-Trade Unions in the Gilded Age Flashcards
(43 cards)
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.
What 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.
