The House Of The Seven Gabless Analysis

The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike

In the mini case “The Frustrated Labor Historian” Dr. Horace P. Karastan was placed in a difficult position. There are many important events in American labor union history that it is difficult to choose just three that were to be the focal point of his presentation to the audience. It

Before this conflict was caused, The wobbles had planned a public demonstration in everett that afternoon, to be held on the corner of hewitt and witmor, a spot usually used by street speakers the wobblies hoping to form one big union. The wobblies, traveled from seattle to everett aboard the stemsters verona and calista to support a strike by local shingle-weavers.”A group of citizens deputies under the authority of snohomish county sheriff Donald Mcrae, refused to let them land. A shot was fired followed by several minutes of gunfire that killed 5 wobblies and two deputies. 74 workers of the world returned to seattle here they were put in snohomish county jail.”

Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).

America is built and founded on the sweat and tears of the working class. A lot of advancements in the workplace today have been won by unions and the efforts of labor organizations. John Lewis founded one of the biggest institutions that remains at the forefront of the labor movement, the CIO (Committee for Industrial Organizations, now the Congress of Industrial Organizations.) John Lewis delivers his speech to organize workers. He reminds the American working class of the need to unite. Lewis uses the Jeremiad rhetorical tool. John Lewis criticizes the government and businesses disregard for labor and how they have exploited and abused workers, by violently stopping them from unionizing. Lewis describes a “utopian society,” for this society to become a reality he calls on the working class to unite under the CIO.

Homestead Labor Strike of 1892- Henry Clay Frick (1848-1919) in charge while Carnegie on vacation/ locked workers out of steel mill/ called in 300 men from Pinkerton to protect mill

Andrew Carnegie is without a doubt responsible for this conflict. As the documentary mentioned, Carnegie was not in favor of unions and abolished every one that obstructed his path. However, he took control of the Homestead mill, which as he was aware of, housed an exceptionally strong union. This immediately set both sides on a collision course that showed no signs of slowed. He set himself up for a disaster, which is exactly what took place.

Up to this point a multitude of people were oppressed in many ways, varying from race, to belief(s), and in the work force. The time in which these series of strikes took place were up to the evolutionary pre nineteen hundreds. Specifically the 1890’s. Differing from these many others, the Newsboys (Newsies) of

Just as one small spark can start a blazing wildfire, one simple bomb on the fateful day at Haymarket Square triggered an explosion in the labor movement that no one had expected. With tension growing exponentially in the workers’ rights area of United States reform in the 1800s, scattered riots inevitably broke out among restless workers, but no previous outbreak could compare to the impact of the notorious Haymarket Riot. The explosion in the crowd of workers battling police officers on that spring day in Chicago mirrored the explosion that occurred for laborers across the nation, with a combination of both beneficial and harmful outcomes to last the rest of history.

The first quarter of twentieth century America was the height of labor reform and mass striking. Many people associate industrial striking with laborers such as miners and factory workers, but even higher-level jobs were covered by the looming veil of rebellion and reform. September of 1919 was a violent and chaotic time for the city of Boston, as the local police force stood aside to let criminals and rioters do the heavy lifting towards a better working standard. While the police force did not quite get what they desired, it put then governor of Massachusetts Calvin Coolidge in the national spotlight.

Sometimes the labor activist did not always protest in peace. The labor activists were sometimes violent. The Industrial Workers

A final decision was made a month later and the postal workers got a 6% increase of wages and later that summer another 8% increase when President Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act (AFL-CIO, n.d.). The Postal Reorganization Act was actually a major win for the postal workers in the long run because they gained new rights from it. They got the right to bargain collectively, something that had started the strike to begin with, which ended up being prohibited in the act. But they got a binding arbitration process in order to resolve contract disputes (AFL-CIO,

Roscigno and Danaher’s use of quotations, lyrics, and pictures at various points brings human faces and voices to their description. “Factory Girl” and “Cotton Mill Man” were two famous songs that were included in the book to represent the grievances of the workers. The strike of 1934 is perhaps the largest collective mobilization of workers in the U.S. so Roscigno and Danaher’s attempt to examine the makings behind the protest was risky. Roscigno and Danaher improved their book with the use of work of historians such as Allen Tulos and Pamela Grundy (Roscigno & Danaher, p. x). In addition, to providing strong supporting evidence to how music brought the workers together, this book discussed the emergence of radio. One of the main goals was to observe how consciousness was developed through FDR’s use of radio and how radio could even be considered as a tactical innovation. “The sense that a new regime in Washington… provided government support for mill worker empowerment complemented this techno-cultural thrust to create a powerful, cohesive mass movement that triggered the mass strike” (Zieger, 2005). While there is a brief analysis of how FDR’s fireside chats influenced the structure of the movement, a large part of the book focused on the social structural change through generalized

In the “Eva B. Hopkins Oral History Excerpt”, Hopkins recalls that she worked at the Mercury Mill prior to the general textile strike of 1934. Furthermore, she adds that during the strike, a community house provided food for the strikers. How might this have benefitted those on strike for higher wages?

These new immigrants lived on a couple dollars a day a week not enough for living. These wage cuts enraged the immigrants causing lots of peaceful and violent strike, most strikes were unsuccessful. Owners had lots of money that closing the factory down for a couple of days would affect them. Owners would fight back by “hiring strikebreakers or scabs to take the place of the regular work force” (Labor vs. Management). These protester were usually beaten by the strikebreakers until they went back to work or