Labor Unions & Big Business

the Knights of Labor

a. founded by Philadelphia garment cutters (in 1860), Terence V. Powderly (in 1879) was elected as grand master (he was a machinist and the former mayor of Scranton, PA), the organization welcomed women, African-Americans, immigrants, and unskilled and semiskilled workers to join

b. they believed that tehy ecould eliminate conflict by establishing a cooperative society in which laborers worker for themselves, not for those who possessed capital, technological and organizational changes were making it impossible to reach their goals, they saw producer and consumer cooperatives as preferable to the forces of greeed that surrounded them, they concluded that a society in which all groups lived cooperatively was achievable (this view gave organization strength and weakness; one weakness was the cooperative idea gave laborers little bargaining power), the organization opposed strikes because it tended to divert attention from the long term goal and workers usually lost more than win strikes, they began to campaign for an eight hour workday so they could create more jobs and reduce the unemployment

the Haymarket riot

a. On May 1st 1886 mass strikes in Chicago arrose like in front of the McCormick reaper factory, two days later police stormed area near reaper factory and broke up a battle between unionists and nonunion strikebreakers (police shot and killed two unionists and wounded some others), later labor groups rallied at the Haymarket Square to protest police brutality (a bomb exploded near the polices' front ranks, then huge arrests of anarchists and unionists followed, eight anarchists were tried and convicted but the Illinois governor John Altgekd was able to free one after some died and one committed suicide he thought that they were victims of the court)

b. the bombing brought attentio to the growing discomfort of labor and revived middle-class fear of radicalism, it was the result of the police brutality and the whole entire event was because of the unfairness to the workers/laborers.

the American Federation of Labor

a. in 1886, it was an alliance of national craft unions, the members were mostly skilled native-born workers, it was led by Samuel Gompers, they avoided the idealistic rhetoric of worker solidarity to press for concrete goals (higher wages, shorter hours, and the right to bargain collectively), it accepted industrialism and worked to improve conditions within the wage-and-hours system, it required constituent unions to hire organizers to expand membership (it collected dues for a fund to iad members on strike), and the organization avoided party politics.

b. It was the cause of other organizations/unions that allowed members to be unskilled or semiskilled, it emerged from the upheavels of the major workers' organization.

Samuel Gompers

a. he's the leader of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and is a pragmatic and opportunistic immigrant who also leaded the Cigar Makers' Union, he made the AFL grow from one million members in 1901 to two and a half million in 1917 (it represented one hundred eleven national unions and twenty-seven thousand local unions), the organization listened and followed under his dictum to support labor's friends and oppose its enemies regardless of party.

b. in result of labor violence the AFL suffered serious setbacks, hisb leadership and organization lead to other unions and leaders that either shared or greatly disagreed with the AFL's goals and etcetera.

the Homestead strike

a. in July 1892, the AFL and Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steelworkers refused to accept pay cuts and went on strike in Homestead Pennsylvania, Henry Frick was the president of the Carnegie Steel Company

b. As a result of the riot Frick hired three hundred Pinkerton guards and floated them across by barge at night, in result of Frick's actions there were angry workers waiting on the Mohongahela River shore that attacked and routed the guards, and then state militia were summoned but after five months the strikers gave in, also an attempt of killing Frick by a young anarchist who wasn't a striker resulted in the change in public opinion turning against strikes.

the Pullman strike

a. Occurred in 1894, George Pullman and his workers, his workers were upset about how he ran the town (which he controled and tried to make 'luxurious' for the workers), Pullman would negotiate with the worker and he would reduce their wages but still keep all the store prices and etc. the same price, the strikers gave in within a month.

b. Strike was result of Pullman's town, actions, and rules, the workers sent a committee to Pullman to protest his policies (and resulting in him firing three committee members), which caused the very angry workers by then to call on a strike, which caused Pullman to close the plant resulting in the aid for the workers led by Eugene V. Debs who refused to handle all of Pullman's cars, then Pullman got help from U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney who obtained a court injunction to prevent the union from striking and etc.

Eugene V. Debs

a. leader if the union that participated in the Pullman Strike, he was a young, charismatic organizer, who voted to iad the strikers by refusing to handle any of Pullman's cars, he was jailed for defying the court injunction, the Supreme Court upheld Debs's six-month prison sentence on grounds that the federal government had the power to remove obstacles to interstate commerce.

b. he was thrown in jail because of his actions against Pullman and in helping the workers strike and he's a good example of how out of control and aggresive the strikes were getting, and after him and the Pullman Strike there were still more to come.

the Industrial Workers of the World

a. Established in 1905, strove to unify all laborers including unskilled workers, their motto was "An injury to one is an injury to all", their goal was "one big union", they were also known as the Wobblies, they went beyond goals of the Knights and espoused socialism and tactics of violence and sabotage, they believed that workers should seize and run the nation's industries, a series of strikes were led by "Mother" Jones (an Illinois coalfield union organizer) Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (who was a fiery orator that was also known as "Joan of Arc") and William D. Haywood (called "Big Bill" who was a one-eyed, brawny man that founded the Western Federation of Miners), the membership population of the organization never exceeded over one hundred fifty thousand, the organization faded during World War I when federal prosecution and persecution sent many of its leaders to jail.

b. The organization was made because of the other unions and organizations, they however had different tactics and reasons and etcetera than the other organizations, their violence and sabotage tactics scared the people and thats why many were jailed.