APUSH Unit 6 Notes "Labor Unions" – Flashcards

1866 FIRST LABOR UNION William H Sylvis (iron worker) unify all workers (skilled & unskilled) 8 hour work day 640,000 members in 1868 union fell apart after the death of Sylvis (1869)

low wages long hours monotonous work child labor unsafe little communication with owners no workman's compensation wanted to create 5 day work week wanted to create laws

labor unions never included more than 2% of the total labor force or more that 10% of industrial workers

- secret society (until Terence Powderly made public in 1879) - unified all workers (unskilled & skilled, African-Americans, and women but no chinese) - wanted 8 hour work day - didn't like strikes - wanted codes for health and safety - Haymarket destroyed Union

1886 - Samuel Gompers - wanted better waged, hours, and working conditions - only used skilled labors - million members by 1901 - didn't include women, blacks, and unskilled labor "pure & simple" unionism - pure: membership, workers only (no outside advisers) - simple: goals were wages, hours, and benefits (suitable for a period where government was hostile to labor unions)

- violence - presidential injunctions - few African Americans - no immigrants

- medical insurance - social organization - union hall offered a place to socialize

- strikes and work stoppages - boycotts of specific products - collective bargaining (one person would represent an entire group and they would all agree on certain terms) - work slowdowns - laws (government intervention)

- scabs - court injunctions - yellow dog contracts

- difficult to communicate (language & cultural differences) - prestigious

1886 strike killed 7 policemen

1892 (Idaho) silver miners went on strike and federal troops crushed strikes

1892 workers attacked detectives - 3 detectives and 10 workers died

1894 railroad workers led by Debs went on strike and AFL refuses to help - gov sends troops to stop and strike collapses (Labor Day created as a result)

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