THE C

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LABOR

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The most important factor behind America’s astonishing economic growth in the late

19th century was the increasing exploitation of its

industrial workers.

LONG HOURS & LOW WAGES

• 10 – 14 hour days• 6 day weeks• $3 - $12 weekly• Immigrants often worked for far less•Women and children were paid less than men

POOR CONDITIONS & BORING, REPETITIVE TASKS

• Jobs were offered on a “take it” or “leave it” basis

• Work became less skilled, more repetitive, monotonous, and boring

• Machinery safeguards were inadequate•Thousands injured or killed each year

CHILD LABOR

• Children were often exposed to the moving parts of machines while they worked

• Would be used to move, clean, or fix large machines since they were small enough to fit between parts

• 1/5 of all children under age 15 worked outside the home in 1910•Missed the opportunity to go to school in order to improve their lives

LACK OF JOB SECURITY

• Could be fired at any time for any reason•No unemployment insurance•No workman’s compensation for injuries on the job•No paid sick days

HOMESTEAD STRIKE

• 1892

• Andrew Carnegie’s steel mill in Homestead

• Managed by Henry Clay Frick• Cut wages by 20%•Workers decided to strike• Frick locked them out of the factory• Had the Pinkerton Detective Agency bring in replacements called “strikebreakers”

• A fight broke out lasting 14 hours• Several deaths• Dozens of injuries

• Governor sent militia in to protect strikebreakers

• The strike collapsed 4 months later.

WORKERS SEEK A VOICE – RISE OF UNIONS• Knights of Labor – 1869• Demanded an 8 hour work day, higher wages, safety codes in factories• Opposed child labor• Supported equal pay for women and restrictions on immigration• Led by Terrance Powderly• Grew in the 1880’s • Too loosely organized• Lost a series of major strikes• Fell apart

• American Federation of Labor – 1881• Samuel Gompers• Consisted of separate unions of skilled workers which joined together

into a federation.• Goals: economic improvements, higher pay, 8 hour day, better working

conditions• Weakened by its exclusion of unskilled workers

• By 1910, less than 5% of workers were unionized

HAYMARKET AFFAIR OF 1886

• The general public saw unions as violent and dangerous because of events like the Haymarket Affair of 1886

• Labor leaders were blamed when a bomb exploded during a demonstration of striking workers at Haymarket Square in Chicago•7 officers were killed•67 others were injured