Crash Course Chapter 28 - Labor Unions
List what supporters of the Taft-Hartley Act believed in:
1. Unions were abusing power 2. Widespread strikes would endanger the nation's vital defense industries 3. Some labor unions had been infiltrated by Communists 4. Employers were being coerced into hiring union workers
Favored the organization of workers according to their skills and trades
AFL
By the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania
Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902
It was arbitrated with the active involvement of President Theodore Roosevelt; this marked the first time the federal government intervened in a labor dispute as a neutral arbitrator
Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902
When did the American Federation of Labor (AFL) split apart?
At its national convention in 1935
Favored the organization of all workers in a particular industry
CIO
Recognized as a significant civil rights leader
Cesar Chavez
Led by John L. Lewish
Congress of Industrial Workers (CIO)
Organized unskilled and semiskilled factory workers in basic manufacturing industries such as steel and automobiles
Congress of Industrial Workers (CIO)
One of the founder of the IWW. This person was also one of the best-known socialist leaders in America. In a socialist system, the government owns the nation's basic industries and natural resources.
Eugene Debs
During the late nineteenth century, the American movement experienced a number of violent strikes. What were the two best known?
Homestead Strike (1892) and the Pullman Strike (1894)
Began as a dispute between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (the AA) and the Carnegie Steel Company.
Homestead Strike, 1892
The AA refused to accept pay cuts and went on strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania
Homestead Strike, 1892
The strike ultimately culminated in a battle between strikers and private security guards hired by the company
Homestead Strike, 1892
Also known as the Wobblies
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Like the Knights of Labor, this labor union strove to unite all laborers, including unskilled workers and African Americans, who were excluded from craft unions
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Membership probably never exceeded workers
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
The organization probably collapsed during World War I
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Their motto was "An injury to one is an injury to all," and its goal was to create "One Big Union."
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Unlike the Knights, this labor union embraced the rhetoric of class conflict and endorsed violent tactics
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Was led by "Mother" Jones, Elizabeth Flynn, Big Bill Haywood, and Eugene Debs
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Whose quote is this? "The productive methods and facilities of modern industry have been completely transformed...Skilled artisans make up only a small proportion of the workers. Obviously the bargaining strength of employees under these conditions no longer rests in organizations of skilled employees---whether skilled or unskilled, or whether working by brain or brawn---in each basic industry."
John L. Lewis explaining the goals and strategy of the Congress of Industrial Workers (CIO)
Ended when President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to Chicago, ostensibly to protect rail-carried mail but, in reality, to crush the strike
Pullman Strike, 1894
This halted a substantial portion of American railroad commerce
Pullman Strike, 1894
When the national economy fell into a depression, the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages while maintaining rents and prices in a company town where 12,000 workers lived. This action caused...
Pullman Strike, 1894
Declared illegal "ever contract, combination in the form of trust, or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade among the several states."
Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
During the last decade of the nineteenth century, the primary use of the act was to curb labor unions.
Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
It had little immediate impact on the regulation of large corporations
Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
This forbade only unreasonable combinations or contracts in restraint of trade
Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
Intended to curb the power of labor unions
Taft-Hartley Act
Organized labor opposed this
Taft-Hartley Act 1947
Primary purpose was to curb the power of labor unions
Taft-Hartley Act, 1947
An alliance of skilled workers in craft unions
The American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Led by Samuel Gompers, the leader of the Cigar Makers Union
The American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Under Gompers's leadership, this labor union concentrated on bread-and-butter issues such as higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions
The American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Forced governors in 10 states to mobilize 60,000 militia to reopen rail traffic
The Great Railroad Strike, 1877
Paralyzed the nation's commerce for 45 days
The Great Railroad Strike, 1877
Provoked by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's decision to cut wages for the second time in a year
The Great Railroad Strike, 1877
Remembered as the first general strike in American history
The Great Railroad Strike, 1877
The Haymarket Square riot was unfairly blamed on this labor union. As a result, the public associated them with anarchists.
The Knights of Labor
This labor union grew rapidly because of a combination of their open-membership policy, the continuing industrialization of the American economy, and the growth of urban population
The Knights of Labor
Under Terence v. Powderly's leadership, this labor union grew rapidly, peaking at 730,000 members in 1886
The Knights of Labor
Welcome unskilled and semiskilled workers, including women, immigrants, and African Americans
The Knights of Labor
Were idealists who believed they could eliminate conflict between labor and management. Their goal was to create a cooperative society in which laborers, not capitalists, owned the industries in which they worked.
The Knights of Labor
The workers were organized and led by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Philip Vera Cruz, and Larry Itliong
United Farm Workers
Thus was a union of farm workers
United Farm Workers
Helped organized labor by guaranteeing labor the right to organize and form unions
Wagner Act
Also known as the National Labor Relations Act
Wagner Act of 1935
Often called the Magna Carta of labor because it ensured workers; right to organize and bargain collectively
Wagner Act of 1935
Passage of the act led to a dramatic increase in labor union membership
Wagner Act of 1935
A majority of AFL leaders refused what?
grant charters to new unions organized on an industry-wide basis
