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Noble Order of the Knights of Labor
This group was organized by the garment workers of Philidelphia. The group included farmers, merchants, and wage earners. The main goal of this group was to fight for equal pay for equal work, abolition of child labor, and eight hour work days. -
Labor Day Holiday
The Labor Day Holiday was created to celebrate the hard working union workers. Kids get off school on Labor Day and there is abosolutely no work. Labor Day is still celebrated today; it is usually observed on the first Monday in September. -
How the Other Half Lives
How the Other Half Lives is an article that was published to inform the public of how some people live. Now everyone had nice houses back the. Some people lived where there was trash on the streets and clothes hanging inbetween the streets. It was surprisingly dangerous to be living in these conditions. Luckily, now-a-days, no one lives like that. -
American Federation of Labor
This organization focused on better working conditions, better pay, and craft oriented. During this time period, the working conditions were very dangerous and unsanitary. The workers also wanted better pay because they didnt get paid that much. They also wanted some of their work to be craft oriented. One last thing that they wanted was a union label on the products they produced. -
Haymarket Square Riot
Workers of the Chicago marched for eight hours, protesting McComick Harvesting machine. When the police arrived, things started getting physical. Anarchists were blamed for this violence. This cause eight policemen to be killed, along with 100 injured. -
The Homestead Strike
This dispute occurred at the Homestead Steel Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The industrial lockout and strike was culminating in a battle between the strikers and security agents. The two companies that were at a disagreement were the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel and the Carnegie Steel Company. The final outcome was a huge defeat for the union, along with setbacks for the effort to unionize steelworkers. -
The Pullman Strike
Houses and apartment buildings were built around the factories and work buildings so that workers could rent out the buildings so that they would be close to work. When George Pullman raised the price of rent and wages dramatically decreased because of the depression, he refused to lower rents. This led to Eugene Debs leading a strike; within days, thousands of railroad workers supported him. Debs was later arrested and the strike came to a close. -
Coal Strike
The United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields in Pennsylvania threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to all of the major surrounding cities. When President Rosevelt got involved, he set up a "fact-finding" commission to suspend the strike. This was the first labor episode that the federal government interfered in. -
The Jungle
The Jungle is an article that was written to inform the public about how their meat is processed and produced. The working conditions of these factories were horrible. There were rats every where; the workers would wash their hands in the same water that cleaned the meat. Meat scraps, fat, and other odds and ends were thrown into the same truck that transported the meat from factory to factory. Finally, these factories were reported and cleaned. -
The Bitter Cry of Children
The Bitter Cry of Children was an article written to tell the public how long and hard their children were working. Children worked in mines, factories, and meat industries. These hard working conditions were not fit for young children. These kids were working seven days a week, and up to sixteen hours a day; they hardly ever got to go outside and play or go to school like regular children. -
The Pure Food and Drug Act
The United States federal law that provides federal inspection of the meat products in factories across the county. It forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of the adultered food products and poisonous patent madicines. This helped to keep the meat clean and safe for human consumption. -
Triangle Shirt Factory Fire
The Triangle Shirt Factory Fire caused the deaths of 146 people. The fire later helped with the growth of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union. Today, the remains of the building is known as "The Brown Building" adn is a designated National HIstorical Landmark in New York City. -
Congress of Industrial Organization
The Congress of Industrial Organization was originally a part of the American Federation of Labor, that is, until 1935. It broke away because it advocated organization along industrial lines, rather than craft lines. In 1955, they reintergrated into the American Federation of Labor. -
The National Labor Relations Act
THe National Labor Relations Act was also referred to the Wagner Act. Workers wanted the Labor's right to organize legally recongnized. This later led to the National Labor Relations Board to be created. They also wanted the power to punish unfair labor practices. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
The federal regulation of child labor was achieved in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The minimum ages for employment and hours of work for children are regulated by the federal law. The hours that children are aloud to work are shorter than adults because children are weaker than adults and they cannot work as hard as adults. -
Steel Strike
United Steelworkers of America fought against U.S. Steel, along with nine other steel making manufacturers. President Harry Truman nationalized the American steel industry jsut hours before the workers walked out to strike. Finally, the steelworkers came through to win a wage increase. The strike lasted only 53 days. -
General Motors Sit-Down Strike
The strike was led by the General Motors employees that planned to shut down plant operations in Flint, Michigan. They used the tactic of sit-down strikes to get the attention of the general public. Within weeks, the strike had spread to other General Motors plants in other states. General Motors worked out a contract with the UAW so that the workers would, for once, be able to participate in the running of General Motors. -
Major League Baseball Strike
The Major League Baseball Strike was the first strike in MLB history. Baseball later resumed when the players and their owners agreed on a $500,000 increase in pension fund payments. Once the strike was over, the 86 games that were missed were never rescheduled because the league refused to pay the players. -
New York City Transit Strike
The New York City transit strike was led by the Transport Workers Union Local. Negotiations for a new contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke down over pension, wage increases, and retirement. Most members of the New York City Transit Authority observed the strike effectively stopping all services on the subway and buses. Once the strike ended, all transportation systems were fully operational by the morning of the 23rd.
