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THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT | ||||
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UNION STRATEGIES & PHILOSOPHIES | ||||
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THE HISTORY OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT | ||||
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The Labor Movement in the Industrial Age: 1700 - present | ||||
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Commonwealth of Philadelphia v. Pullis aka the Cordwainers Case, 1805 | ||||
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Mass v. Hunt: The Boston Journeymen Bootmakers Case 1842 | ||||
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The Molly Maguires, circa 1865 | ||||
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The National Labor Union, 1866 (NLU) | ||||
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The Knights of Labor, 1869 (KOL) | ||||
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The American Federation of Labor, 1886 (AFL) | ||||
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May Day, & the Eight Hour League General Strike | ||||
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Labor Day | ||||
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The Haymarket Square Riot, 1886 | ||||
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Vegelahgn v. Guntner, 1896 | ||||
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Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890 | ||||
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Homestead Strike, 1892 | ||||
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Pullman Strike, 1894 | ||||
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The American Railway Union (ARU) | ||||
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Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902 | ||||
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The International Workers of the World, 1905 (IWW) | ||||
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Lochner v. NY: The Danbury Hatter Boycott, circa 1908 | ||||
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Muller v. Oregon, 1908 | ||||
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The Labor Movement & Global Capitalism: circa 1910 - present | ||||
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The Triangle Fire & Strike Victory, 1911 | ||||
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Clayton Antitrust Act, 1914 | ||||
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Easter Strike: Ludlow Massacre, 1914 | ||||
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The American Plan & the Mohawk Valley Formula | ||||
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Business Unionism: "The Great Labor Compromise" | ||||
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The Railway Labor Act, 1926 | ||||
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The Norris LaGuardia Act, 1932 |
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Introduction: Marx
1818 -1883
Wealth could only be created by labor Another class: owners: monied aristocracy 10 % own 90 % of the wealth, & thus also have more power In a democracy, unions are necessary to help balance this power 1999 in US: richest 17 mm have same amount of wealth as poorest 100 mm Most of the Labor Movement want this inequality leveled out to a certain extent |
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Summary: Before unions, workers had almost no voice
in determining wages, hours, working conditions, etc.
Since the shift from agricultural econ to the industrial economy, there was a consistent surplus of labor Workers always recognized that collective power was greater than individual power From the very beginning, those in power regarded unions/ guilds / prof assoc as immoral /illegal etc. The US the courts viewed unions as illegal until the late 1800s, & it wasn't until the early 1900s that actual union legality was established |
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Early Worker Associations formed estbing the Labor Movements prior in the Pre Empire Era circa 10 K BC - 500 AD | |||
Early Worker Associations, circa 1500 BC, were closed groups of profl assocs which arose as a collective response to exploitation | ||||
The qualities of the early professional associations influenced the modern Labor Movement | ||||
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Guilds were common in the Labor Movement in the Middle Ages circa 500 - 1300 | |||
Craft Guilds developed during the Medieval Era, circa 400 - 1600 | ||||
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Craft unions & guilds spread from Rome to Europe, & eventually to the US | |||
Guilds evolved into other types of labor associations | ||||
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The Labor Movement during the early industrial revolution began its move from craft guild to labor unions circa 1300 - 1700 | |||
The Industrial Revolution created the decapitalization of Labor | ||||
Labor Parties first developed in Europe | ||||
Craft unions came to US via European immigrants | ||||
There were many early US Labor Movement actions | ||||
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The Labor Movement during the Industrial Age gained power & legitimacy circa 1700 - present | |||
Illegality to Legality
In the early 1800s, unions were illegal & forced to exist as secret societies In the mid 1800s, unions became legal, but strikes were still illegal |
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During the industrial age, many unions were born, some have gone out
of existence
NLU 1866 - 1872 KOL 1869 - 1899 AFL 1869 - 1955 IWW 1905 |
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During the industrial age, court cases were very important for the Labor Movement | ||||
There were many historic strikes, & other forms of labor unrest
during this era
Molly Maguires 1865 Haymarket Square Riot 1886 Homestead Strike 1892 Pullman Strike 1894 Danbury Hatters Boycott 1906 |
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During the indl age, some noteworthy legislation was passed, but legislation legalizing Labor Movement as we know it today does not occur until the next era | ||||
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The Labor Movement & Global Capitalism, as global capitalism developed, Labor lost power | |||
During the era of global cap, the Labor Movement gained full legitimacy in the form of all the rights & obligations it possesses today | ||||
During the era of global cap, more important unions were born including
the
CIO 1935 - 1955 AFL CIO merged in 1955 |
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During the era of global cap, there were many historic strikes, &
other forms of labor unrest, especially the
Triangle Fire 1911 Ludlow Massacre 1914 |
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During the era of global cap, the cornerstone labor relations legislation was passed, legalizing Labor Mvmt as we know it today | |||
Business Unionism, aka "The Great Labor Compromise," allowed the Labor Mvmt to gain legitimacy but limited Labor's options | ||||
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The Labor Movement During the Post Industrial Age lost much influence & struggled to reinvent itself | |||
During the post indl era, public employees unions came to the fore front | ||||
Labor law in the 1970s addressed the issues of public sector wkrs | ||||
During this era, the Labor Movement experienced its greatest decline & also began its resurgence | ||||
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The Future of the Labor Movement | |||
The Future of the Labor Mvmt is fraught w/ many challenges related to changes in the economy, govt support, etc., but the assets of the Labor movement, such as a committed leadership & membership, will find opportunities in new sectors of the economy & in unorganized workers |
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The development of the dual economy ( agriculture & industry ) impacts union development | ||||||
Illegality to Legality
During the early 1800s, unions were illegal, forced to exist as secret societies During the mid 1800s, unions became legal, but strikes were still illegal |
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Opposition to Labor emerged from many spheres of society | ||||||
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Commonwealth of Philadelphia v. Pullis aka The Cordwainers Case | |||||
The Cordwainers Case is known historically as the case which established the conspiracy doctrine | ||||||
In the Cordwainers Case, the Court found that the shoemakers had conspired in pursuit of their personal interests, contrary to the public interest | ||||||
Commons & Sumner (1910) labeled the years 1820-1840 as the "awakening period of the American Labor Movement." |
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Union "conspiracy"
In NYC, 20 tailors convicted of conspiring against owners The conviction of workers for conspiring to form a union spawned mass protests People deserted the Tammany Hall Democratic machine as a result of union conspiracy convictions |
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US unions never developed a national Labor Party, but there were many regional political parties which supported labor | ||||||
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The Whig Party had the campaign promise to protect labor rather than privilege & capital |
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In Commonwealth of Mass v. Hunt | |||||
The Mass. v. Hunt case established the first legal union, the Boston Journeymen Bootmakers Society, though the union still did not have the right to strike | ||||||
Early Labor Unrest 1870 - 1910 | ||||||
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The Molly Maguires, circa 1865 to 1877, were a union of coal miners in PN who used terrorist tactics to win concessions | |||||
The birth of national unions began in the US |
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NLU 1866
- 1872
KOL 1869 - 1899 AFL 1869 - 1955 IWW 1905 CIO 1935 - 1955 AFL CIO merged in 1955 |
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The National Labor Union (NLU), which was established in 1866, was more politically & reformist oriented than economically oriented |
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Railroads were largest & most centralized industry in 1800's in US | ||||||
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There were widespread strikes on the railroads, & Labor experienced widespread govt repression | |||||
The unions were active in the Railroad industry, employing both general & mass strikes | ||||||
See Also: Strikes | ||||||
A general strike occurs when several trades strike simultaneously | ||||||
A mass strike occurs when there is a revolt by general population against some major aspect of the social order | ||||||
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The Knight of Labor became very influential in this era ( 1869 - 1899 ) by crossing craft lines, & favoring arbitration & compromise over strikes | |||||
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The AFL became very influential in this era | |||||
The AFL, 1886 - present, was the first labor coalition & it developed the practices of collective bargaining & business unionism, & it merged w/ the CIO in 1955 | ||||||
On May Day the Eight Hour League called a general strike | ||||||
The Haymarket Square Riot occurred on May 4th, 1886 | ||||||
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In Vegelahgn v. Guntner, the AFL loses case of closed picket line | |||||
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Sherman Antitrust Act | |||||
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Homestead Strike | |||||
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Pullman Strike | |||||
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Anthracite Coal Strike | |||||
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The IWW "The Wobblies" 1905 - present | |||||
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In his important work, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair ( 1906 ) depicts the participant observation he did in the meat packing industry which exposed rampant labor abuse & unsanitary conditions | |||||
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Lochner v. NY: The Danbury Hatter Boycott: circa 1908 | |||||
Muller v. Oregon | ||||||
See Next: The Labor Movement in the Age of Global Capitalism 1910 - present |
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Philadelphia v. Pullis was the first Am labor case, & it was aka the Cordwainers Case | |||||
The Cordwainers Case is known historically as the case which established the conspiracy doctrine | |||||
In the decision in the Philadelphia Cordwainers Case, it was found that collective action by labor indicated an underlying plan that was criminally conspiratorial | |||||
The court found that the shoemakers had conspired in pursuit of their personal interests, contrary to the public interest | |||||
W. Nelles, Yale Law Journal, Volume 41, 1931, notes that this was the first Am labor dispute to enter a courtroom for resolution | |||||
The Federal Society of Journeyman Cordwainers was organized in Philadelphia in 1794 | |||||
Cordwainers means "leather worker" & also referred to boot & shoemakers, saddle & harness makers |
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Term traced to Spanish city, Cordova: center for fine leather |
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Today in Cordova, they are famous for Spanish leather, Swiss chocolate, French pastry, Russian Caviar, Irish linen |
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The leather workers encountered three kinds of markets, w/ varying
wages, including:
- the shop where bespoke work was done (special order) - the order mkt which was only for wholesalers - the mkt which was the public market |
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For leather workers each type of work in the various mkts earned a lower price in labor |
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The journeymen struck against variable wages in different mkts |
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Technically the cordwainers strike was not a mgt labor dispute, but rather a dispute among co owners | |||||
However, the court recognized the cordwainers strike as a mgt labor distinction because of the power of the masters | |||||
Even during its time, the cordwainers' case was considered a big case
& prominent lawyers represented both sides, including
VP & running mate of DeWitt as the govt prosecutor (The last Federalist party ticket was six yrs later) |
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The Cordwainers lawyer became Thomas Jefferson's Attorney General within a year of the verdict | |||||
Strike demands: The Cordwainers went on strike to enforce demands for wage scale prevailing in NY & Baltimore, & demanded discontinuance of rebate of wages for exported work | |||||
Eight cordwainer leaders were arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy & charged w/ criminal conspiracy & tried in Philadelphia | |||||
The govt prosecution relied on British authorities, since refuted, to establish the conspiracy doctrine that "a conspiracy of workmen to raise their wages" was criminal at common law |
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The British law on conspiracy supported the arguments of Jared Ingersoll for the prosecution | |||||
The defense of Caesar A. Rodney failed & the defendants were found guilty |
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The guilty verdict had a major impact on labor law for decades | |||||
But court was chiefly concerned w/ establishing the conspiracy doctrine & so only fined each of the eight defendants $8.00 each |
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This was a major blow to union organizing & the strike was broken | |||||
Precedent set for criminal prosecution of labor union activities |
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This was the the 1st of 6 criminal conspiracy cases brought against union shoemakers in this period |
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Four were decided against the journeymen | |||||
The Cordwainers Case had some positive outcomes for Labor | |||||
While the Cordwainers were fined, the court recognized the right of the individual worker to withhold labor to pressure for higher wages | |||||
Under the decision of the Cordwainers Case, wkrs could individually withhold labor for higher wages, they were only prohibited from just could not cooperate to do so | |||||
The Court viewed mgr worker agreements as a plethora of individual, discrete agreements | |||||
The Court did not accept an industrial pattern of agreements where the agreement is btwn the owner & the work force | |||||
Today, individual contracts are still the way labor agreements are viewed today in a non union setting | |||||
But the concept of an individual strike is an oxymoron |
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The first legal American union was the Boston Journeymen Bootmakers Society ( BJBS ) |
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The legality of the BJBS was established by the Supreme Court of Mass in 1842 |
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The defendants were the members of the BJBS, which was a a trade union |
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The BJBS was arguing to become a lawful org |
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Previously, the Cordwainers Case had determined that any association of workers had been judged to be unlawful conspiracies |
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See Also: The Cordwainers Case |
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Mass v. Hunt weakened, but did not eliminate the conspiracy doctrine |
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The specific argument of the Mass. v. Hunt justified the right of BJBS to organize to add members to its Society |
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Mass. v. Hunt determined that strikes were subject to civil, not criminal penalties |
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Mass. v. Hunt expanded the interpretation of Phil. v. Pullis, aka the Cordwainers Case |
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Mass. v. Hunt determined that collective action by labor against the property interests of a master shopkeeper was not criminal |
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Therefore workers should not be prosecuted in defense of the community |
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Strikers could not be sued for damages in criminal cases, only civil cases |
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But it also meant that strikes & unions were not illegal per se |
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The first legal American union was the Boston Journeymen Bootmakers Society | |||||
Mass v. Hunt weakened the “conspiracy doctrine” in that strikes became legal | |||||
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Thus, strikes & unions became a civil issue |
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Mass. v. Hunt is considered to be a minor victory for the Labor Movement because it legalized powerless unions |
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The historical significance is the recognition of unions as lawful, providing that the methods of attaining their ends are "honorable & peaceful" |
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In Commonwealth of Mass v Hunt unions became legal as long as their methods were peaceful |
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Molly Maguires aka the Buckshots, White Boys, Sleepers circa 1865 to 1877 |
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The Molly Maguires took their name from a group of anti landlord agitators in 1840s in Ireland led by a widow named Molly Maguire |
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During the potato famine, the Molly Maguires & other groups fought against established interests |
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The Molly Maguires were a secret organization of Irish American miners |
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The Molly Maguires, circa 1865 to 1877, were a union of coal miners in PN who used terrorist tactics to win concessions |
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Most members were Irish |
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Formed to deal w/ intolerable working conditions in PN coal mines |
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The working conditions for miners were such that they were typically overworked, underpaid, & unsafe |
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Coal mining conditions were intolerable |
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Wages often did not cover expenses, as charged by the company: "Workin' in the coal mine and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt." |
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The Molly Maguires used terrorist tactics |
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The Molly Maguires assassinated company officials & committed other acts of terrorism |
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The Molly Maguires were chastised by Church, owners, govt, media, but respected by miners |
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Used their power for the benefit of members & intimidated or murdered recalcitrant mine bosses & colliery superintendents |
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1874, at height of their power, Franklin B. Gowen, President of the Philadelphia Coal & Iron Co. & Reading Railroad hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency |
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The Molly Maguires were infiltrated by James McParlan, a Pinkerton, who was is some sense sympathetic, but wanted a better life |
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After a particularly outrageous murder in 1875, one assassin was condemned to death |
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This was the first capital conviction of a Molly |
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McParlan was suspected by the Mollies |
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McParlan evaded 1 plot to murder him, then w/drew |
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1877 trial based on McParlan's testimony crushed the Molly Maguires forever |
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10 hung, 14 jailed |
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The National Labor Union, the NLU, circa 1866 - 1872, was oriented more toward politics & social reform than toward economic or business issues |
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The NLU was active mostly in the railroads |
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The NLU had FIVE goals which included |
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a. establishing an 8 hour workday |
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b. establishing consumer & producer coops |
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c. reforming immigration policy |
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d. establishing a Dept. of Labor |
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e. reforming the monetary system |
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While the NLU did not accomplish many of these goals, these were important ideas that were later accepted |
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The NLU failed to make important alliances, e.g., the Suffragettes failed to get their endorsement |
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By 1872, the NLU was essentially dead |
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In 1872, the NLU w/drew it's Presidential candidate & disbanded |
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The Knights of Labor circa 1869 - 1899 |
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The KOL were unique because they crossed craft lines |
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The Knights favored political & social reform over strikes | |||||
The Knights thinned the ranks of craft unions | |||||
The KOL was part union & part fraternal org |
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The KOL was a secret society w/ secret rites & ceremonies |
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The KOL operated under the principles of one union, not divided by craft |
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The leaders of the KOL were Terence Powderly & Uriah Stephens |
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The primary tactics of the KOL were arbitration & compromise |
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The KOL did not strike |
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Because of it did not strike, the KOL lost most disputes & the membership became impatient & ultimately left |
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The KOL had THREE goals including |
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a. improving conditions by education and social reform |
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b. focusing on direct producers |
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c. establishing worker cooperatives |
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The Catholic Church opposed the Knights both because it was a secret society, & because it was a union |
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The Church had a strong influence among workers, esp immigrants & ethnic groups |
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In 1875 the KOL won acceptance by the Church because of the foresight of Cardinal Gibbons |
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In 1885 financier Jay Gould attempted to break the union via layoffs |
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The KOL carried out a limited strike whereby they would not handle Gould's rolling stock |
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Gould agreed to stop discriminating against the KOL | |||||
The KOL, being one of the most visible unions of the time, was blamed for the Haymarket Square Riot | |||||
KOL's decline: | |||||
The KOL never won another major victory after the limited strike against Gould | |||||
The KOL was accused of housing anarchists & radicals | |||||
The press attacked the KOL | |||||
The KOL provide FIVE lessons, which were heeded by the AFL & Gompers including that | |||||
a. striking was necessary because employers are short on good will | |||||
b. workers are not united enough to form one monolithic union & so there was a need for craft unions | |||||
c. the strategy of arbitration & compromise did not work in this period of employer dominance | |||||
d. the attempt to establish program for a broad based working class coalition was too aggressive for the development of the Labor Movement at the time | |||||
e. unions needed shop floor action too |
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- Project: The Radical Unionism & the AFL |
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In the beginning, circa 1886, 25 national labor groups representing 150,000 workers formed the AFL |
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The AFL was established in 1886 by Samuel Gompers |
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The AFL exists in the AFL - CIO today & is thus the oldest existing union in North America |
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From its earliest days, the AFL was challenged by Marxist organizations like the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon & the Socialist Party of Eugene V. Debs | |||||
These leftist groups believed that the primary battle facing American workers was on the political rather than the economic front | |||||
The radicals believed that major structural changes in the capitalist system were required to end exploitation & wage slavery | |||||
Many of the AFL's own national unions were won over to the Socialist cause, yet none of these radical challenges ever succeeded in substituting its program for the procapitalist, job control unionism of the AFL majority | |||||
The AFL has SEVEN Characteristics including |
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a. a decentralized federation of unions & labor orgs |
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b. a focus on craft or skilled workers only which therefore was antagonistic to industrial workers |
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See Also: Lower Level Employees | |||||
c. national unions retaining power over trade issues |
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d. settling disputes among the craft unions | |||||
e. focusing on business unionism, that is, bread & butter issues | |||||
f. an emphasis on collective bargaining rather than mass strikes; thus, the AFL institutionalized labor conflict | |||||
g. utilizing strikes almost exclusively, & not arbitration nor legislation | |||||
Many of the characteristics of the AFL are still important today, especially decentralization & business unionism | |||||
The characteristic or practice of decentralization occurs when the focus on local issues by the local union is paramount while establishing some unity as offered by the federation | |||||
Business unionism has FOUR qualities including | |||||
a. a goal to obtain more for the union workers, not all workers | |||||
In relation to the goal to obtain more for union wkrs, Gomper's motto was "More, more, more!" | |||||
b. no legislative agenda | |||||
c. no social programs |
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d. the inclusion of skilled workers only | |||||
Gompers was the leader in the development of business unionism | |||||
Business Unionism has been termed the Great Compromise | |||||
The AFL learned from the KOL, creating a strategy & structure that was very different from it | |||||
The AFL was relatively decentralized compared to KOL | |||||
The AFL pursues political & social change as did the KOL |
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The AFL used collective bargaining ( arbitration & compromise ) as did the KOL, but also used the strike | |||||
In Vegelahgn v. Guntner, 1896, the AFL loses the case of the closed picket line | |||||
Until the formation of the AFL CIO, 1955, employers played off the prejudices btwn skilled & unskilled workers | |||||
Industrial workers were considered to be a threat to the skilled craft workers | |||||
The AFL, Gompers, & other unions of this period believed that industrial workers could not be organized because they were considered so unskilled that a strike would be futile because scabs could always be found | |||||
The AFL was considered elitist in that it played off the prejudices between skilled & unskilled workers | |||||
It was not until the CIO formed, in 1935, that this belief was proven to be mistaken | |||||
The AFL also excluded women & minorities and unskilled workers, w/ exceptions: ILGWU, Brotherhoods of Sleeping Car Porters |
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This elitism still affects unions today |
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Many people see union members as overpaid, feather bedders |
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What can be done about this image? |
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Labor Day is a holiday honoring working people |
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It is observed as a legal holiday on the first Monday in September throughout the US, Puerto Rico, & Canada |
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Labor organizations sponsor various celebrations, but for most people it is a day of rest & recreation |
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The holiday also has become a symbol of the end of summer |
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In Australia, Labor Day is called Eight Hour Day, & it commemorates the successful struggle for a shorter working day |
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In Europe, Labor Day is observed on May 1 |
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Two men have been credited with suggesting a holiday to honor working people in the United States: Matthew Maguire & Peter J. McGuire (no relation) |
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Maguire was a machinist from Paterson, New Jersey, & McGuire was a NYC carpenter who helped found the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners |
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Maguire & McGuire played an important part in staging the first Labor Day parade in New York City in September 1882 |
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On May 8, 1882, McGuire proposed to the NYC Central labor Union the designation of an annual "labor day" | ||||
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McGuire recommended the 1st Monday in Sept, midway btwn the 4th of July & Thanksgiving Day | ||||
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In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday |
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31 states followed OR when Pres Cleveland signed the bill passed by Congress making Labor Day a national holiday | |||||
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President Grover Cleveland signed a bill in 1894 making Labor Day a national holiday |
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The US estb Labor Day in the fall to diffuse the radical influence of the spring labor day as celebrated by many labor orgs, many European countries, etc. | ||||
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As organized labor became accepted, the holiday changed to a summer holiday, & there were fewer great parades, demonstrations, & wkrs' convocations, which labor leaders used as public forums |
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The strike that precipitated the Haymarket Square bombing & riot was at the McCormick Harvester plant strike which took place in Chicago, IL |
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The strike that precipitated the Haymarket Square bombing & riot was taking place w/in the militant Chicago movement for an 8 hour working day | |||||
The 8 Hour Movement was frequently accompanied by conflict btwn strikers & police | |||||
In protest against the shooting of several workmen, August Spies, editor of the semi anarchist Arbeiter Zeitung, issued circulars demanding revenge & announcing a mass meeting the Haymarket | |||||
The police expected trouble & so had a large presence | |||||
Mayor Harrison attended & found the Haymarket protest to be innocent enough | |||||
Despite his advice, 180 police advanced on the meeting at Haymarket Square & ordered the crowd to disperse | |||||
As the peaceful meeting dispersed, a bomb was thrown into the police | |||||
The Haymarket Square Riot involved a bombing for which no one was conclusively determined to be responsible | |||||
7 police & 4 workers were killed; over 100 were injured |
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The Knights of Labor (KOL) were blamed for the Haymarket Square bombing & ensuing riot, though history has since vindicated them |
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Fears of a general anarchist plot made an impartial investigation impossible | |||||
Many believe anarchists to be responsible |
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The investigation & trial ordered seven to be hanged, & one imprisoned, but only four were hanged, & historical review indicates they were all innocent of the bombing & drawn into the ensuing riot |
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Governor Altgeld pardoned the three surviving prisoners in 1893, declaring the trial a farce, charging the press w/ poisoning public opinion, praising organized Labor | |||||
The Haymarket Square bombing & riot still one of "history's mysteries" in that conclusive evidence as to the causes of the bombing are largely unknown, though it is clear that those convicted were innocent |
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The aftermath of the Haymarket Square decimated unions & the Labor Mvmt in general because the publicity had such an anti union bias |
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The 8 Hour Mvmt collapsed, & the KOL lost influence & also eventually failed |
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In Vegelahgn v. Guntner, the AFL is sued for the right for strikers to enforce a strike line |
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The AFL loses the case & does not obtain the right to have a closed picket line, so that even today scabs may cross picket lines | |||||
The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules strike lines can be crossed w/o harassment |
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Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chief Justice of the MA Supreme Court, who later to joins the US Supreme Court, writes a dissenting opinion which influenced legislation & court rulings for the next 40 yrs |
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Holmes' Opinion: |
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Chief Justice Holmes held that | |||||
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- capital is inanimate, labor is personal |
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- capital is enduring, capable of being bequeathed | |||||
- labor is transient & exists only for the moment | |||||
- capital can be amassed by a few | |||||
- labor cannot be aggregated except by workers banding together | |||||
- concentrations of capital inevitably create social, political & economic power | |||||
- so it is in society's interest to maintain a balance btwn interests of property & labor | |||||
- to maintain this balance, labor must be allowed to organize | |||||
- the law maintains that parties to a contract should be relatively equal | |||||
For Holmes, if indeed a single worker could ever have been deemed an equal partner in the employment relationship as implied by the Pullis decision (1794), that day passed w/ the emergence of the "robber barons" Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, etc. |
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The period late in the 1800s (1889 - 1900), is often called the Revolt of the Debtor because there was so much animosity by the small, common person toward big business, especially trusts | |||||
People believed the govt was on the side of business | |||||
At first states tried to control trusts (which were often corporations) through legislation, as they had earlier tried to control the railroads |
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President Garrison & the "Billion Dollar" Congress passed the Pension Act of 1890 which gave pensions to all Union Civil War Vets, increasing the eligible number from 676,000 to 970,000, & increasing the cost from $81 mm to $135 mm | |||||
The Pension Act foreshadowed the coming "welfare state" | |||||
The Pension Act also disposed of a problematic govt surplus | |||||
On the other end of the spectrum, "Czar" Reed, the Senate Leader rammed through the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 | |||||
It was a long struggle, but the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was passed |
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This pioneering law, along w/ the Pension Act, helped to quiet the mounting uproar against corporations & the belief that govt only served the wealthy | |||||
Sherman forbade combinations in restraint of trade, w/o any distinction btwn "good" & "bad" trusts |
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Bigness, not badness, was the sin |
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The law was ineffective because it had only baby teeth & because it contained loopholes |
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But Sherman was unexpectedly effective in one respect |
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Aimed at big business, trusts, and was also used against unions because they restricted trade |
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Sherman was used to curb labor unions or labor combinations that were seen as a restriction of trade |
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Early prosecution of trusts by the Justice Dept. were neither vigorous nor successful |
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The first 7 of 8 cases went against the govt |
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More new trusts were formed in the 1890s under President McKinley than during any other like period |
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Taft became President in 1908 | |||||
In 1911, Taft's Administration completed the prosecution of Standard Oil Co | |||||
In 1911, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil under the Sherman | |||||
At the same time, the Court handed down its famous "rule of reason" which held that only those combinations that "unreasonably" restrained trade were illegal | |||||
This proviso ripped a huge hole in the anti trust law | |||||
Also in 1911, Taft decided to prosecute US Steel under the Sherman | |||||
This infuriated T. Roosevelt, who was involved w/ the corporation | |||||
This prosecution was a contributing factor in TR's opposition to Taft's future Presidential runs | |||||
Though the Sherman lacked effectiveness, a revolutionary new principle had been written into law |
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The Sherman Anti Trust Act as well as the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 wrote into law the principle that private greed must be subordinated to public need |
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A landmark case involving the Danbury Hatters found that the union had restrained trade & assessed them triple damages under the Sherman Act | |||||
See Also: Lochner v. NY: The Danbury Hatter Boycott, circa 1908 | |||||
The Clayton Anti Trust Act of 1914 removed the anti labor section of the Sherman, & added more enforcement teeth for corps |
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The US was a hotbed of nationwide strikes in 1892 | |||||
Labor's pressure raised the prospect that the Populists could bring aggrieved workers together w/ indebted farmers in a revolutionary joint assault on the capitalist order | |||||
The Homestead Strike of 1892 is regarded as landmark in the development of labor organization in the steel industry and in the general history of organized labor | |||||
The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers at this time was a powerful labor organization, which had established working relations w/ the Carnegie Steel Co. at Homestead, PA | |||||
Henry Clay Frick, the chairman of the company, was determined to break the power of the union, demanding a wage cut | |||||
Henry Frick, Carnegie's general manager locked out strikers from a Carnegie Steel Plant |
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Frick ordered 300 armed Pinkertons to take over the plant by launching a sneak attack by boating up the Monongahela River on barges |
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There was a battle that lasted an entire day |
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The strikers used guns, cannons, dynamite, burning oil & defeated the Pinkertons & forced them to surrender |
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After the vicious battle, 10 were dead, over 60 were wounded | |||||
The Governor ordered the state militia to intervene, forcing the strikers to surrender |
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The plant was reopened w/ strike breakers |
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Union was so crushed that no steel mill was organized until the 1930s |
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Thus, organized labor's first struggle w/ large scale capital ended in failure |
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In the same month, a strike among silver miners in Coer d' Alene, ID was crushed |
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The Pullman Strike of 1894 was a general strike w/ a secondary boycott |
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The Pullman Strike, also called the Chicago Strike, was a violent labor dispute that involved the Pullman Company, which manufactured railroad cars near Chicago, & the American Railway Union (ARU) | |||||
The ARU was a group of railroad workers who were led by Eugene V. Debs | |||||
The strike began when employees of the Pullman Company refused to return to work, to protest a reduction in their wages | |||||
The strike was against the manufacturers of Pullman cars because they cut wages, etc. | |||||
In sympathy with the employees, the ARU refused to haul railroad cars made by the company | |||||
The ARU refused to handle goods struck by the Pullman employees | |||||
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The strike by the Pullman employees is the general strike & the refusal to handle the stuck railway cars by the ARU is the secondary boycott | ||||
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The tactic of the sympathy strike is now illegal |
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Strikers got sympathy strikes from RR workers who refused to handle Pullman cars & was successful at first |
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Then mgt linked many empty mail cars to Pullman cars making removal of the cars a Fed offense |
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The Sherman Anti Trust Act was brought to bear against the strikers for the restriction of trade |
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President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to protect the mail and maintain law and order | |||||
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Fed govt sent troops & the ARU leader Debs was jailed for conspiracy & for refusing to obey the court order |
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When the troops arrived in the Chicago area, violence erupted and much railroad property was destroyed & the strike was crushed | |||||
The settlement demonstrated the power of the US govt to intervene against strikes that threatened the public interest. |
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The American Railway Union (ARU) was formed in 1893 by Eugene Victor Debs |
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Debs (1855-1926) was a colorful & eloquent spokesman for the Am labor mvmt & for socialism |
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Debs formed the ARU in 1893 as an industrial union for all railroad wkrs |
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The ARU ordered its members not to move Pullman cars in 1894, in support of a strike by the workers making Pullman cars |
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President Grover Cleveland used fed troops to break the strike, charging that it interfered w/ the mails |
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Debs went to prison for six months in 1895 because he had refused to comply w/ a fed court order to call off the strike |
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In 1897, Debs announced that he was a socialist |
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During World War I (1914-1918), Debs publicly condemned both war & the US govt's prosecution of individuals for sedition (inciting rebellion) |
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As a result of condemning the war & inciting sedition, Debs was convicted under the Espionage Law in 1918 |
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Debs went to prison in 1919, on a 10 year sentence, but President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence in 1921 |
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Debs ran for the presidency as a socialist candidate five times |
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He was the nominee of the Social Democratic Party in 1900, and of the Socialist Party in 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920 |
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Debs ran his 1920 campaign while in prison, but still received nearly 1 million votes |
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Biography of Debs: |
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Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana | |||||
Debs became a locomotive fireman and from 1880 to 1893 was national secretary and treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen | |||||
In this period, Debs organized workers in many occupations | |||||
Debs served in the Indiana legislature in 1885 |
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In 1902 a crippling strike broke out in the anthracite coal mines of PN which became known as the infamous Anthracite Coal strike |
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140,000 miners, many of them illiterate immigrants, had long been exploited & worked in very unsafe conditions |
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The miners demanded a 20% increase in pay & a reduction in the day from 10 to 9 hours |
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Owners were confident of public support & so refused to even negotiate |
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Multi millionaire George F. Baer demonstrated the owners point of view that workers would be cared for "not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men to whom God in His infinite wisdom has given the control of the property interest of this country." |
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The strike had a big impact: closed factories, schools, even hospitals |
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T. Roosevelt summoned representatives to the White House & was annoyed by the arrogance of the owners |
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Roosevelt finally threatened to seize the mines & operate them w/ federal troops |
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During the Anthracite Coal Strike, the owners were faced w/ this first ever threat to use govt force against owners |
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Because of the threat by the govt against the owners, the owners consented to arbitration | |||||
The miners won a 10% pay increase & a 9 hour day, but the union was not officially recognized |
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As a result of this Labor conflict Roosevelt created a Dept. of Commerce & Labor in 1903, which was also useful in his trust busting activities |
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- Project: The Preamble to the IWW |
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The Industrial Workers of the World, aka the IWW, aka the "Wobblies," aka the "I Won't Work" were established in 1905 |
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The IWW organized unskilled workers & competed w/ craft unions |
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The IWW was very radical as seen in their goal of overthrowing capitalism |
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The IWW's radical orientation kept them out of the mainstream Am. Labor Mvmt, but were popular in fruit picking areas, mining towns & timber areas |
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The IWW's workers experiences some of the worst working conditions in the country |
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When they protested, the Wobblies were often arrested, beaten up, or run out of town |
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Eugene Debs & "Big Bill" Haywood were early leaders |
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Debs brought in the American Railroad Union ( ARU ) to join the IWW |
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Haywood took Western Federation of Miners (WFM) out of the AFL & into the IWW |
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The IWW advocated & organized for socialism, & still does so today |
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However during a strike, the IWW bargains for traditional benefits |
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The IWW's long term strategy is the abolition of wage system & an end to capitalism (transition to socialism) |
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The IWW advocated the unpatriotic position that workers should not participate in "The Great War" ( WW I ) because only capitalists would benefit |
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This unpatriotic stance severely damaged the IWW |
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The IWW was discredited in the eyes of many American because it refused to support the US decision to enter World War One | |||||
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The Am. Labor Movement has supported every US war ( through non opposition ) w/ the exception of Vietnam |
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Even on Vietnam, the Labor Movement was split |
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At first they supported it ( through non opposition ), but as popular support turned against the war, so did some factions of Am. Labor |
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See Also: The Social Effects of World War One, aka the Great War, the War to End all Wars | ||||
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IWW Noteworthy Actions |
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1912 Lawrence MA strike: 20,000 textile workers walk out |
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IWW wins workers' demands |
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This was the IWW's biggest victory |
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1913 Paterson, NJ strike -- textiles -- lose this one |
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1914 Easter Strike, Ludlow, CO | ||||
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1920 "General strike" All workers in a locale go on strike; especially in Seattle, WA & Minneapolis, MN |
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The IWW still exists today |
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Today the IWW is small & still very radical |
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The IWW does still have a world presence |
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They have little labor organizing activities in the US |
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In the US, the IWW is primarily interested in rallying socialists |
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In some less developed nations, the IWW does deal more directly w/ labor issues such as wages, hours, working conditions, etc. |
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In 1901-02, the United Hatters of No. Am. (UHNA) attempted to unionize Dietrich Loewe, a hatmaking firm in Danbury, CT |
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Loewe resisted the UHNA & a strike & nationwide boycott were instituted by the union because of a state law passed which established a 10 hour working day |
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Loewe sued the 191 members of the local union under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 |
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Loewe alleged that the workers were attempting to form a monopoly of labor & thereby resist trade |
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The District Court agreed that the UHNA was monopolizing labor power & levied a $74,000 fine |
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The Circuit Court overruled this verdict against the UHNA, thereby ruling that they did not monopolize labor power |
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In 1908, The Supreme Court overruled the Circuit Court & sent the case back for retrial, thereby upholding the ruling that the UHNA did monopolize labor power |
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The Supreme Court held that that a law limiting the number of working hours was unconstitutional because it restricted the right of an individual to contract for employment thus upholding the application of the Sherman Antitrust Act to labor law | |||||
The court based its decision on the principle that individuals had "liberty of contract" derived from the 14th Amendment | |||||
After this, the "liberty of contract" principle was used to defeat local minimum wage laws | |||||
Lochner v NY was later used to deny a contract for a 10 hour work day for NY Bakers | |||||
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) used to levy triple damages against the union for restraint of trade | |||||
The Court of Appeals levied an $80,000 fine which was tripled to more than $250,000 |
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The union not being incorporated, resulted in individuals being liable |
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The union's central org had agreed in 1903 to back the local & this obligation was taken over by the AFL |
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||||
So AFL passed the hat to pay the debt |
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This financially injured the union |
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||||
In 1913, the AFL disclaimed further obligation |
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In 1917, the District Court ordered the sale of 140 workmen's homes in Danbury, Bethel, & nearby towns |
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||||
The men had paid $60,000, but w/ interest they still owed $250,000 |
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The effect on the union & the city of Danbury was disastrous |
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Recall that as a result of the 1905 Lochner v. NY case of the Danbury Hatters, a law establishing a 10 hour day for bakers was invalidated | |||||
But in Muller v. Oregon, in 1908, crusading attorney Louis D. Brandeis persuaded the Supreme Court to accept the constitutionality of laws protecting women workers, because of "women's peculiar structure." |
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While the reasoning of this case is sexist & discriminatory, it was a progressive triumph |
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After the tragedy of the Triangle Fire, 1911, the legislature of NY & other states passed laws regulating the hours & conditions of work |
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||||
That is to say, as a result of this case the first laws to establish safety regulations at work were passed |
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During the Era of Global Capitalism, the Labor Movement gained full legitimacy in the form of all the rights & obligations it possesses today |
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The Triangle Fire empowers the Labor Mvmt & builds public sympathy setting the stage for a strike victory & the passage of the first workplace safety laws | |||||
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The general increase of the power of the Labor Mvmt results in both victorious strikes resulting in improved wages, & the reduced exploitation of women & children in workplace |
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World War One had a big impact on the Labor Movement in that most of organized Labor supported the war, & so reaped the benefits of a war economy, while radical factions did not, & so were persecuted | |||||
Clayton Antitrust Act | ||||||
During the Easter Strike & the ensuing Ludlow Massacre, in Ludlow, CO, the Company burned out strikers’ families | ||||||
Attacks on union leaders such as Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, Joe Hill, et al, corporate forces violently repressed, imprisoned, & deported Labor Mvmt leaders, resulting in the decimation of union leadership, creating a leadership vacuum which allowed the ascendancy of either 'business friendly' and or corrupt leadership which still impacts Labor today |
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The American Plan was developed during WW 1 & the Mohawk Valley Formula was developed in the mid 1930s as corporate anti labor strategies | ||||||
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The end of an era occurred when Gompers retired from AFL in 1924 |
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The US shift from an agrl to indl econ has major social, technical, geographic, econ, & political implications | ||||||
Despite the retirement of Gompers & the shift to the indl econ, the AFL remained adamant on the craft approach | ||||||
Business Unionism, which resulted from "The Great Labor Compromise" became the dominate Labor Mvmt social structure | ||||||
The Railway Labor Act | ||||||
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The Norris LaGuardia Act | |||||
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The National Industrial Recovery Act | |||||
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The NLRA (Wagner Act) 1935 | |||||
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The NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel upholds the constitutionality of the Wagner Act | |||||
Industrial Unions are Born: |
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The CIO
1935 - 1955
The CIO formed in 1935 Merged w/ AFL in 1955 |
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The Flint Sit Down Strike: GM & Battle of Running Bulls: CIO victory, 1937 | |||||
The UAW & the United Steel Workers are formed | ||||||
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Labor power & WW 2 | |||||
The Smith Connally Anti Strike Act, aka the Dispute Act | ||||||
Weakening of the GLC | ||||||
Unionization creates a major demographic change in the movement of workers from the lower class to the middle class & creates the society & social structure we know today | ||||||
Unionized workers have taken many most non unionized workers w/ them into the Middle Class | ||||||
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The Taft Hartley Act | |||||
McCarthyism forced purges in the Labor Movement & other spheres of American society | ||||||
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The AFL CIO is formed by Meany & Reuther when the AFL merges w/ the CIO in 1955 | |||||
Corruption in labor becomes widespread | ||||||
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The graft ridden Teamsters, headed by Jimmy Hoffa, are expelled from the the AFL CIO | |||||
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The Landrum Griffin Act encourages union democracy | |||||
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Private sector organizing activity slowed in the late 50s & early 60s | |||||
The public employees sector became increasingly important | ||||||
While membership grew dramatically in this sector, THREE factors limited organizing include: | ||||||
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a. The Taft Hartley Act forbids strikes by federal workers | |||||
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b. Most states forbid strikes, & include summary discharge as a penalty | |||||
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c. Most federal & state orgs have no mechanism for recognizing bargaining representatives | |||||
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JFK issued Executive Order in 10988 which allowed public sector workers to join a union | |||||
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Cesar Chavez, a Mexican American labor leader, began to organize agricultural workers in CA during the 1960s | |||||
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Chavez established what is now the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), a union of migrant workers & other farm workers | |||||
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Union membership among black, Mexican Americans, and women also increased during this period | |||||
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Unions helped them obtain equal pay & other rights | |||||
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Labor leaders convinced their members that any group deprived of equal pay would form a cheap source of labor that would compete w/ union members for jobs | |||||
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See Next: The Labor Movement During the Post Industrial Age: 1970- present |
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The Labor Movement, the Progressive Movement, muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle, all served to bring the conditions of the sweatshops to the public's attention |
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||||
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company occupied the top 3 floors of a ten story building in NYC |
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||||
On March 25, 1911 there was a fire that claimed an estimated 147 lives, mostly women & girls working there |
|
||||
More than 50 jumped, others were burned or trampled |
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||||
Investigation revealed that little preparation had been made for fire prevention, safety or suppression |
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||||
There was only one narrow fire escape |
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||||
Doors through which escape could be made were locked, stairway entrances were cluttered |
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||||
The elevator men did their best but could not work rapidly enough |
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||||
The owners of the business were indicted, tried, but acquitted |
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||||
Public opinion had been aroused, & reforms were to follow |
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||||
After the tragedy of the Triangle Fire, 1911, the legislature of NY & other states passed laws regulating the hours & conditions of work |
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- Introduction: The Clayton Anti Trust Act was passed to remove labor organizations from jurisdiction of the Sherman Anti Trust Act | |||||
The Clayton Anti Trust Act of 1914 reformed the Sherman Antitrust Act | |||||
Wilson arrived in office in 1912 calling for an all out assault on "the triple wall of privilege:" the tariff, the bank, & the trusts |
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||||
Late in 1913 a bill was passed creating the Underwood Tariff, which reduced import fees |
|
||||
Wilson also pushed for & got a graduated income tax |
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||||
Also in 1913, Wilson pushed for & got the epochal Federal Reserve Act (FRA) |
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||||
The FRA established the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), appointed by the President, which oversees a nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts, each w/ its own central bank | |||||
The FRB's most important power is the ability to issue paper money backed by commercial paper, such as promissory notes of business people |
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||||
The FRB had the power to swiftly increase the amount of money in circulation |
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||||
The FRB also makes short term loans to banks & may set the interest rate as it sees fit, thus ensuring that the govt can have some control over interest rates |
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||||
To attack the Trusts, Wilson began, early in 1914 w/ the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) of 1914 |
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||||
The FTCA empowered a Presidentially appointed commission to regulate any businesses engaged in interstate commerce |
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||||
The FTC was expected to crush monopoly by regulating unfair trade practices, including unlawful competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, bribery, etc. |
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||||
The Clayton Anti Trust Act of 1914 lengthened the Sherman's list of illegal business practices to include price fixing and interlocking directorates whereby the same individuals served as directors of supposedly competing firms |
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||||
The Clayton Anti Trust Act of 1914 exempted unions from restriction of trade rules |
|
||||
Conservative Courts had unexpectedly been ruling that unions fell under the anti-monopoly restraints of the Sherman Act |
|
||||
A landmark case involving the Danbury Hatters found that the union had restrained trade & assessed them triple damages under the Sherman Act |
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||||
See Also: Lochner v. NY: The Danbury Hatter Boycott: circa 1908 | |||||
The Clayton Anti Trust Act of 1914 therefore sought to exempt labor & agricultural orgs from anti trust prosecution while explicitly legalizing strikes & peaceful picketing |
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||||
Gompers, head of the AFL, hailed the Clayton Anti Trust Act of 1914 as the Magna Carta of Labor because it legally lifted human labor out of the category of "a commodity or article of commerce" | |||||
But the rejoicing was premature, as conservative judges continued to restrict & outlaw unions & union activity |
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In 1914, the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co., owned by J.D. Rockefeller, was struck by the workers under the direction of the IWW |
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||||
The workers were evicted from their company housing & were living w/ their families in tents |
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||||
On Easter night, April, 1914, while the workers were at a meeting, company gunmen set fire to the tents |
|
||||
13 women & children died in the fire or were shot to death as they ran from the tents |
|
||||
5 strikers were shot to death trying to help the women & children |
|
||||
Tragedies such as this were historically important because they brought national attention to labor issues & to the strong arm tactics of business |
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- Project: The Compromise in the Great Labor Compromise |
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||||
- Project: The Causes, Make Up, & Effects of the Great Labor Compromise |
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||||
- Introduction: The Great Labor Compromise is aka Business Unionism, or Wage Unionism, or Gomperism | |||||
- Summary: American labor agreed to give up socialism & socialist goals in exchange for the right to exist & bargain over only wages & benefits | |||||
Business Unionism:
"The Great Labor Compromise" created
FOUR facets of labor relations where
( Not called Business Unionism until the 50's ) 1. Unions deal only with traditional areas: wages, hours, benefits, working conditions 2. Unions will not form labor party 3. Unions will not strive for other management prerogatives: control of workplace, ownership, etc. ( no socialism ) 4. Management will accept unions |
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||||
Unions made the dream of upward mobility possible for the working class & even gave many a middle class lifestyle |
|
||||
If the American Dream fails, many will turn to radicalism, escapism or other negative social behaviors |
|
||||
"The Players" agreed ( AFL: Gompers & CIO: Lewis, FDR, Big Biz ) that bargaining would occur over wages only & there would be no discussion of ownership, control or benefits |
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||||
When unionization became legal ( 1880 - 1935 ), radical labor leaders were eliminated | |||||
After the Great Depression, after trust busting (Sherman & Clayton Acts, & court battles), Unions made dream of upward mobility possible for the working class & gave many a middle class lifestyle |
|
||||
Within the framework of upward mobility & govt mediated Labor Mgt. relations, many unionists wanted their children & grandchildren to get higher ed and escape the factory |
|
||||
The dream of upward social mobility has THREE effects: |
|
||||
a. discouraging political activity |
|
||||
b. keeping workers' satisfaction levels high |
|
||||
c. working against unionist children becoming union members |
|
||||
Has the aspiration of upward mobility been achieved? |
|
||||
If the American Dream fails, many will turn to radicalism, escapism or other negative social behaviors |
|
||||
A failure of the aspiration of the American Dream would have THREE effects: |
|
||||
a. encourages more political activity |
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||||
b. lowers worker satisfaction | |||||
c. increasing multi generational unionism | |||||
d. turning people toward crime, deviance, retreatism, or revolution | |||||
See Also: Merton: Merton demonstrates that when people are given an aspiration like the American Dream, while the means to achieve it are unavailable, they turn to crime, deviance, retreatism, or revolution | |||||
Labor, the govt, & industry "agreed" on wage unionism as part of the Great Labor Compromise | |||||
Wage unionism is commonly held to have FIVE qualities including that collective bargaining shall | |||||
a. deal only on wages (later expanded to benefits & job safety) | |||||
b. deal w/ industrial workers | |||||
c. not deal w/ ownership of industry, e.g. socialism | |||||
d. not deal on control of the work process | |||||
The ceding of the control of the work process to industry dealt a death blow to crafts & allowed mgt to gain nearly total control of the wkplace | |||||
e. not include radical union leaders | |||||
During the era of the Great Labor Compromise, many radical labor leaders are assassinated or expatriated | |||||
There are FIVE effects of Wage Unionism | |||||
a. Labor remains divided, divided by gender, race, class/skill | |||||
b. US labor has no participation in workplace mgt while Europe has wk councils w/ Labor's participation on major workplace decisions | |||||
c. Unions grew 5 fold by 1945 | |||||
d. labor orgs became corrupt | |||||
e. the dual economy in US emerged which kept the LC, WC, MC fragmented | |||||
Why is the MC & the UMC not unionized? | |||||
a. part of “wage unionism” deal | |||||
b. believe (wrongly) that they may move up | |||||
c. less homogenized workforce: harder to unionize | |||||
d. professional orgs | |||||
e. get paid more: not so hungry as WC | |||||
The nature of the Dual Economy is in part responsible for Labor's elitism & the | |||||
Unionized workplaces became Core Industries | |||||
Core Industries have FIVE Characteristics | |||||
a. concentration of industry: big corps | |||||
b. higher productivity | |||||
c. higher profits | |||||
d. capital intensive (job elimination) | |||||
e. less price competition (compete on marketing, features, etc.) | |||||
Non unionized become Peripheral Industries | |||||
Peripheral Industries have FIVE Characteristics | |||||
a. smaller businesses | |||||
b. lower productivity | |||||
c. lower profits (high business failure rate) | |||||
d. labor intensive (service) | |||||
e. more price competition |
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- Summary: The RLA established the NMB to inject the govt into transportation negotiations in situations where employers & unions could not agree on how to resolve an industrial conflict. The RLA could also establish emergency boards & allow Congress was empowered to impose solutions when the parties were unable to do so | |||||
The railroads had been a force in the US since the early 1800s |
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The govt began in the 1890s to try to devise procedures to avoid railroad strikes & assure stable transportation w/o denying the rights of workers to organize | |||||
Labor agreements covered rail workers earlier than any other industry | |||||
Congress created labor mgt mediation procedures through the Erdman Act of 1898 & the Newlands Act of 1913 | |||||
In the Adamson Act of 1916, the 8 hour day was established for rail workers | |||||
The Transportation Act of 1920 founded the Railroad Labor Board | |||||
After the Railroad Labor Board failed to prevent the strike of 1922, Congress passed the Railway Labor Act (RLA) of 1926 | |||||
As amended in 1934, the RLA continues to be the basic legislation in the field | |||||
Thus, transportation & the distribution of goods has occupied a different niche in law & Labor Law than has manufacturing or services |
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There are FIVE provisions of the Railway Labor Act (RLA) of 1926 |
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a. Avoid service interruptions |
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b. Eliminate restrictions on joining a union |
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c. Guarantee freedom of workers in any matter of self organization |
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d. Provide for dispute settlement |
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e. Enable prompt grievance settlement |
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In 1996, the Federal Aviation Authorization Act extended jurisdiction to include air express companies & their ground employees |
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The RLA established the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) |
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The NRAB has an equal number of union & mgt members |
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If the NRAB deadlocks on grievance, it calls in referee |
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But most grievances are settled by the Public Law Boards (PLB) & Special Boards of Adjustment which are ad hoc arbitrators or rotating panels of industry neutrals | |||||
The RLA also established the National Mediation Board (NMB) | |||||
The NMB is composed of 3 members appointed by the President | |||||
The NMB oversees elections | |||||
The NMB helps parties reach an agreement by mediating bargaining on request, interpreting mediated contracts or appointing an arbitrator if mediation fails | |||||
The NMB urges arbitration when mediation unsuccessful | |||||
No unilateral changes or strikes are permitted unless the NMB declares an impasse |
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If strike would substantially disrupt interstate commerce then an Emergency Board can be convened which has 30 days to issue a report (This provision is similar to the cooling off power the President has today) |
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There are TWO major effects of the RLA | |||||
a. Requiring workers be organized by craft or occupational area | |||||
b. Forcing carriers to negotiate w/ numerous unions which often have different/conflicting goals | |||||
Example: firemen on trains: eliminated by diesel | |||||
If org was along industrial lines, it would've been a phase out instead of a contentious "extinction" battle | |||||
Thus, the nature of the RLA helped foster the practice of "feather bedding" |
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In the midst of the Great Depression ( circa 1929 - 1940 ), the Hoover administration provided some indirect benefits for Labor |
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By 1932, the legitimacy of collective bargaining had informally been accepted, but was not written into law | |||||
And labor mgt relations were not legalized until FDR was elected | |||||
After stormy debate, Congress passed the Norris LaGuardia Anti Injunction Act (NLGA) in 1932 |
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The NLGA of 1932 sharply restricted the use of injunctions in labor disputes |
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But well into the 1900s, govt interference in favor of owners represented a major barrier that workers had to overcome | |||||
The NLGA was one of the first laws that actually encouraged union activity |
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The act was sponsored by Senator Norris of NE & Rep. LaGuardia of NY, both Republicans |
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The NLGA was a legislative attempt to Supreme Court limitations on the activities of Labor, especially as those enacted btwn the Clayton Anti Trust Act in 1914 & the end of the 1920s | |||||
The NLGA was based on the theory that lower courts are creations not of the Constitution, but of Congress, & that Congress therefore has wide power in defining & restricting jurisdiction | |||||
Before the NLGA, a firm could get an injunction to stop any union activity that hurt the business in any way |
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The NLGA banned injunctions unless the firm had made every possible effort to settle through negotiations w/ the union |
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The NLGA required a firm to prove that the lack of an injunction would hurt the firm more than the union |
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Thus, the NLGA begins the trend to balance the needs of business & labor | |||||
Provisions of the NLGA: |
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a. "Yellow dog" contracts are banned | |||||
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Yellow dog contracts required an assurance from applicants as a condition of hire that they were not members of a labor union at the time, nor would become so in the future |
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b. Business could not use injunctions against labor orgs for the following activities | |||||
- strikes
- picketing - refusing to work - union membership drives - strike benefits, unemployment benefits - aid for those being sued - publicizing a labor dispute - organizing - notifying people that any of this is occurring - agreeing to engage or not engage in these acts - advising others to engage or not engage in these acts |
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c. Injunctions may be issued: if there was |
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- substantial injury to property will occur |
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- greater injury on party requesting injunction than on adversary |
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- no adequate legal remedy |
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- a situation where authorities are unable or unwilling to give protection | |||||
- an owner who agreed to deposit a bond for the possible damages of an injunction | |||||
The Taft Hartley Act of 1947 allows injunctions in certain other cases | |||||
The NLGA finally laid to rest the 18th C Conspiracy Doctrine as ruled in Commonwealth of Philadelphia v. Pullis, aka The Cordwainers Case | |||||
NLGA does not require an owner to recognize or bargain w/ a union | |||||
Boycott damages (as established in the Danbury Hatters Case) were reduced because no one is liable for another'sindependent acts | |||||
The NLGA made it impossible to enforce yellow dog contracts | |||||
Yellow dog contracts were promises by workers to not join or aid a union | |||||
The NLGA prevented firms from suing employees for breaking yellow dog contracts | |||||
Because firms could not enforce such contracts, they eventually stopped using them |
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