Strikes Rock the Nation

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Strikes Rock the Nation
Pullman
Homestead
Haymarket
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Factory Work
Some workers were paid for each finished piece
the produced. Most piecework was completed in
sweatshops. Frederick Taylor improved work
productivity and profit with the Principles of
Scientific Management that resulted in the
division of labor. Workers were seen as hands
or operatives In factories, workers logged
long hours with little pay in unsafe conditions.
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Working Families
Children were 5 of the labor force. Between the
ages of 10 and 16, children left school to worked
long hours for low wages. Many were maimed or
deformed for their efforts.Other families
depended on charities to survive.
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Rise of Labor Unions
By 1890, 9 of Americans owned 75 of the
nations wealth. Workers began to seek solutions
to get their fair share of the wealth. One option
was Socialism that wanted the government to own
production and distribute the wealth equally.
Socialism became more radical when Karl Marx
issued the Communist Manifesto denouncing
capitalism. A violent choice was
anarchism Unions Knights of Labor A National
Union protecting all unskilled men and women
including African Americans Leader - Terence
Powderly who demanded equal pay for equal work,
the 8 hour workday and an end to child labor The
Knights did not want to use the strike to get
their demands because strikes turned violent and
that hurt the unions
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Unions
American Federation of Labor A craft union that
organized only skilled workers and excluded women
and African Americans Leader was Samuel Gompers
who used strikes and boycotts to force owners to
participate in collective bargaining
IWW or Wobblies Industrial Workers of the
World Founded in 1905 by Bill Haywood Radical
union that helped the unskilled worker and relied
on violence and strikes
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Owners Response to Unions
Forbade union meetings Fired union
organizers Forced workers to sign yellow Dog
contracts promising never to join a union or a
strike Refused collective bargaining if workers
were on strike Refused to recognize union
representatives
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Great Railroad Strike of 1877
July 1877, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads cut
wages by 10, this was the second wage cut in 8
months. Other railroads did the same and also
ran double headers Workers in Martinsburg, West
Virginia declared a strike. When they tried to
prevent scabs from running the train, they
clashed with militia. Violence spread to
Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis Strikers
attacked railroad property and state governors
asked for federal help. President Hayes sent in
federal troops When troops in Pittsburg killed
many rioters, a crowd of 20,000 men and women set
fire to the railroad company causing
5,000,000.00 in damages The stage was set.
Employers got federal and state help when labor
unions went on strike and strikes turned violent.
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Haymarket Riot 1886
May 1st, 1886, Federation of Organized Trades and
Labor Unions prepared for an eight-hour day and
were joined by the Knights of Labor and IWPA
International Working Peoples Union) Anarchists
(80,000) 1. McCormick had cut wages but not rent
in his company town despite a 71 profit.
Ordered a lockout in response to the union plan
for a strike and hired strikebreakers and 400
police officers to guard them. 2. Lumber workers
and McCormick workers joined forces at the Cyrus
McCormick Reaper Plant to protest the hiring of
strikebreakers. 3. Police attacked protestors
without warning, killing two and wounding several
others 4. IWPA called for a meeting on May 4th
to protest Police Violence and memorialize
victims at McCormick Plant. 5. IWPA posted
leaflets that called for unions to fight back
Revenge Workingmen to Army 6. Demonstration was
peaceful as Spies and others spoke. Even the
Mayor found it peaceful. 7. Later, 180 police
moved in to break up meeting, a bomb
exploded killing police officer, Mathias Degan,
and eleven people. Seven other policemen died
from their injuries. Police opened fire killing
eleven more. 8. Eight IWPA workers arrested and
tried for murder. All eight found guilty, four
were executed and Louis Lingg killed
himself.Three others released in 1893 and
pardoned by Governor
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Homestead Strike 1892
Price of steel dropped so Frick and Carnegie
looked to cut production costs Henry Frick tried
to cut workers wages so workers hanged Frick in
effigy Frick began closing the mills, and locked
out 1,100 men Frick would no longer negotiate
with the unions, only individuals Carnegie did
not respond to efforts to reach him 3,000 of
3,800 workers voted to strike (only 780 were
union) Frick fenced off the mill, adding
peep-holes for rifles Workers seized Fort
Frick June 1 Frick hired Pinkertons, a private
police force July 5, 300 Pinkerton guards hired
by Frick came up the Monongahela River under
darkness Gunfight broke out between union and
guards who tried to surrender 3 times. July 23,
Alexander Berkman tried to assassinate
Frick Union called off strike. State militia
moved in to protect mill
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Pullman Strike 1894
Pullman Company manufactured sleeper cars
Pullman City was built to house employees and
workers were required to live In 1893, Pullman
laid off workers cut wages by 25 but kept rent
and food prices high On May 11,1894, three
thousand Pullman workers went on strike. They
were members of the American Railroad Union (ARU)
founded by Eugene V. Debs. who ordered that
strikers not touch the mail (federal
offense) General Managers Assoc. asked federal
government for help because they claimed the mail
could not get through On July 2, 1894, Attorney
General Olney got an injunction saying that the
strike was illegal. This federal injunction and
the fact that mail-trains might be delayed caused
President Grover Cleveland to send in federal
troops Debs was arrested and several workers were
blacklisted