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Noble Order of the Knights of Labor
Organized by the Philedelphia Garmet workers in 1869. It was opened to farmers, merchants, and wage earners. Their objective was to get equal pay for equal work.,abolition of child labor , and 8 hour work days. -
"How The Other Half Lives"
"How the Other Half Lives" BY Jacob Riis full of early photojournalism showed the world the living conditions of the workers of factories in New York City slums during the 1880's. This book showed the small amount of joy in those slums by writing from the people's perspective. After this thing continued on, but the public was more aware of the situation. -
Labor Day Holiday
Labor Day is celebrated every year on the first monday of September to celebrate the hard work all the laborers are putting in everyday of the year. This Holiday was greatly valued by laborers of the time due to the fact that they were finally being recognized for their efforts. -
AFL
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was organized in 1886. They focused on better working conditions and better pay. They also put Union labels on produced items. The Union was craft oriented meaning they were specified by certain crafts/jobs. -
Haymarket Squar Riot
In 1886, workers in Chicago marched for an 8 hour day of work. The police were called in to break up the strike but things turned quite violent. Eight policemen died and hundreds were injured. The public saw the unions and anarchist as a problem. -
Homstead Strike
In the Homestead Strike of 1892 an industrial lockout and strike created a battle between strikers and security agents. It was one of the most serious disputes of labor in US history. It started with the Homestead Steel Works in the Pittsburgh area and then started to spread. It resulted in a major deafault fo rhte union and a setback in their efforts to unionize steelworkers. -
Pullman Strike
Pullman was a company town so the workers could rent homes from the owner. THe owner refused to lower the rents during the panic of 1893. The workers went on strike and within days thousands of railroad workers went on strike as well causing no transportation from Chicago to the west coast. The President disliked the situation so much that he sent in troops and then the strike collapsed. -
Coal Strike
A strike by the Unite Mine Workers of America in the coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. The strike threatened to shut donw the winter supply of coal, so President Roosevelt became involved by setting up an fact finding commitee that suspended the strike. The strike never resumed and the miners recieved more pay for fewer hours. It was the first labor situation that involved the government being a neutral arbitrator. -
"The Jungle"
"The Jungle" written by Upton Sinclair exposed the horrifying conditions of the meat industry in the late 1800's and early 1900's. By going into packing industries, he saw the horrors that occured daily. From meat with dead rats mixed in to rejected meat with mold, he saw it and he exposed it! All of this led up to the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. -
"The Bitter Cry of Children
In "The Bitter Cry of Children" John Spargo exposed the suffering of children who were forced by certain life situations to work in coal mines. Child labor was very common in this day and age so most thought nothing of it. That is, until it was exposed with the true suffering of those poor children. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed on June 30th of 1906. The United States federal law that provided inspections of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or trasportation of adulterated food products and poisonous medicines. -
Triangle Shirt Factory Fire
In 1911 there was a fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. The female workers-many of whom spoke little or no English- were trapped inside the locked factory as a fire had started. Men began throwing pails of water on the fire in desperate attempts to stop it. Some women jumped through windows to avoid being burned to death and 145 women and young girls were declared dead. -
Congress of Industrial Organization
The Congress of Industrial Organization was apart of the AFL until 1935. They broke away because it advocated organization along industrial lines rather than the craft lines of the AFL. It got back with the AFL in 1955. -
The National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act was a pro labor group that legally had the right ot organize. They created a board for their needs. They had the power to punish unfair labor practices. -
GM Sit-down Strike
A strike by the workers f General Mortors shut down plant operations from December 30th, 1936-February 11, 1937. The workers came to work but did not actually put in any labor which brought it to the attention of the public. The strike spread to other GM plants and eventually the President stepped in and helped the workers participate in the running of GM. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
In 1938 Federal regulation of child labor was achieved in the Fair Labor Standards Act. For the first time, minimum ages of employment and hours of work for children were regulated by federal law. Meaning that children could no longer be robbed completely of childlike things. -
Steel Strike
A strike by the United Steelworkers of American started with steel companies being sued to regain control of the facilities after President Truman began to control the company. The company went to the Supreme Court who ruled in favor of the workers and company and it ended on the same terms as it had started -
Major Leauge Baseball Strike
The Major Leauge Baseball strike started on April 1st, 1972 and lasted until April 13th of the same year. The players missed 86 games that were never made up because they wanted a higher pay for all their hard work. The strike ended when the owners agreed to increase the pay by $500,000 and to add salary arbitration to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. -
New York City Transit Strike
A strike in New York City called by the Transit Workers Union (TWU). Negotiations for a new contract fell through over retirement, pension, and wage increases. This strike halted all transportations on buses and subways for a total of three days.
