“LABOR AND CAPITAL” United States History and Literature The American Experience.

““LABOR AND CAPITAL”LABOR AND CAPITAL”

United States History and LiteratureUnited States History and LiteratureThe American Experience

PAST TO PRESENT: PAST TO PRESENT: CAUSE AND EFFECTCAUSE AND EFFECT

Guilds of Pre-

Modern Age

Membership, responsibilities; apprenticeship,

masters.

Ensured level of

status in society

Industrial Revolution

Position of labor

in society changes for the worse!

Society converts from

overwhelmingly rural and agrarian

to more urban and industrial.

New factories and semi- and

unskilled labor.

Immigration from

countryside, South, and overseas.

Decrease in wages, prestige, and job secuity.

THE “OTHER”THE “OTHER”

LABOR MANAGEMENT

capitalism and "laissez

faire"

"social gospel"

Workers uneducated and even

criminalArrogance!

run risk of ownership

and managem

ent - financial

downturns and ruin

Business to run, bills to pay, and

competition to worry about - "low salaries"

Ruthless "robber

barons" out to exploit

them

Class hatred and

revenge

Increased wages

8 hour day

Better working

conditions, worker safety,

children, etc.

Early Labor UnionsEarly Labor Unions National Labor Union

1866-1873

Knights of Labor Terrence V. Powederly Early successes 1869-1881

AF of L Samuel Gompers Skilled labor Good and bad Survival!

Samuel Gompers

Labor DilemmaLabor Dilemma• Collaboration of

business– vs. lack of unity in labor!

• Job insecurity, physical danger, imperious role of work in life:– “Collective bargaining”

and share of economic pie

• Effectiveness of strikes– Role of government and

courts– Role of newspapers and

magazines– Community support!

STRIKESSTRIKES

RAILROAD STRIKE OF

1877

B and O Railroad

1873 Depression

prompts

Strike and protests

Militia refuse,

army comes in and

violence

Much destruction and some 100 dead

HAYMARKET RIOT OF

1886

McCormick strike brings speeches at Haymarket Square

in Chicago

Anarchists speak and police are

called

Bomb, gunfire both

sides, 7 police deadTrial of 8

anarchists

Knights of Labor hurt by event, and then collapse.

Tarnished with "radical"

label

Homestead Strike of 1892

STRIKESSTRIKES

Homestead Strike of 1892

Henry Frick

STRIKESSTRIKES

PULLMAN STRIKE OF 1894

Pullman - company

town - wages cut, rents and prices still

high

American Railroad Union (under Eugene Debs)

boycotts trains with

Pullman cars RR traffic

paralyzed

Gov. Altgeld refuses to

send in troops

Pres. Cleveland sends in troops to guard the mail trains.

Riots break out

Atty. Gen. Richard

Olney uses court

injunction re. mail,

Debs to jail.

Strike failed and Debs converted

to socialism.

MOLLY MAGUIRES

OF THE 1880s

Bosses add mail and Pullman cars to

every train.

LABOR APOCALYPSE“But in this supreme hour the American Railway Union, undaunted, put forth its efforts to rescue Pullman’s famine-cursed wage slaves from the grasp of an employer as heartless as a stone, as remorseless as a savage and as unpitying as an incarnate fiend. The battle fought in the interest of starving men, women and children stands forth in the history of Labor’s struggles as the great ‘Pullman Strike.’ It was a battle on the part of the American Railway Union fought for a cause as holy as ever aroused the courage of brave men; it was a battle in which upon one side were men thrice armed because their cause was just, but they fought against the combined power of corporations which by the use of money could debauch justice, and, by playing the part of incendiary, bring to their aid the military power of the government, and this solidified mass of venality, venom and vengeance constituted the foe against which the American Railway Union fought Labor’s greatest battle for humanity.” –– Eugene Debs

TECHNIQUES USED BY

MANAGEMENT TO DEFEAT

LABOR

"yellow dog" contract

blacklist

lockout

strikebreakers/scabs, during depression

African-Americans

Pinkerton detectives

Court injunctions

police/state militia/federal

troops brought in

Associate labor unions with radical groups, such as anarchists, socialists,

and communists.

Hire workers from different

immigrant groups so as to lessen worker

cohesion

Most newspapers

and magazines on the side of management

Company towns and

stores, use of script

Mobility of businesses

LABOR FAILURES OF GILDED

AGE

Most unions collapsed, especially

during depression

Most strikes crushed

and goals not

achieved

Women and minorities

not accepted

Technology and reorganization

of business replaces skilled with unskilled

jobs

Less than 10% of workers

unionized by 1900

Massive immigration from overseas and migration from

South made replacing workers easy.

DYAMICS WITHIN LABOR

MOVEMENT

Semi-skilled unskilled

labor problem!

Confusion of aims

between Knights of

Labor (utopian) and AFL

(bread and butter)

Depressions of 1870's and 1890's hurt

unions badly - most unions

failed

Radical movement, although small, gave unions a bad name

(encouraged by media and management)

Lacks of ties between labor and farmer movements,

Populists, etc.

LABOR GAINS

DURING GILDED

AGE

Workers' determination

to strike makes

employers think twice

before cutting wages

Congress places some

limits on (Chinese)

immigration

More workers

getting the pre-Civil

War demand of 10 hours workdays

Some states gave unions legal recognition and passed health and safety laws to protect workers

Some companies provided pension

plans and profit

sharing

The AFL did survive the depression of 1890s, and

by 1901 it had over 1 million members - almost 1/3 of all skilled workers

NOT GOING AWAY…!NOT GOING AWAY…!

Andrew Carnegie

HOW AMERICA

FEELS ABOUT...

"Robber Barons"

Organized labor unions

J.P. Morgan John Rockefeller