Ch. 14 – Labor’s Response to Industrialism/EQ: Was the Rise of Industry good for American Workers?
2 Conditions of the Working Class
Details describing the working and living conditions of industrial
workers
 Workers worked long hours for little pay.
 Work was repetitive and boring.
 Many work environments were hazardous.
 Many children worked in factories for longer hours
than adults and in more dangerous conditions.
 Many workers lived in cramped, unsanitary tenement
housing.
3 Labor Movements
Strategies labor unions employed in their attempt to improve
worker’s lives:
• Workers formed labor unions.
• Unions threatened to strike when necessary.
• Unions joined forces to form national labor
organizations.
Ways employers attempted to undermine unions:
• Owners threatened to fire workers who joined unions.
• Owners circulated blacklists of union members and refused to
hire listed workers.
4 Strikes Erupt Nationwide
Key events during the labor movement of this time period:
Railroad Strike of 1877 Rail workers around the country went on strike after
railroad companies slashed wages during the depression. President Hayes used
federal troops to restore order and break the strike.
• Haymarket Affair, 1886 Chicago police stormed a meeting of a group of
anarchists in Chicago’s Haymarket Square and fired into the crowd. Five protesters
and seven police officers died in the incident.
• Homestead Strike, 1892 Pinkerton agents gave up after a daylong gun battle
with strikers at the Carnegie Steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The strikers
took control of the town until Henry Frick brought in nonunion workers to run the
plant.
• Pullman Strike, 1894 Workers at the Pullman Palace Car factory went on strike
after the company cut wages but not rent or other charges. Because the strike
interfered with the delivery of the mail, President Cleveland sent in federal troops
to break it up.
5 Mixed Success for Unions
Important losses and gains by labor unions:
Losses:
• The federal government generally opposed union
activities by sending in troops to break up strikes and
issuing injunctions.
• Unions failed to gain the support and respect of the
American people.
Gains:
• Work hours and wages for union and nonunion
workers improved steadily.
• Unions won some recognition of workers’ rights.