9 20 12 The Organization of Labor At the end of the century Average income 21 6 cents per hour Annual salary 490 Average workweek 59 hours Factories maintained poor health and safety conditions resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries no work man s compensation Labor unions given a strong boost by the Civil War mounting cost of living etc 1872 about 32 national unions existed 1877 only 9 National Labor Union 1866 Organized under William H Sylvis Lasts 6 years membership Reached 600 000 members Included skilled and unskilled workers and farmers Blacks were able to join in segregated units Goals Social reform 8 hour day Arbitration of disputes Succeeded in winning 8 hour day for laborers and mechanics employed on behalf of the federal government 1869 Sylvis died hurting success of Union Panic of 1873 basically deals a knockout blow to the organization Molly Maguires 1870s Eastern Pennsylvania Secret organization of miners Aimed to right perceived wrongs against Irish workers Bosses who received special treatment etc were murdered up to 2 000 murders Finally Chicago detective agency was hired to gather evidence on this group and was able to bring it down 10 men executed The Noble Order of Knights of Labor 1869 Led by Uriah S Stevens First labor organization to achieve any kind of success Open to skilled and unskilled workers men and women 10 of membership whites and Blacks 90 000 joined 1878 1886 Terence V Powderly who was anti strike took over as leader enjoyed a period of spectacular success Membership denied to Liquor dealers Professional gamblers Bankers and stockbrokers Goals 8 hour day Abolition of child labor Social and economic reform Government ownership of public utilities Exclusion of Chinese immigrants Establishment of cooperatives Federation of Organized Trade Labor Established 1881 Changed name to American Federation of Labor AFL Under leadership of Samuel Gompers Consisted of self governing national unions union of unions no individual could join Purpose was to secure for labor a greater share of capitalism s material rewards Goals Better wages and hours Improved conditions for workers Trade agreements authorizing the closed shop National 8 hour day to be attained by May 1 1886 Chief weapons this organization used were the walk out strike and boycott Chicago becomes center of movement May 3 1996 International Harvester Plant became sit of unfortunate clash between strikers and policemen 1 striker killed 7 police men killed May 4 1886 Leaders of anarchist movement in Chicago scheduled meeting at Haymarket Square to protest the killing Police showed up and were bombed killing one policeman and injuring others Policemen fired into crowd killing four Many protesters sentenced to death Decline of Knights of Labor Powderly was anti strike and would not give go ahead to Knights of Labor to join in strike Associated in the public mind with violence of Haymarket Square Lost important strikes Cooperatives failed Quarreled over aims and methods between moderate and militant elements Leadership becomes less effective Lacked sufficient financial reserves for a strike fund bailing members out of jail etc Amalgamated Association of Iron Steel Workers Powerful steel workers union The Homestead Works union provided a good relationship between workers and employers Henry Clay Frick became President in 1889 and announced a new wage scale that would have meant a reduction for many workers Showdown came in 1892 when the Union contract was up for renewal Andrew Carnegie cut costs by using labor saving devices but there is a deliberate attempt to crush the Union Strike lockout workers barricaded themselves inside of the Union began June 29 1892 Frick hired 300 guards from Pinkerton Detective Agency who were really strikebreakers which infuriated the workers Shots were exchanged 6 workers 3 strikebreakers killed State militia called in Anarchist Alexander Berkman tried to help out by killing Frick but failed and only wounded him The Union was successfully crushed not for another 45 years would an effective steel workers union be formed again Pullman Strike May 1894 Pullman Palace Car Company cars often carried mail Workers were forced to live in Pullman Illinois and therefore forced to pay higher utility bills than if they lived in the country George Pullman lays off about 3000 of 5800 employees and lowered wages 20 25 but did not lower cost of living in Pullman Illinois American Railway Union founded by Eugene Debs votes not to handle Pullman Cars Railroad workers in 27 states go on strike and transportation between Chicago and the West Coast comes to a standstill Attorney General Richard Olney swears in 400 special deputies to keep railways running June 3 President Grover Cleveland answered railroads appeals Governor of Illinois John Peter Altgeld Attorney General gets injunction forbidding his interruption of mail accused of violating the Sherman Anti Trust act of 1890 which forbade combinations in restraint of trade 700 freight cars had been burned 100s people injured
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