The Progressive Era Lecture 1 Groups Representing Workers.

The Progressive Era

Lecture 1

Groups Representing Workers

Administrative

• Exam Reminder– Next quiz Feb 27– Mid-term March 19

• Reading for Next Time– Also have look at web pages on the Triangle

Shirtwaist Fire and on the IWW

• Essay Reminder – March 12

Review

• Nature of the new craft unionism – pure and simple unionism

• Origins and Founding of the American Federation of Labor – voluntarism

• The world of workers, 1880-1900

Today

I- The Winds of Reform

II- Leading Groups Representing Worker Interests

I. Winds of Reform

• National Efforts to control trusts and railroads

• Currency reform

• Efforts to reduce tariffs

The Muckrakers

• Lincoln Steffens exposed corrupt alliance between big business and municipal government

• Ida Tarbell published a devastating expose' of Standard Oil Co.

• Thomas Lawson exposed practices of stock speculators

• David Phillips in 1906 charged 75 of the 90 U.S. Senators represented railroad and trust interests rather than the people

• Upton Sinclair exposed the meat industry

Impact

• Lowered public esteem for business

• Increased public and political support for regulation of business including regulation of the work place

• Increased public and political support for worker organizations, i.e. unions

Impact – Labor Protective Legislation

• LaFollette Seamen’s Act - 1915

• Owens-Keating Act - 1916

• Adamson Act -1916

II. Leading Groups Representing Worker Interests

• The American Federation of Labor

• The Socialist Party

• The Industrial Workers of the World

American Federation of Labor

• No business group was more politically conservative

• Continued to support craft unionism and voluntarism

• Supported the war effort and worked with the Wilson Administration

The Socialist Party

• Many Socialist Groups

• Socialist Labor Party– Daniel DeLeon– Marxist

• Socialist Party– Eugene V. Debs– Believed in achieving power through the ballot

box

Socialist Party

• Didn’t have much use for exclusive craft unionism

• Advocated industrial style unionism

The Industrial Workers of the World: The Wobblies

• Founded in Chicago in 1905• Soon broke apart into factions• Plenty of charismatic and able leaders to

go around• Included Debs, DeLeon, and Big Bill

Haywood of the Western Federation of Miners

IWW Philosophy

• Various factions ranged from mildly liberal to extreme left

• Direct Action – economic and industrial action to eliminate capitalism

• Syndicalism – One Big Union

IWW

• Never terribly large membership

• Most successful at organizing low skilled workers whose work isolated them from the mainstream of society

• Even branch established in Australia

Demise of the IWW

• The only worker group to actively oppose the war

• Imperial Wilhelm’s Warriors• In context of war-time chauvinism, IWW

members frequently attacked and beaten and often jailed

• Many states passed anti-syndicalism laws• Tactics like industrial unionism and sit-

down strikes foreshadowed the 1930s

Next Time

• Injunctions

• Worker Health and Safety: The Triangle Shirt Waist Fire

• Legislative changes

• Workers during WWI

The Progressive Era

Lecture 2

Triangle Shirt Waist Fire and Injunctions and Workers in World War I

Administrative

• Essay Reminder

• Exam Reminder – quiz next class

• Hand out Definitions

Review

• Impact of the muckrakers and the atmosphere of reform

• Groups seeking to represent the interests of workers– American Federation of Labor– The Socialist Party– The Industrial Workers of the World

Today

I. Impact of Radicalism

II. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Worker Health and Safety

III. Development of the Labor Injunction

IV. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

V. Workers During the War

I. Impact of Radicalism

• Much that we take for granted now was the work of socialists, syndicalists, anarchists and marxists in an earlier time period

• Many people fought, devoted their lives and died for these concepts

I. Un-American Socialist Policies espoused by Debs

• Abolition of child labor

• Right of women to vote

• Progressive income tax

• Employer liability laws

• National department of education

• Pensions for both men and women

II. The Triangle Shirt Waist Fire and Worker Health and Safety

• March 25, 1911

• Where was the factory?

• Worst industrial fire in U.S. history, 146 young women died

• Why?

• What changes did the government make afterward?

III. Development of the Labor Injunction

• Why issue an injunction?

• In principle, the idea is to preserve the status quo and thus not to prejudice claims of either party while merits of case heard

Development of the Labor Injunction

• First used in the 1880s

• First use by federal court was in the Pullman Strike of 1894

• Became the dominant employer tool in strike situations

Use of the Labor Injunction

• Many courts issued them on an almost automatic basis

• Ex parte

• In Re Debs, the Supreme Court held that courts could enjoin strikes to prevent irreparable damage to the employer’s expectation of future profits

Use of the Labor Injunction

• Frequently issued to prevent inducement to breach of contract

• Many state courts held closed shop illegal objective and enjoined strikes in support of it on grounds workers had no direct interest in it

• Similarly Secondary Activities frequently held illegal and enjoined

IV. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

• Attempt to limit application of anti‑trust to unions and limit use of injunctions in labor disputes

• Provisions– Labor not a commodity or article of commerce

‑ perhaps intended to imply that control of labor market not restraint of trade

– Anti‑trust policy cannot prevent unions from lawfully carrying out their legitimate functions

IV. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

• Duplex v. Deering S.C. 1921

• The Law of Duplex– Injunctions can still be issued routinely by

courts in labor disputes – Anti‑trust can still be applied to routine union

activities

V. Workers During the War

• A.F.L. and mainstream of labor movement completely loyal to the war effort

• Established National War Labor Board

• A.F.L. won de facto recognition from the government

Workers During the War

• Socialist Party condemned the war

• Party attacked under the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act

• Its publications were banned from the mail

• Leaders indicted including Debs

Workers During the War

• Growing number of women joined the union movement

• Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe also joined unions in record numbers

• African-Americans typically still not welcome, even in the north

Next Time

• Quiz

• Labor Protective Legislation

• Begin Movie

The Progressive Era

Lecture 3

Protective Legislation

Administrative

• Reading for next topic

Review

• Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

• Development of Labor Injunctions

• Injunctions and Anti-trust Policy

• Workers during the war

Today

I. Immediate Post-war Period

II. Sacco Vanzetti Trial - film

I. Immediate Post-war Period

• 1919 Strike wave of unprecedented proportions in period of Red Scare

• Post‑Russian‑Revolution hysteria

• Setting of the strike wave in this period molded public attitudes even though A.F.L. was easily as Anti‑Communist as the National Association of Manufacturers

Immediate Post-War Period

• Growing interest among workers in political action

• Growth of labor parties in many states

• In 1919 split in Socialist Party that eventually produced the Communist Party

• Palmer raids on radical groups

• Movie on Sacco and Vanzetti trial

1919 Boston Police Strike

• Caused when police commissioner fired officers for union activity

• Argued unionism incompatible with loyalty required of police officers

• Strike broken by Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge– Called Massachusetts Guard– Strikers fired– Replaced by returning soldiers who received higher

pay, more holidays and free uniforms

Employer Views

• Continued to oppose unionism

• In war period, Western Union fired 800 employees for union activity

• After the war, employers launched a new anti-union offensive

Next Time

Finish film