Muckraker Effect

As the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, it was realized by the laborers of the railroad that their nation's economic growth and prosperity was not being equally shared among the people. Coupled with years of wage cuts (35% over 3 years), and workforce reductions, that then required remaining workers to work 15-18 hour days, the workers fought back.

The workforce constituted mainly of immigrants. Well-connected railway networks allowed the United Mine workers of America to bring immigrants to Colorado. It surely proved to be cost-effective for the company. The migrant workers were paid too poorly for them to be able to sustain their families. Miners were forced to work 10-12 hours a day. “Mine work seemed to turn boys into drones, women into men, and manly laborers into an inferior class of beings.”The company employed women and children in arduous working conditions with inadequate pay, compromising their health and well being. This in turn reduced the wages of the miners as they became easily replaceable.

At the time of Roosevelt’s presidency, workers were treated quite poorly. Corporations provided harsh working conditions, very low wages, and negligible rights. One corrupt corporation was exposed in 1902. The actions from the workers, and Roosevelt’s support were a precedent for the reform enacted in the future. In 1902, a coal mine strike came forth from the workers. The labor accomplished was very dangerous, yet the

Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after

In a time when live media coverage of a situation such as these strikes was not easily done, the daily or weekly editorial was all the news a regular household across America received. They had to base the majority of their opinion off of these papers. A time period when the phrase yellow journalism was coined. Looking at our list of sources from this time period that mention the newspaper or pertain to the newspaper “Fair Wages” written by an anonymous striker starts off with this “The newspapers have fallen into line to defend the railway companies, who thus have brought all the great guns of public opinion to bear on one side of the fight, so the strikers have got the worst of it before the community” (North American Review) “Fair Wages”, September, 1877 reprinted in Gorn, Et al,

The working conditions of the new arrivals were hardly any better, as employees of factories were often overworked, underpaid, and penned up in dangerous conditions. Perhaps the horrors of these conditions can be highlighted by the devastating 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Tragically, over one hundred young women lost their lives in the fire, as there was no way to get out, and the doors were locked, trapping the women inside. Safety was not the only problem, as workers initially were not given the right to organize into unions, essentially doomed to the repetitive motions of factory operation. This meant that they had no way to protest against child labor, wage slavery, and unhealthily long working hours. Eventually, with their growing clout and ever-present industrial dependence on their labor, workers organized and demanded reform along all aspects of hazardous working conditions.

Not only were the workers not treated well, the building was also very unsanitary and unsafe. They worked on top of each other in cramped spaces where there were just lines and lines of sewing machines. The exit doors were locked in order to stop the workers from leaving to go to the bathroom. Only the foreman had the keys to unlock the doors.There were four elevators that had access to the factory floors but only one of them were in working condition. In order to get to the working elevator, the workers had to go down a long narrow hallway. This elevator was only able to hold 12 people at a time. Factory floors had no sprinkler system and the entire building only had one fire escape that was not big enough for all of the people in

Bosses of factories and bosses of other companies would pay low wages to their employees. Since of these low wages many people couldn’t support their families. Factory women workers got paid only one or three dollars a day and men got paid one to three dollars and some other companies only paid one or three dollars a week. The working environment of workers were cruel. When it was hot outside the factory would be hot but if it was cold outside the factory would be cold. The building were also crowded with people which is very bad for fires because there are so many people. Factory buildings also didn’t have sprinklers which made it difficult for putting out fires.In 1911 in a factory in NYC a lit ciggeritte got thrown in a bin and the whole factory went up in flames. This factory is named The Triangle Factory and there were many bad conditions that caused many women's deaths. One of the reasons was that everyday the doors to exit the building were locked till everyones shifts are over. No one could escape the building because they couldn’t open the doors to exit. Also, there was narrow hallways that only could fit one person at a time. Since of this, many people couldn’t escape because the line was so slow and it was too late and the flame caught up. Another condition was that there was many fire hazards that caused the fire. The bosses only had buckets of water to

The working conditions and working rights in the late 1800s and early 1900s were lacking and required some help to make more humane. Before any of the laws that helped reform our nation, working in mines or factories was dangerous and not worth the effort. Secondly, the hours were unethical, as workers sometimes had to toil away for 12 hours, seven days a week with a one day break every two weeks. Workers who were fighting for their rights were not alone, as there were some people who also believed morality was more important at the moment. The changes made were for the better and made the world of hard labor a better place. Thankfully, these rules were not ever taken away and people now live to know that they will earn the money and rights that they deserve.

Women and children were able to join the work force, but for little pay and long hours. Many were face with poor work conditions, hazardous health issues and short lunch breaks. The economic success was often left unchecked by authorities, who were not ready to deal with the consequences of these uncharted waters.

That being said, the worker's problems did not end once they found steady employment. Employers were harsh and unforgiving in how they treated their employees. For example, if an employee was one minute late they were penalized an hours pay. If they were 20 minutes late they forfeited their employment. Worse yet, if they were injured or hurt on the job the company takes no responsibility and the worker is forced to recuperate on their own time without pay

My topic is about the railroad Chinese workers that worked on the central pacific railroad. The Pacific Railroad Act was passed in 1866. This act created the Union Pacific that started in Omaha, Nebraska heading west and the Central Pacific starting in Sacramento, California heading east. The railroad was built to connect California to the Union. But to make the railroad you need workers. The Union had set flayers needing 5,000 workers but only about 600 showed up for the job. The Chinese were hired to work on the railroad after the Union saw that they needed more workers. The Chinese workers did the most dangerous jobs working with explosives and working under harsh weather. Despite this they were paid the least compared to the other workers.

The workers ' life were strictly observed and controlled by either the factory owner or overseer. They wanted order and harmony in the workplace, the worker 's opinion was not so important to them in the beginning. All actions had to be controlled, rules had to be followed. There were penalties every time you broke the rules, usually a fine you had to pay. The factory owners believed in the beginning that the workers were fine with the condition, but it did not take long until the

The intense requirements put on the laborers are causing problems which lead to unfair treatment. Most of the laborers were not properly trained with the equipment because that was not the manager’s main concern. Management was trying to be productive with speeding up production, but in return got angry employees working in unsafe areas. It is understood that there is no trust in the labor management relation, making it almost impossible for improvement. The overall problem should have been taken care of by the president when it first started many years ago.

That being said, the worker's problems did not end once they found steady employment. Employers were harsh and unforgiving in how they treated their employees. For example, if an employee was one minute late they were penalized an hours pay. If they were 20 minutes late they forfeited their employment. Worse yet, if they were injured or hurt on the job the company takes no responsibility and the worker is forced to recuperate on their own time without pay (i.e.; when Jurgis sprained his ankle and had to recuperate at home for 3 months). The final insult to the workers was that even if they were always on time, worked hard and maintained their health they could lose their job due to the