Department of Labor Unions

Problems of Labor

1. Low Wages

Easy availability of workers, lead to lower wages

No minimum wage laws

Problems of Labor

2.Working Conditions

Poor lighting, heating, and ventilation No safety standards Child labor

Problems of Labor

3. Working Hours “Sweat Shops” tried to get more

production out of workers and forced them to 12- 14 hour days.

Once again the “Bread and Butter Goals”

Haymarket Riot in Chicago The Haymarket Riot in Chicago in May

1886 killed several people, and resulted in a highly controversial trial followed by executions of four men who may have been innocent. The American labor movement was dealt a severe setback, and the chaotic events resonated for many years.

Knights of Laborhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SteWSnKVhOE

Founder/Date: 1869

Members: Craft and Unskilled industrial workers, women & minorities

Goals: 8 hour work day

Knights of Labor At first, the Knights of Labor was a

secret organization, its founder was Uriah Stephens.

At first, the Knights of Labor was a secret organization, by the early 1880s, the group had emerged as a national force and had dropped its initial secrecy. They sought to include within their ranks everyone but doctors, bankers, lawyers, liquor producers and gamblers.

Unions Successes: won 1 major strike

Problems: prejudice,too much attention on political goals

Why did the Knights of Labor attracts a lot of people?

They did not exclude people…

American Federation of Labor In December of 1886, the same year the

Knights of Labor was dealt its fatal blow at Haymarket Square, Gompers met with the leaders of other craft unions to form the American Federation of Labor.

The A.F. of L. was a loose grouping of smaller craft unions, such as the masons' union, the hatmakers' union or Gompers's own cigarmakers' union. Every member of the A.F. of L. was therefore a skilled worker!

American Federation of Labor Founder/Date:Samual Gompers/1886

Members: Union of unions with a common issue.

American Federation of Labor Bread and Butter Goals

1. Higher wages2. Better working conditions3. Shorter hours

Successes:collective bargaining---->a group of people negotiating to get something they want…

Problems Racist attitude

What does “Bread and Butter Goals” mean? The things you need to survive…

Industrial Workers of the

World(IWW) The driving force behind the I.W.W. was William D.

Haywood, the leader of the Western Federation of Miners, which had established a reputation for work stoppages in Colorado mines.

Joining Haywood at the launch of the I.W.W., which he described as the "first continental congress of the working class," were Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist Party and Daniel De Leon of the Socialist Labor Party. Also present were Mother Jones, the "angel of the miners," and Lucy Parsons, whose husband had been executed in the Haymarket affair.

Industrial Workers of the World(IWW)

Founder/Date: 1905/William Haywood

Members: Female, black, Mexican, Asian, minorities in general.

Goals Bread and Butter Goals

Higher wages

Better working conditions

Shorter hours

Successes… Textile strike in Massachusettes

Problems Reputation for violence

Faced Discrimation

Industrial Workers of the World(IWW) Why did the IWW face discrimination?

They were a diverse group