Machinary
...eady ended. In the ruins, they found the wrecks of more than 2,000 railroad cars and many of the buildings lay in ashes. Many strikers were sent to jail and others lost their jobs. Some people were convinced that miners, railroad workers and other laborers were common criminals. Many states passed new conspiracy laws to try and stop the unions. But the Great Railway Strike of 1877 helped the workers in some ways. A few railroads took back the pay cuts. More support was given to the strike by miners, ironworkers and others. It gave labor an awareness of its strength and solidarity. The Railway Strike led many workers to join a new national labor organization-the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor. Founded in 1869 by a small group of Philadelphia clothing workers, their union had been unable to organize. The reason, they believed, was that its members were too well known. Employers fired them and then put their names on a "blacklist." Other employers would not hire anyone whose name appeared on the list. ii Membership in the Knights of Labor was open to wage earners over 18 years of age no matter race, sex or skill. New members had to take an “oath of secrecy.” They swore that they would never reveal the name of the order or the names of its members. The program of the Knights of Labor called for an eight-hour working day, laws establishing a minimum weekly wage, the use of arbitration rather than strikes, laws to protect the health and safety of workers, an end to child labor under 14 years of age and government ownership of railroads, telegraphs and telephones. It was impossible for the Knights to operate in complete secrecy. Reports of their activities reached the press. Newspaper stories usually exaggerated the strength of the group. Under pressure from the public, the Knights began to work openly. But they were still not allowed to reveal the name of any member to an employer. Membership in the Knights increased slowly. By 1884, the order had only 52,000 members. But that year workers led by Knights of Labor organizers went on strike against two big railroad companies. Both strikes ended in complete victories for the Knights. Now workers everywhere rushed to join the order. Within two years membership in the Knights rose to 150,000. Newspapers warned their readers about the power of the Knights. One of them said, "Their leaders can shut most of the mills and factories, and disable the railroads." Many people associated the order with dangerous radicals. Later railroad strikes by the Knights met with defeat. The order was not nearly as powerful as it had seemed. Workers began to leave it in great numbers. Within 10 years of its greatest victories, the Knights of Labor collapsed. As the Knights declined, a new labor organization began to challenge it for supremacy. This was the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Samuel Gompers, a leader of the Cigarmakers’ Union, formed it in 1886. Gompers believed that craft unions of skilled workers were the best kind. Unskilled workers were easily replaced when they went on strike. Craft workers could not be replaced easily. The American Federation of Labor began with six craft unions. They were cigarmakers, carpenters, printers, iron molders, steel molders and glassmakers. The new group was not an immediate success. For 10 years, the AFL and the Knights fought each other. They invaded each other’s territory, started revolts and welcomed each other’s members into their own organization. They even supplied strikebreakers to companies against each other. The AFL, led by Gompers, grew in size and power. By 1904, it had 1.75 million members and was the nation’s dominant labor organization. i At the same time, many workers in Europe were joining revolutionary labor movements which backed the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a new socialist system. Most American workers, however, followed the lead of Gompers, with his highly realistic approach to problems of labor. They were not interested in destroying the economic structure of the country but in making it work more for their benefit. Gompers believed that unions should be concerned with the day-to-day welfare of their members and should not become involved in politics. He also was sure that socialism would not succeed in the United States but that demands for higher wages and fewer working hours could achieve the goal of a better life for working people. This was what was called "bread and butter" unionism. There was one outstanding exception to the "bread and butter" approach to unionism that was common to most of American labor. This was the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a revolutionary labor union started in Chicago in 1905 under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs. The IWW wanted the overthrow of capitalism through strikes, boycotts and sabotage. Strong with textile workers, dockworkers, migratory farmers and lumberjacks, the union reached its peak membership of 100,000 in 1912. The IWW had practically disappeared by 1918, because of federal prosecutions and a national sentiment against radicalism, which began in 1917. ii In the early 20th century, a powerful reform movement called Progressivism came into view. Its leaders were college professors, ministers, journalists, physicians and social workers. Their goal was to improve conditions for all Americans. They wanted to make the political system more considerate of humankind. They also wanted to make the nation’s economic system more democratic. They believed that those who owned the nation’s resources should share some of their wealth with the less fortunate. The movement appealed to farmers, women and laborers. It cut across political party and regional lines. The Progressive Movement had the support of three presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson. The Progressives were concerned about labor’s problems. They were worried by the growing use of court rulings to stop strikes. In 1890, for example, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-trust Act. Its purpose was to punish big business corporations that combined to prevent competition. Yet more and more it was being used as a weapon against unions. The Progressives were unhappy about the use of federal troops and state militia against strikers. They were angry about so called “inhuman conditions” in factories and mines. The Progressives and the AFL pressured state governments for laws to protect workers. Almost all states passed laws that did not allow the employment of children under 14 years old. Thirty-seven states forbade children under 16 years old to work between 7p.m. and 6a.m. Nineteen states established the eight-hour day for children under 16 in factories and stores. The Progressives were also concerned with the hours worked by women in industry. Forty-one states wrote new or improved laws to protect women workers. Most limited the workday to nine hours, or the workweek to 54 hours. ii Of greatest importance of the Progressives was the problem of industrial accidents. They wanted workers to be paid for accidents regardless of cause. The cost of insurance to cover accidents, they said, should be paid by employers. By 1917, 13 states had passed workers’ compensation laws. Before this the employers were not held responsible for any accidents that occurred. The alliance of Progressives and the AFL also campaigned for federal laws to aid labor. In response, Congress passed laws to protect children, railroad workers. It established a Department of Labor in the president’s Cabinet. Most important of all, Congress passed the Clayton Act of 1914. Its purpose was to stop the use of antitrust laws and court injunctions against unions. During World War I, organized labor made great advances. The federal government created the War Labor Board to settle disputes by arbitration rather than the unions resorting to strikes. This led to a big increase in union membership. In January 1917, the AFL had 2,370,000 members. By January 1919, it had 3,260,000 members. iii As the 1920s began, organized labor seemed stronger than ever. But in 1917, a communist revolution overthrew the government of Russia. Communists also attempted revolutions in Germany, Hungary and Finland. Immigrants entering the United States at this time were mo...