How Government Policies Help Big Business Produce At Higher Levels

Even in booming communities such as the city of Pullman that George Pullman started back in 1880, even encountered violence and riots. Due to an economic depression in 1893, over half of the workers of this company had to be fired, while the rest had their pay checks majorly cut. This made them very angry since they were now unable to pay rent in Pullman or support their lifestyles. This caused an official strike in the year 1894, where workers were led by Eugene Debs, the creator of the failed Industrial Workers of the World union. Pullman resisted from negotiations, motivating the laborers to start boycotting train cars as part of the American Federation of Labor. Unfortunately, strikes began turning violent again as army troops were required

Finally, when they were recognized by the government, for example the Supreme Court, they passed the Interstate Commerce Act; however this act was not enforced. Also this did not help out the primary cause for labor unions. Gomper's testimony (Document I), claims that workers find that improvements in methods of production and distribution are constantly being made. Workers, therefore, he argues need occasionally to strike or all advantages will go to the employers and all injuries to the employees. Rights, he says, have been gained by the people through sacrifices and persistency. Samuel Gomper was the founder of the American Federation of Labor. The AFL did survive the 19th century because it primarily included skilled workers. The AFL kept out of involvement in politics and built up strike funds, focusing on "bread and butter" issues. It survived the depression of 1893 (which was just ending when this testimony was given) when many other unions failed. The AFL also excluded most women, African Americans, unskilled workers and some immigrants. Gompers was one of the first American union leaders to focus on collective bargaining and the strike as a political weapon. Document D was another testimony, from a machinist. He goes on to explain how the conditions in factories have changed. Many jobs were

After the civil war, up until the early 1900s, the need for a larger workforce grew as industrialization expanded. Samuel Slater brought the industrial revolution from England, and even since then, there were people trying to get better working conditions. Due to the growth in population by immigrants and expansion of industrialization, the working conditions became worse and worse, causing workers to suffer. Many people fought to solve this problem and changed many American’s lives for the better.

• 8 hour work day • No child labor • Cooperative • Equal pay • Government owned (telegraph, telephone, RR) • Graduated income tax • At first …no strikes .. but later strike! (demise is Haymarket riot) Uriah Stephens Terence Powderly Skilled & unskilled Associated with anarchists during Haymarket Riot & slowly dissolve American Federation of Labor (AFL) 1886 • Higher pay • 8 hour work day • Safe conditions • Collective bargaining Samuel Gompers Skilled white males Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) 1905 • Overthrow wage system and replace with industrial democracy (elect management) • Class warfare • Strike • Boycott • Slow downs • Sabotage • (not collective bargaining because anti-contract hierarchy) Big Bill Haywood Eugene V. Debs • Unskilled

When America was in the industrial age there were labor unions to protect the workers and then there were the giant Corporations. The strongest of the union was the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. On the month of July 1892 there was a confrontation between the Carnegie Steel Company and the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, the confrontation was mainly about protecting the union worker's jobs from the less skilled workers and in the end of the confrontation the union suffered a huge blow.

The 1800s is characterized with the rise of industrial America. As technological advances were introduced to industry, unskilled labor also rose in accordance to the rise in factories. However, this rise also introduced several labor unions such as the Knights of Labor, which organized a series of protests and riots. The labor unions had good intentions, aiming to lower the average work hours for workers, as well as increase their wages. However, their methods which involved riots and protests, were altogether not effective, and ended up being detrimental to their cause. Between 1875 and 1900, labor unions surged and were temporarily successful; however, their methods would prove detrimental to their cause overtime, leading to their

The Pullman strike was a violent 1894 railway workers’ strike which began outside of Chicago and spread nationwide. The Pullman strike escalated, halting both railroad traffic and mail delivery. Railroad owners cited that Sherman Antitrust Act to argue that the union was illegally disputing free trade. President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops, ending the strike dozen people were killed in violent clashes in the streets of Chicago, where the strike was centered. When he refused governments order to end the strike, Eugene Debs was imprisoned for conspiring against interstate commerce. Though Debs appealed the conviction, claiming that the government had no right to halt the strike. The strike was a bitter battle between workers and company

Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after

officers were sent in to stop the riots. The main leaders of the protest were now being arrested, and the strike began to fail rapidly. In the end, the strike slowly diminished and on August 2nd, the Pullman works reopened. The Pullman strike went down to be one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, labor was anything but easy. Factory workers faced long hours, low pay, high unemployment fears, and poor working conditions during this time. Life today is much easier in comparison to the late 1800s. Americans have shorter days, bigger pay and easier working conditions. Not comparable to how life is today, many riots sparked, and citizens began to fight for equal treatment. Along with other important events, the Haymarket Riot, the Pullman Strike, and the Homestead strike all play a vital role in illustrating labor’s struggle to gain fair and equitable treatment during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

As the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, it was realized by the laborers of the railroad that their nation's economic growth and prosperity was not being equally shared among the people. Coupled with years of wage cuts (35% over 3 years), and workforce reductions, that then required remaining workers to work 15-18 hour days, the workers fought back.

George Pullman was the developer of the Pullman Palace Car, creating his own factory town of Pullman, Chicago. With the massive success of the railroads, Pullman made a fortune producing his luxury sleeping cars. He is well known for suppressing his striking workers in Pullman. When a depression struck the country, he slashed wages the wages of his workers while keeping the wages of his associates and the price of living the same. This created uproar and led to a strike amongst his workers, eventually backed by Eugene Debs’ American Railway Union. The strike was violently put down, showing that labor unions had little power to negotiate.

Within the last few days, nearly 125,000 workers on 29 different railroads have walked off of the job as a refusal to handle any train with Pullman cars on it. Business owners have been reaching the peak of their irritation and have been employing replacement workers to try to end the protest. The courts have also become involved. With the recent passing of an injunction, federal troops were sent to the scene. Instead of helping the situation, it enraged the strikers. Protests have been beginning to become violent.

The steel strike began on September 21, 1919, by the AFL organizer in and around Pittsburg began to be harassed by the steel companies. The AFL sought assistance from its political allies, but the harassment continued, the anti-union pressure spread to the Midwest and West, as post-war recession affected the economy.

Unions are a direct result of the treatments seen in the industrial age. This drove changes