
$3.00, $1.30, $0.84
What were the poor working conditions like in 1865?
Both skilled and unskilled worked 12 hour days and had no safety precautions so accident rates were high. Children as young as 8 worked in coal mines and cotton mills.
How many workers were involved in rail incidents in 1889?
2000 killed.
Why did employers resist health and safetly precautions and what compensation did injured recieved?
Costs. They received minimal aid from employers. Sickness clubs were formed but compensation inadequate. Until 1890s the courts deemed employer negligence to be a risk taken by employees.
When was the Knights of Labor formed?
1869 by Uriah Smith Stevens.
What did the KOL do?
Attracted membership of NLU after it’s demise. Gained real momentum after 1879 when Terence V. Powdely became leader. His intention was to unite skilled and unskilled labour and remove barriers of racial and cultural origin, women also welcomed. Union demanded an 8 hour day, equal pay for women and abolition of child labour. Rejected strikes and preferred to use legislative means. In 1885 he was forced to abandon this when action against KOL working at Wabash railroad presented a threat to the union. The strike brought the railroad to a standstill and halted the anti-union campaign. Membership grew to 700,000 in 1886.
What was the KOL’s membership in 1881 and 1886?
20,000 and 700,000 (with 10,000 women and 50,000 african americans)
Why did the KOL collapse?
Haymarket affair.
What was the AFL and when was it formed?
Replaced KOL in 1886. One of the first successful national labour federations seeking to link all unions and became the largest. Samuel Gompers argued that bargaining power was necessary. Gompers supported use of strikes and boycotts. Some of the USA’s most influential businessmen like JP Morgan worked with him.
What was the AFL’s membership in 1914?
2 million. BUT still only represented a small proportion of workforce.
What was the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies)?
It was a less effective union set up in 1905. They were more militant with a reputation for violence, employers regarded it with suspicion. It defended rights of the poor and illiterate workers such as immigrants. Membership peaked at 100,000 in 1923, mainly lumbermen, miners, fruit pickers. Their use of violence gained harassment and often arrests. By 1924 divisions were occurring and this broke the strength of the union.
What was new vs old immigration?
Old immigrants were the first wave of immigrants to the US in the early 1800s, from Scotland, Germany, Scandinavia and Holland. These met the demand for labour and industrialisation. They worked 16 hour days for little pay with fear of dismissal which annoyed native-born Americans who believed they were making the situation worse by lowering wages.
New immigrants were from Eastern Europe and Asia. Between 1900 and 1930 nearly 19 million people entered the country. Trade unions saw them as a threat and discriminated against them, weakened solidarity which employers could exploit.
When was Chinese immigration ended?
1882.
When was Japanese immigration ended?
1907
What did native white people suspect about immigrants?
That they brought violence, this was confirmed by levels of violence and strikes that involved immigrant labour.
Between 1881 and 1905 how many strikes were there and how many involved?
Seven million workers participated in 37,000 strikes.
Why was labour not united in the 1800s?
African Americans were increasingly involved in the workforce in urban areas in the south and then north. Immigrants from Europe were divided by religion and language and were treated with suspicion and hostility.
What was the NLU in regards to African Americans?
The National Labour Union, set up in 1866, urged African Americans to unionise, but in separate unions.
How did divisions in the workforce stop progress?
Workers were subject to exploitation due to lack of unity, strike breakers and low wage takers. In times of unrest employers could easily replace white employees with black or immigrant labour.
The subsequent poverty and need to survive meant it was difficult for unions to protest.
What was laissez-faire capitalism?
It was the relaxed nature of government to labour rights and exploitation etc.
What did laissez-faire capitalism allow?
It effectively empowered capitalists to form powerful businesses, exploit workers and make huge fortunes. Manufacturers were unfettered by legislation and could and did cut wages and lay off workers suddenly. Workers had no way of expressing dissatisfaction.
What are the names of some big capitalists and the industries they monopolised?
Andrew Carnegie (steel), John D Rockefeller (oil).
What was the Sherman anti-trust act?
- Outlawed business trusts. These were huge companies that came to monopolise industries. It also declared any contract or combination that attempted to stop trade illegal.
How did employers generally stop strikes?
They employed labour spies to operate undercover among the workforce and root out potentially disruptive elements. They used armed force in the event if strikes.
Who did the Supreme Court support in the period up to 1910?
Employers. Massively limits development of Trade Unions after court injunctions were used to break strikes after 1894. In the first decade of the 1900s a series of SC decisions impeded attempts to gain rights, such as Lochner vs New York in 1905. Federal injunctions placed on unions organising strikes, attempt to boycott unfair employers or encourage others to do so.
What was Lochner vs New York?
- Invoked the 14th Amendment to declare unconstitutional a law imposing a 10 hour day claiming it violated rights of workers to determine their hours of work.
Why were African Americans excluded from Unions?
As well as general racism, they were perceived as a threat.
They were used as ‘scab labour’ to thwart strike action as well as seen as keeping wages low.
Did African Americans make up a significant chunk of the workforce?
Yes, especially after the First World War when thousands moved to heavily industrialised industries.
Who didn’t reject African American union membership?
KOL and AFL.
What was the first AA union?
The National Negro Labour Union formed in 1869. It unsuccessfully tried to affiliate with white unions.
