Unit 6 Lesson 3: Workers and the Labor Movement Flashcards
What does skilled labor mean
The term skilled labor refers to a job that requires a certain amount of skill and training. Skilled laborers often spend years developing their craft.
What are some examples of skilled labor
Welding, carpentry, masonry, and smithing are examples of skilled labor jobs.
What is unskilled labor
. Unskilled labor, on the other hand, refers to a job that can be done by most able-bodied workers regardless of their age, education level, or mastery of the English language.
Example of unskilled labor
A worker could learn to pull a lever or attach a part in a day or two, and then just got fast at doing that task.
What happened to skilled manufactoring jobs that were part of cololnial life
Many of the skilled manufacturing jobs that were a part of rural colonial life became unskilled factory jobs in the late 1800s.
What was a day working in a factory like
They were repetitive, solitary, and increasingly dehumanizing. A typical adult male laborer worked 10 hours or more per day, six or seven days a week, and earned wages considered below the poverty line.
How is a skilled laborer with 10 years of experience different from an unskilled laborer with the same amount of experience?
Skilled workers improve their craft over time, which makes them more valuable to an employer. Unskilled work can be learned in a short amount of time on the job, so years of experience doesn’t necessarily make an unskilled worker more valuable.
In the early 1800s where would factories pop up
In the early 1800s, before factories began to open in cities, towns would spring up around a particularly large factory.
Describe the company town model
In some cases, the factory would own the houses employees lived in and the stores where employees shopped.
What is Scrip
The company might pay its employees in scrip, a type of town currency accepted only at company stores.
There are a few problems with being paid in scrip:
- It is not accepted outside of the town, so there is no way to save up enough to move your family to another town.
- Company stores can charge inflated prices for food and clothing since employees are forced to shop there.
What led the company town model to die out
As factories moved to the cities, the company town model fell out of favor in the East.
Where was the comapny town model still being impletmed
But it was still used in the less-populated areas of the Midwest and West through the 1800s.
Is scrip still legal?
Scrip is no longer legal as payment for work, but general forms of scrip can still be found in some places
Think of scrip as a non-cash payment for goods or services. Where might you find this type of payment in use today?
Some arcade games accept cash (quarters or bills) and dispense tickets as a reward, which can be exchanged for prizes at a counter in that store. Public transportation sometimes accepts tokens, which can be purchased for cash, but are only able to be used in that city’s buses or trains.
How did owners feeel about the saftey of there factory
owners felt no obligation to keep their factories up-to-date and safe.
How was a worker’s contract seen
A worker’s contract was seen as an acceptance of risk,
What would a judge do if workers complained of bad conditiions
judge would most likely side with the factory in the rare occurrence of a lawsuit.
Collapsed buildings, fires, severed limbs, and other workplace injuries were considered
“acts of God” or “worker negligence.”
Why would childeren often be hired
Children were often hired because their small bodies and fingers could fit into places in and around machines where an adult’s could not.
How do some machines make heat?
Some machines, such as those in a garment factory, used heat or steam to accomplish their task. Other machines produced heat merely as a byproduct of friction.
What were sweatshops
Pack a few of these machines into a poorly ventilated space and add a few dozen workers, and the temperature inside could reach well over 100 degrees. Factories such as these were known as sweatshops.
Why were women often found working in sweatshops
Women were often found working in sweatshops, as clothing and textile factories were considered suitable work for women.
What risks made mining an especially dangerous job?
explosions, poisonous gases, respiratory diseases, and cave-ins
What reasoning was used to pay women and children less than men?
Women and children were expected to have husbands and fathers as the main breadwinners in the family.
What did a influx of immigrants and rural Ameircans looking for a job mean
The influx of immigrants and rural Americans looking for work meant that there was no shortage of people willing to take any available job.
What happened to workers who compliain
. A worker who complained was simply fired and replaced. If that worker happened to live in company-owned housing, the worker might arrive home to an eviction notice. Even skilled workers were not entirely safe
What was the orginally purpose of Labor Unions
Labor unions started out as trade guilds—organizations of skilled laborers of a specific trade that met for social and professional improvement.
