Blue Collar Workers

Labor union were crucial in the late 1800’s when the workers were working long hours, doing hard work, without any extra pay. Job security (could be fired at any given time) and safety precautions did not exist in this era, jobs in this day was typically a threat to the workers due to the bad working conditions. When the union was formed in 1866 it was not easy, but if the workers understood how it would benefit them it would have been a greater successes. Due to lack of education, the communication between the union and the works was broken. Some of the religious beliefs created a hardship on getting the union passed. One of the unions called the AFL (American Federation of Labor) was created in 1881 that would try to fight for workers’ rights.

The Pullman Strike strike was named after George Pullman. George Pullman was a man who became rich off of his manufacturing of sleeper and luxury railcars (Lawrence). Pullman was so successful that he had a city named after him, which he owned. In the panic of 1893, Pullman’s revenue dropped because of the lessened demand for his cars (McNamara). Because of this drop in revenue, Pullman cut the wages of his workers, but kept the rent the same. Worker’s became outraged because they couldn’t afford these changes. Pullman refused to negotiate with his workers, which caused the American Railway Union, lead by Eugene Debs, to take action (McNamara). This union consisted of over 260,000 workers nationwide to participate in the strike. Worker’s supported the ARU by not moving trains with Pullman cars (Ginger). This caused Detroit traffic to come to an

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 manifested into the first of a series of labor strikes in the United States and the first general strike of the nation. Working on the railroads, labor workers already had poor working conditions and low wages. However, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) had made its second wage cut in the past eight months; both cuts by ten percent. In response to this, labor workers refused to allow any freight trains to roll in and out of the station until the restoration of their original wages. The railroad strikers included individuals from railroad workers to other labor sympathizers alike. The Great Strike of 1877 succeeded for the labor economy because of the large number of labor supporters, the overpowering of the militia, and the power of initiative from the people.

The Industrial Revolution in the United States took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. This revolution was one of the most prominent turning points of American history as it modernized the workforce, developed American economics, and impacted the way people lived their lives. Before it began, America was mostly a rural society, people farmer to make a living and all work was done at home (“Industrial Revolution”). Afterwards, individuals began to become depend on factories to produce the products they once hand-made.

The extremely violent nature of the Pullman Strike led by ARU caused the public to protest strikes, especially against the newcomers who were working in the railway industries (Winston). After the successful Great Northern Railway strike, the ARU participate in the Pullman Strike, demanding the rollback of the recently reduced wages (Winston). During the Pullman Strike, the mobs burned and looted railroad cars (Winston). The strikers were mostly composed of foreign workers since railway industries provided harsh working conditions, so only new immigrants accepted the jobs (Winston). Furthermore, the Pullman Palace Car Company hired primarily black strikebreakers, attempting to initiate racism of the strikers (Winston). Most notably, local presses associated the strikers as anarchists and communists who came from foreign countries, while highlighting the racist behaviors of the strikers (Winston). Consequently, American citizens started to associate labor movements as the actions of foreign communists and anarchists to overthrow their country (Winston). Also, the association which came from the Pullman strike indirectly contributed to the cause of the Red Scare (Winston). The public believed that the violent actions were attempts of Communists to overthrow America to establish a communist state (Winston). Since Eugene Debs led the American Railway

In 1894 Debs was confronted with his most daunting situation to date. He presided over the infamous Pullman strike in Chicago in 1895. This proved to be the most important event in Debs' life regarding the formation of his ideologies. This was the first strike in America which was not authorized by the laborers local unions. The employees being both members of their local unions and Debs' ARU showed their allegiance to the ARU and struck with Debs' approval. The workers refused to operate any trains with Pullman cars on them except

Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike in the United States. George Pullman cut his railroad workers wages in regards of economic depression. The workers organized a strike, but soon enough they realized they needed additional help. Famed labor union Eugene V. Debs helped to establish an organization to create a national movement. After the railroad workers resorted to destructiveness it gained favor, which, it was brought to the attention of the attorney general. The Pullman Strike is widely seen to have reached the maximums because of George Pullman’s uncompromising and unsympathetic attitude towards his employee’.

Because of this, the Colored National Labor Union was created by blacks themselves but the differences did not allow them to work together. The National Labor union strongly advocated for eight hour workdays. Another union called the Knights of Labor emerged that first began as a secret society. Their purpose was to include all workers in “one big union.” They allowed everyone: blacks, whites, men, women, the skilled and unskilled. Terence V. Powderly led this union to win several strikes for an eight- hour day. Unfortunately, the Knights of Labor were involved in a violent protest called Haymarket Square. They were mistaken to be associated with anarchists and this brought them to their downfall. Finally, a successful union shows up called the American Federation of Labor (AFL), founded by Samuel Gompers, which only allowed skilled workers. In the end, usually the management won with the strikers having little improvement.

I will fight this to the bitter end. I will never recognize the union, never, never.” (Document D.) Henry Clay Frick, the person from whom this quote is taken from, was the president of Carnegie Steel. He was making his workers work much harder, long, strenuous hours with poor conditions and little pay. “Exhaustion from overwork. In consequences of the long hours of labor, the great speed the machinery is run at… So much exhaustion is produced. (Document F.) This definitely needed to be addressed and it wasn’t. Unions were forming to try and help workers get more fair jobs, safer and better pay, but they often could not come to an agreement with the company. Then the workers would strike. When workers went on strike, profits and production stopped. If the company did not want to come on a consensus, often, strikes would become violent. The owners could have hired perhaps two shifts of workers, one to work during the earlier part of the day and another to work the later part of the day. This would have reduced exhaustion in workers, which also meant they would work faster if not

By the time of the Civil War, the technologies upon which the First Industrial Revolution was based were established in the United States. In the years following the war, the nation's industrial energies were focused on completing the railroad and telegraph networks of the North, rebuilding those of the South, and expanding those of the West. Once the devastating depression of the 1870’s depleted, the stage was set for the Second Industrial Revolution.

The UAW has had an extensive history in America for the 80 years. It was founded on May 1935 in Detroit Michigan under the American Federation of Labor until the AFL suspended the union thus enabling the UAW to form a rival federation of unions called the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). It infamously formed a sit-down strike compiled of 22 delegates in 1935, at General Motors in Flint Michigan. Proving successful at GM plant, it later addressed other companies such as Chrysler and Ford, later gaining recognition of the UAW as an appointee. When America went to war with Japan in 1942, the UAW voted to make a “no strike” pledge to not impede war effort. Subsequently the UAW became the first union to hold a Women’s

The Pullman Strike was an effect to the Pullman Palace Car Company hit a depression and cut workers’ wages 25-40 percent while keeping the rent and housing prices the same. Many of the workers joined the American Railroad Union. Debs, socialists that followed Karl Marx’s classless society, backed up the workers which resulted in them being jailed. The strike is an example of a secondary labor boycott. The workers cut off the town from food and goods. President Cleveland ordered troops to break up the strike. The federal courts issued an injunction

The second industrial revolution was the change of our world even though many people moved from rural homes into cities because they can't get accepted in jobs and it started in the 1870-1944 after the civil war because “ during this time, many advances in technology and factories made it easier and quicker for farmers and manufactures to produce more goods and products to be sold.”

The Industrial Revolution was the main contributor of the development of factories and modern day machinery. The Industrial Revolution created hundreds of new jobs, influenced many new inventions, and created many new ways of creating and transporting goods. Many jobs including spinners, miners, factory workers, and farmers were beginning to rise in population, due to the new technology being created in the 18th and 19th centuries. The start of new inventions coming into view was beginning in Britain, with many agricultural tools creating new ways to plow and yield crops. Later on, it caused new forms of transportation to be developed, for example, railroads and canals. This essay will explain exactly how these causes began, and how they

The Industrial Revolution brought about an overwhelming amount of economic change to the United States. The first Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain and in Europe in the latter part of the eighteenth century and, it then spread to the United States and Germany. The Industrial Revolution itself refers to a change from hand and home production to machine and factory (Kelly). During this time period, America was growing in knowledge. The industrialization of America involved three great developments. Transportation was expanded, electricity was effectively harnessed and many improvements were made to several industrial processes (Kelly). Although this change greatly helped the United States economy, it had both a positive and negative impact on the lives of the American people.