Case Study:
The US Labor
Movement
Comm 130F
San Jose State U
Dr. T.M. Coopman
Okay for non-commercial use with attribution
This Case Study
This case study is a brief overview of a
specific social movement and is
designed to familiarize students with
major large scale social movements.
Labor
Tilly and Wood go into some
detail in their discussion of labor
movements so I will not repeat
that information here. For this
case study I will highlight some
major events and changes to the
US labor movement.
The general mobilization of labor
as the industrial revolution
developed was a wide spread
political process or metamovement, but also a series of
specific sites of struggle. Labor
unions were declared legal
organizations in 1842.
The movement arose out of a
response to horrific works
conditions such as 12 hour/ 7 days
a week work schedules. For
example, in 1835 children
employed in the silk mills in
Paterson, NJ went on strike to
demand a reduction to a 11 hour
day/6 day week. It was not unusual
for workers to be killed and
maimed due to dangerous work
conditions. The Triangle Shirtwaist
Company Fire in 1911 NYC killed
one hundred and forty-seven
people, mostly women and young
girls working in sweatshop
conditions. Stairway exits were
locked as a precaution against
"the interruption of work."
Labor Issues
Most labor action was
instrumental, that is
about particular workrelated issues such as
hours of work per day,
days per week, use of
child labor, work safety,
women’s work rights, as
well as more general
issues as the basic right
to organize, collectively
bargain, and strike.
The labor movement
has been successful in
may ways and its work
has brought us the 8
hours work day and 5
day work week as well
as work safety rules
and an end to child
labor.
Repression
Labor was viciously repressed by both the government and capitalist employers. It was not unusual in the
19th century for strikers and protestors to be beaten, shot, killed or executed for defying their
employers. Many employers had their own militia or private police such as the infamous Pinkertons. For
example, in the 1892 Homestead Strike. Pinkerton Guards, trying to pave the way for the introduction of
scabs, opened fire on striking Carnegie mill steel- workers. In the ensuing battle, three Pinkertons
surrendered; then, unarmed, they were set upon and beaten by a mob of townspeople, most of them
women. Seven guards and eleven strikers and spectators were shot to death.
A general strike in 1877 halted the movement of U.S. railroads. In the following days, strike riots spread
across the United States. The next week, federal troops were called out to force an end to the
nationwide strike. At the "Battle of the Viaduct" in Chicago, federal troops killed 30 workers and wounded
over 100. The Thibodaux Massacre (1887). The Louisiana Militia, aided by bands of "prominent citizens,"
shot at least 35 unarmed black sugar workers striking to gain a dollar-per-day wage, and lynched two
strike leaders. In 1894 Federal troops killed 34 American Railway Union members in the Chicago area
attempting to break a strike, led by Eugene Debs, against the Pullman Company.
The "Ludlow Massacre” (1914) In an attempt to persuade strikers at Colorado's Ludlow Mine Field to
return to work, company "guards," engaged by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and other mine operators and
sworn into the State Militia just for the occasion, attacked a union tent camp with machine guns, then set
it afire. Five men, two women and 12 children died as a result.
The Battle of Matewan (1920). Despite efforts by police chief (and former miner) Sid Hatfield and Mayor
C. Testerman to protect miners from interference in their union drive in Matewan, West Virginia, BaldwinFelts detectives hired by the local mining company and thirteen of the company's managers arrived to
evict miners and their families from the Stone Mountain Mine camp. A gun battle ensued, resulting in the
deaths of 7 detectives, Mayor Testerman, and 2 miners. Baldwin-Felts detectives assasinated Sid Hatfield
15 months later, sparking off an armed rebellion of 10,000 West Virginia coal miners at "The Battle of Blair
Mountain,"
Repression
In 1920 the U.S. Bureau of Investigation began carrying out the nationwide Palmer Raids.
Federal agents seized labor leaders and literature in the hopes of discouraging labor activity. A
number of citizens were turned over to state officials for prosecution under various antianarchy statutes.
The Electric Auto-Lite Strike (1934). In Toledo, OH, two strikers were killed and over two
hundred wounded by National Guardsmen. Some 1300 National Guard troops, including
included eight rifle companies and three machine gun companies, were called in to disperse the
protestors.
In 1937 Police killed 10 and wounded 30 during the "Memorial Day Massacre" at the Republic
Steel plant in Chicago.
Violence against labor unions and activists greatly decreased after the Second World War as
the large scale organized labor unions became part of the establishment in a compact between
labor, capital, and government.
It is worth noting that the labor movement has at time revolutionary elements and was not
above using violence against capitalists and their agents as well as strike-breakers and nonunion workers.
For example, in1899 When their demand that only union men be employed was refused,
members of the Western Federation of Miners dynamited the $250,000 mill of the Bunker Hill
Company at Wardner, Idaho, destroying it completely. In 1910 a dynamite bomb destroyed a
portion of the Llewellyn Ironworks in Los Angeles, where a bitter strike was in progress.
Although workers were much more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of violence.
Major Strikes
Great Railroad Strike, 1877: Poor economic conditions caused northern railroad companies to cut
salaries and wages, angering workers. A walkout by the employees of the Baltimore & Ohio line was
followed by violent strikes in major cities such as Chicago, Kansas City and San Francisco — 10 were
killed, for example, in a militia melee in Baltimore. After 45 days of chaos and many more deaths, the
strike ended after President Rutherford Hayes used the force of federal troops.
Haymarket Riot, 1886: Tensions mounted as little headway was made in the eight-hour movement and
overall quest to improve labor conditions. On May 4, 1886, labor leaders and anarchists spoke to hoards
of workers near Haymarket in Chicago. As the crowd became agitated, 170 armed police attempted to
break it up, prompting an unidentified person to hurl a bomb at them. A flurry of gunfire ensued, and by
the end of the fiasco, eight officers and numerous civilians were dead. As a result, four men were
executed and anti-union sentiment swept across the country.
Homestead Strike, 1892: With Andrew Carnegie out of the country and the vigorously anti-union Henry
Clay Frick in charge, contentious negotiations led to a lockout of the workforce, who in turn guarded the
premises from the possible use of scabs. When an army of 300 strikebreaking detectives employed by
Frick, also known as the Pinkertons, arrived on July 6, workers charged them, provoking gunfire. The 13hour battle resulted in the deaths of seven workers and three Pinkertons. In the following weeks, the
company used a variety of tactics to weaken the union, eventually winning the dispute on November 17
when the AAISW voted to lift the prohibition.
Pullman Strike, 1894: A reduction of wages and long, arduous hours at the Pullman Palace Car Company
prompted 3,000 of its employees to initiate a strike, leading to a shutdown of the factory. Assistance was
provided by the American Railway Union and its leader Eugene Debs, whose union members refused to
run trains using Pullman cars. Railroad service in and around Chicago was disrupted, but Attorney
General Richard Olney used claims of violence (13 strikers were killed) to obtain federal troops to quell
the strike. President Grover Cleveland justified the action by asserting it interfered with delivery of U.S.
mail.
Major Strikes
Great Anthracite Coal Strike 1902: The United Mine Workers of America began a strike
which threatened to create an energy crisis. Seeking better wages and conditions, The
UMWA struck in eastern Pennsylvania, an area that contained the majority of the nation’s
supply of Anthracite coal. As the winter of 1903 approached President Theodore
Roosevelt became concerned that a heating crisis could develop and attempted to
intervene – unsuccessfully. Industrialist and financier J.P. Morgan believed the strike could
threaten his businesses and made a deal with the union. The UMWA’s initial demands were
for a 20% wage increase. They wound up with a 10% raise.
Steel Strike of 1919: Following World War I, workers represented by the American
Federation of Labor (AFL) organized a strike against the United States Steel Corporation
as a result of poor working conditions, long hours, low wages, and corporate harassment
regarding union involvement. The number of strikers quickly grew to 350,000, shutting
down nearly half of the steel industry. Company owners, however, invoked public concerns
over Communism and immigration as a way of turning public sentiment against the
unions, resulting in the strike’s failure and ensuring an absence of union organization in the
steel industry for the next fifteen years.
Textile Workers Strike of 1934: On Labor Day, after years of long hours and low wages,
American textile workers set out on strike, in response to the negligent representation of
textile labor in FDR’s National Recovery Administration. The United Textile Workers
(UTW) organized 400,000 to walk out for just over twenty days, but a lack of outside
support and an excess of textile materials, especially in the Southern states, forced the
strike to end without any of the original demands being met. Many workers were
blacklisted as a result.
Major Strikes
1946 Bituminous Coal Strike: On April Fools day, the United Mine Workers of
America called on 400,000 bituminous coal miners to strike for safer conditions,
health benefits, and pay. The strike came at a time when the national economy was
recovering from the second World War, and president Truman saw the UMWA’s
actions as counterproductive to national industrial recovery. Truman approached
the union with a settlement. When the workers refused the proposal, they were
fined $3.5 million, forcing their agreement and the end of the strike. Although
forced, most of the UMWA’s demands were met in Truman’s compromise.
Steel Strike of 1959: Steel industry profits were skyrocketing and the United
Steelworkers of America demanded higher wages. At the same time, management
was working against the union to lose a contract clause which protected worker
jobs and hours. This conflict resulted in a 500,000 worker strike the effects of
which were felt throughout the industry. In the end, the union received wage
increases and preserved their contract clause.
UPS workers strike (1997): The largest strike of the 1990’s was lead by 185,000
UPS Teamsters. They were looking for the creation of full-time jobs rather than
part-time, increased wages, and the retention of their multi-employer pension plan.
These workers gained major support from the public and eventually had all of
their demands met. UPS, however, lost more than $600 million in business as a
result of the ordeal.
Labor Achievements
The labor movement achieved many large victories
that improved the lives of working people.
Win the right for public sector workers to
collectively bargain
Ended child labor
Win passage of the Civil Right Acts and Title VII
which outlaws job discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex or national origin
Establish the legal right of workers to form unions
and collectively bargain for wages, benefits and
working conditions
Establish the 8 hour work day and paid overtime
Win workers' comp benefits for workers injured on
the job
Secure unemployment insurance for workers who
lose their jobs
Secure a guaranteed minimum wage
Improve workplace safety and reduce on the job
fatalities
Win pensions for workers
Win health care insurance for workers
Win paid sick leave, vacations, and holidays as
standard benefits for most workers
Win passage of the Occupational Safety and Health
Act
Win passage of the Family Medical Leave Act