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Labor Unions and Strikes
Knights of Labor
The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor began in 1869, attempting to solve labor issues in a nonviolent manner. They believed that the lack of success from previous unions was a result of their unwillingness to unite skilled and unskilled workers. Some of their goals included an eight hour workday, stopping the use of prisoners for labor, and ending child labor. In the beginning, the Knights of Labor did not initially use strikes, but came to accept them as a useful tool as the group became more radical, winning ones at the Union Pacific and the Wabash Railroad. However, their unsuccessful Missouri Pacific Strike and the Haymarket Square Riot caused their influence to diminish. People began to see their demands as radical and equated them with anarchists.
American Federation of Labor
In 1886, Samuel Gompers combined small unions specific to one craft into the American Federation of Labor, which included all skilled workers. He did not unite the entire working class; skilled laborers were in higher demand, and keeping the AF of L exclusive to them gave them more leverage. Knowing that the radical nature of the Knights of Labor led to its downfall, the AF of L chose to keep their demands simple, only asking for higher wages and better working conditions. These changes were unanimously wanted, and kept the organization united, with the AF of L being the biggest labor union up until the Great Depression.
Industrial Workers of the World
The IWW started in Chicago by socialist miners and other groups that did not approve of the AF of L. The IWW was led by William D. Haywood, who had participated in Colorado mine strikes. Eugene Debs, Daniel De Leon, and Mother Jones were...
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...t anarchists put on trial were condemned of conspiracy to murder. Four were hanged, one killed himself, and three were pardoned later. This incident led to the end of the Knights of Labor, which was incorrectly associated with the bomb throwing. It was an all-around bad day.
Works Cited
"American Federation of Labor." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014
"Andrew Carnegie." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
"Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.)." Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.). N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
"John D. Rockefeller." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
"J.P. Morgan." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
"Knights of Labor: An Early Labor Organization." Knights of Labor: An Early Labor Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
Companies and factories were expanding and women and children were able to join the workforce. The Knights of Labor, led by Powderly, attracted both skilled and unskilled workers. They participated in many of the major events due to the Knights of Labor such as the Haymarket Riot and the great railroad strike. Another big labor union was the American Federation of Labor (AFof L), led by Samuel Gompers. While the Knights of Labor allowed skilled and unskilled workers, the American Federation of Labor only allowed skilled workers. Gompers argued and demanded for “a reduction of the hours of labor” and for better wages (Doc 6). Many laborers joined these labor unions to fight against the big
“Industrial unions dominated the landscape of the late nineteen century U.S. labor movement.” They gathered all level workers together without discrimination of gender, race, or nationality. They declared the eight-hour workday for the first time when normal work time should be 12. Low wage of workers caused the “Great Strike of 1877”, which began with railroad workers in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. After the “Great Strike”, industrial union started to
The Knights of Labor was a secret union formed in 1869 by Uriah P. Stevens and James L. Wright, this was the largest labor organization in the 19th century, hitting 700,000 members at its highest point. They promoted the social and cultural rise of the working man, rejected socialism and radicalism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the idea of republicanism. (Manser). The American Federation of Labor founded in 1886 by Peter J. McGuire and Samuel Gompers. (Difference Between Knights of Labor and AFL). They had
The rise of industrialization and laissez faire were key constituents in the rise of labor unions; businesses were given more breathing room and had more influence in the economics than the government. Citizens were feuding the need to obtain better working hours, reasonable wages, and safer working conditions; this was mainly prompted by industrialization. The three most prominent labor unions in this time period were the American Railway labor(1890s), Knights of Labor (mid-1880s) and the National Labor Union (1866); they pushed forward forward
The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, helped represent the workers in this time of chaos. The Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, were representing both skilled and unskilled workers. They were quite popular with a large boost in membership becoming the biggest union in 1885. They sought for equal pay and equal work. All were welcomed to the Knights of Labor; there was no discrimination on race, gender, or sex. They called for an eight-hour day in order to reduce fatigue and for safety issues. The Knights of Labor Declaration of Principles states their purpose is to “make industrial and moral worth, not wealth” (Reading 9, p. 1). This means the moral worth is to what they could contribute to society rather than monetary gains. They were working towards this improvement of the common mans life to advance in civilization and create new ideas for society. They also called upon the employer to treat the employee with respect and fairness so they can contribute to not only their company but to Amer...
Throughout the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, the United States economy changed dramatically as the country transformed from a rural agricultural nation to an urban industrial gian, becoming the leading manufacturing country in the world. The vast expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s’ changed the early American economy by tying the country together into one national market. The railroads provided tremendous economic growth because it provided a massive market for transporting goods such as steel, lumber, and oil. Although the first railroads were extremely successful, the attempt to finance new railroads originally failed. Perhaps the greatest physical feat late 19th century America was the creation of the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific Company, starting in San Francisco, and the new competitor, Union Pacific, starting in Omaha. The two companies slaved away crossing mountains, digging tunnels, and laying track the entire way. Both railroads met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, and drove one last golden spike into the completed railway. Of course the expansion of railroads wasn’t the only change being made. Another change in the economy was immigration.
As factory operators pushed their employees to work longer and harder in order to increase profits, unions were formed. An example of this would be the fraternal organizat...
In addition, strikes for better wage usually failed because there were many unemployed willing to do the job. This conditions caused a huge gap between the rich and the poor, in fact, “the richest one percent of Americans held half the nation’s total wealth”. Labor unions were formed to fight this inequality and to help workers obtain only what they deserved — better working conditions, better pay and reasonable working hours. The textile strike in Lawrence, MA, exemplifies how labor unions, without a doubt, helped mill workers achieve this goal. It was with the help of the International Workers of the World (IWW) and leaders such as Joseph Ettor and Arturo Gionvannitti, who played an important role in he success of the strike. They formed a committee and immigrants from different nationalities organized as one to come up with a set of demands for the factory employers, among them were: fifteen percent increase in their salary, double time for overtime work and no retaliation after the strike ended and they would go back to work. Up to this point, many of the initial strikes had failed; they would end as soon a they began because the masses were quickly put to order by the police. Nonetheless, as they organized, they became stronger on account of the amount of people that joined the
These early unions had many names including societies, social societies and guilds. These primitive unions or guilds of carpenters, cordwainers, and cobblers made their appearance, often temporary, in cities around the east coast of colonial America. These groups of workers are a far cry from what unions are today. They mainly focused on friendship and trust between the workers and management. The first recorded form of a union was a group called the "Friendly Society of Cotton Spinners, who in 1775 instructed its members not to work below the usual price" (Smith).
America was a time of rapid growth for people all across the country. The Industrial Revolution began a few years after the Civil War with the invention of steam powered machines. From there, America faced a time of massive expansion and modern industrialized cities popped up across the United States. While there was much success across the nation, such as manual labor becoming easier and a huge population growth, the negative effects of industrialization outweigh the positives. A few of the issues that made industrialization an atrocious time for many was the racism and segregation towards immigrants and unsafe and unfair working conditions/the deprivation of a regular childhood for kids across the nation.
Today the I.W.W. members continue to advocate workers rights and free speech. The I.W.W. consists of writers, playwrights, historians, and filmmakers who still retain a vigorous press. (www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/golman/peopleevents/e_iww.html) I have a great respect for people who are brave enough to stand up to their opposition without knowing if they can truly win or not. On the contrary, I could not imagine carrying out the violent acts some of the IWW members did. In my opinion people expect violence in order to solve problems. Therefore, sometimes peoples minds can be far greater tops in the art of war. Unions could be useful today, but not any that carry out high levels of violence. I think that violence will only start a vicious cycle instead of resulting in
Unions traditionally were “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the condition of their employment” (Webb & Webb, 1894, as cited in Bryson, 2011b, slide 7). Their function was to campaign for compassionate management procedures, equivalent bargaining power between employers and employees, and for fairness and democracy to be initiated into the workplace (Bryson, 2011a). Union activity at this time tended to focus on nationwide bargaining for industrial groups (Geare, 1983, as cited in Haynes, 2005), with their role seen as wage bargainers and in...
The Industrial Workers of the World is an ample union who are commonly known as the IWW and the Wobbles. During the time period between 1900 and 1930 the United States focused their attention and was occupied with the Labor Union Movement, which started in the late 1800’s and also World War I which began a later. The IWW stood strong throughout and never gave up for what they were fighting for. This can be seen through their slogan, “An injury to one is an injury to all.” Their messages were effective and drew a plethora of heads. The IWW accomplished certain goals and acquired a reputation in society during that time even though straight from the start, United States government was not on their side.
In the 19th century, America had a basic economy and small industry. It was also a new country, with few customs and traditions. It had not had time to acquire any, because it was still so new. America has grown a lot since then, and a lot of the steps we have taken to get to today's bustling economy and immense industry took place in the nineteenth century. Commerce and industry contributed to America's nineteenth century identity because it provided the framework for a larger economy in the future, helped drive western expansion and growth of cities, made an improved transportation system necessary, and forced many new inventions onto the market
All of the conditions mentioned above led to local and national labor unions. The Knights of Labor headed by Terence Powderly became the first national union, which started with 9 members in 1870 and grew to 728,000 by 1884. This union admitted black workers, women, and unskilled workers, and in 1886 it was damaged by the Haymarket riot. The American Federation of Labor headed by Samuel L. Gompers later on picked up organized labor, and they focused mainly on issues like pay, safety, and hours. Unions continued to grow and fight for better working conditions for the United States and its