Labor Unions & Big Business

The Knights of Labor

a. Identification- a group that's motto was "An injury to one is the concern of all"; open to all workers, regardless of race, gender, or degree of skill; supported an 8 hour workday and advocated "equal pay for equal work"; saw strikes as a last resort and instead advocated arbitration

b. Significance- One of the first groups to allow ALL typed of people; reached around 700,000 members (one of the most"populated" groups of the time)

The Haymarket Riot

a. Identification- 3,000 people gathered at Haymarket Square in Chicago to protest police brutality; around 10 o'clock, someone threw a bomb, killing 7 police officers, causing police to kill several workers

b. Significance- after this incident, the public began turning against the labor movement; the bomb-thrower was never determined

The American Federation of Labor

a. Identification- a group that focused on collective bargaining, or negotiation between representatives of labor and management, to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions; used strikes as a major tactic; successful strikes led to higher wages and shorter workweeks

b. Significance- between 1890 and 1915, the average weekly wages in unionized industries rose from $17.50 to $24, and the average workweek fell from almost 54.5 hours to just under 49 hours

Samuel Gompers

a. Identification- Gompers had led the Cigar Makers' International Union to join with other craft unions in 1886.

b. Significance- This led to a bigger and stonger union, helping them in the longrun

The Homestead Strike

a. Identification- a strike called by steelworkers on June 29, 1892 after the company president announced his plans to cut wages

b. Significance- The strike lasted until November, showing that the steelworkers had put up a good fight, but they eventually gave in to the company

The Pullman Strike

a. Identification- In the Spring of 1894, this strike was called due to an extreme wage cut and many people being laid off

b. Significance- Many of the strikers were fired and never given the opportunity to get railroad jobs again, showing that they were not quite successful with their strike

Eugene V. Debs

a. Identification- Debs attempted to form an industrial union that would include ALL laborers- skilled and unskilled- in a specific industry.

b. Significance- This union, the American Railway Union, won a strike for higher wages in 1894, and consisted of 150,000 members, showing some potential in the power of the Union

The Industrial Workers of the World

a. Identification- a group of radical unionists and socialists organized this group; this group included miners, lumberers, and cannery and dock workers

b. Significance- won a major victory in 1912, but, otherwise, were not too successful

Big Biz and Labor

Andrew Carnegie- he was one of the first industrial moguls to make a fortune by himself. He also was very into supported charities, making himself a model to many others, and making himself one of the most generous men of his time.

Social Darwinism- an economic and social philosophy-supposedly based on the biologist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection-holding that a system of unrestrained competition will ensure th survival of the fittest

John D. Rockefeller- established the Standard Oil Company; he used a trust to gain total control of the oil industry in America

Sherman Antitrust Act- this act made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries; this act was formed in 1890

Samuel Gompers- this man had led the Cigar Makers' International Union to join with other craft unions in 1886

American Federation of Labor (AFL)- focused on collective bargaining, or negotiation between representatives of labor and management, to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions; used strikes as a major tactic; their successful strikes rose pay from $17.50 to $24 and they hours worked went from 54 hours to around 49 hours a week.

Eugene V. Debs- attempted to form the American Railway Union. Most members were unskilled and semiskilled laborers, but skilled engineers and firemen joined too. This union won a strike for higher wages in 1894.

Industrial Workers of the World- this group, a group of radical unionists and socialists in Chicago, formed in 1905. It included miners, lumberers, and cannery and dock workers. This group, unlike the ARU, welcomed African Americans, but there were never more than 100,000 members. In 1912, their only major strike victory took place.

Mary Harris Jones- the most prominent organizer in the women's labor movement; she supported the Great Strike of 1877 and later organized for the United Mine Workers of America. In 1903, she led with 80 million children on a march to the home of persident Theodore Roosevelt to expose the cruelties of child labor.