HIST 2112 What was it like to work in a factory o Dangerous o Noisy o Sometimes fatal o Long hours 35 000 a year will die on the job o Approximately the same number of people killed in car accidents today No such thing as an 8 hour day or 40 hour week o 6 day week o 10 16 hours a day o Carnegie s factories Average day shift 10 hours Average night shift 13 hours Factory work was new to everyone o Had to be at the job at a specific time o Not this way on a farm o Very repetitive Carnegie had people watch the factory workers and figure out the best way for them to do their job o Had specific ways for you to move your body to maximize efficiency Deskilling unskilling of labor o Artisan someone whose life is dedicated to their skill or art carpentry wood work etc They are losing their jobs to machines Much cheaper so people buy it Became victims of history o Rise of machinery meant anyone could do it with a machine The Great Railroad Strike of 1887 o Non unionized but still have a strike o Brought in blacks to do their jobs o Not successful have to swallow a 20 pay cut o Origin of Knights of Labor one of the first major unions Terrance V Powder leader Very successful very quickly Over a million members in the 1880s 15 000 local chapters Very open to laborers even unskilled laborers women blacks but had to be segregated Irish Only excluded people were the Chinese and unproductive members of society o No real honest work Wanted 8 hour days 8 hour labor 8 hour recreation 8 hour rest o Haymarket 1886 Someone threw a bomb at police Police open fired Killed 1 Injured many more Ended the Knights of Labor Lost popularity American Federation of Labor replaced them Samuel Gompers Much more moderate and much less radical Prided themselves on being negotiators o Mining was the most dangerous job in the IR Was one of the main reasons for unions As an employee you were required to live in a house owned by your boss Also had to buy groceries and clothes from a store owned by your boss Paid in coupons not money that were only redeemable at your boss s stores Even Carnegie had his issues o Had a union in his steel mills o Couldn t deal with it left Henry Frick in charge and went to Europe Told him to do what he had to do Hired pinkertons security to lock out the workers Strikers were camping across the river Guards cross the river in the night and attack the workers Pretty big gun fight Some guards were killed and forced to retreat
View Full Document
Unlocking...