The Labor Movement: Outline |
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a.
Domestic system
i.
Workers and employers knew each
other personally
ii.
Workers could aspire to become
employers
b.
Factory system
i.
Workers no longer owned the means
of production (machinery)
ii.
Employers (owners) no longer knew
workers personally
1.
Factories often run by managers
paid by the corporation
iii.
Relationships between employers
and employees grew strained
II.
Problems of the factory
system
a.
Factories were crowded, dark, and
dirty
b.
Workers toiled from dawn to dusk
c.
Young children worked with
dangerous machinery
d.
Employment of women and children
put men out of work
i.
Because women and children were
(legally) paid less for the same work
e.
Technological
unemployment—workers lost their jobs as their labor was replaced
by machines
III.
Poor living conditions
a.
Factories driven solely by profit
i.
Businesses largely immune to
problems of workers
b.
Factory (also company or mill)
towns
i.
Towns built by employers around
factories to house workers
ii.
Workers charged higher prices
than normal for rent, groceries, etc.
1.
Workers often became indebted to
their employers
2.
Created a type of forced
servitude as workers had to stay on at their jobs to pay their
debts
iii.
Considered paternalistic by
workers
1.
Some company towns had temperance
laws, etc.
2.
A few employers had workers’ best
interests at heart
3.
But workers wanted to control
their own lives
IV.
Slum living conditions
a.
Factory towns—often built and
owned by factories
i.
Not a strange concept to
rural-to-urban migrants who were used to living on a lord’s
estate or property
ii.
Full of crowded tenements
iii.
Few amenities
b.
Tenements—buildings with rented
multiple dwellings
i.
Apartment buildings with a more
negative connotation
ii.
Overcrowded and unsanitary
c.
Workers were unsatisfied both
inside and outside the factories
V.
Rise of labor unions
a.
Before labor unions, workers
bargained individually—“individual bargaining”
i.
Before factories, a worker could
bargain for better wages and working conditions by arguing his
or her particular skills
ii.
But in factories, work is routine
and one worker can easily replace another
b.
With labor unions, workers
bargained together as a group, or collective—“collective
bargaining”
i.
Organized groups of workers
elected leaders to bargain on their behalf
ii.
Used tools (such as strikes) to
gain rights
VI.
Weapons used by unions
and employers
a.
Weapons used by employers
i.
At-will employment
ii.
Blacklists
iii.
Company unions
iv.
Individual bargaining
v.
Injunctions
vi.
Laws that limit union activities
vii.
Lockouts
viii.
Open shops
ix.
Outsourcing
x.
Relocation
xi.
Right-to-work laws
xii.
Threat of foreign competition
xiii.
Welfare capitalism
xiv.
Yellow-dog contracts
b.
Weapons used by unions
i.
Boycotts
ii.
Check-offs
iii.
Closed shops
iv.
Collective bargaining
v.
Direct political action
vi.
Favorable labor legislation
vii.
Feather-bedding
viii.
Lobbying
ix.
Picketing
x.
Sabotage
xi.
Strikes
xii.
Union label
xiii.
Union shops
VII.
British labor
achievements
a.
Combination Laws, 1799-1800
i.
Outlawed unions and strikes
b.
Disraeli Reform Act, 1867
i.
Suffrage for workers
c.
1875
i.
Repeal of the Combination
Laws—unions and strikes legalized
ii.
Union membership grew as a result
d.
Labour party, 1900
i.
Founded by bringing together
different groups representing trade unions, etc.
e.
Taft Vale decision,
1901
i.
House of Lords ruled that unions
would have to pay financial damages caused by strikes (such as
loss of income to employers), which threatened to end Britain’s
unions
f.
Labour party, after 1901
i.
Worked for workers’ rights
ii.
Note: other major British
political parties were Liberals (Whigs) and Conservatives
(Tories)
g.
Trade Disputes Act, 1906
i.
Protected union funds from the
Taft Vale court
decision
ii.
Achieved by Liberal and Labour
parties working together
h.
Osborne Judgment, 1909
i.
Banned trade unions from donating
funds to political parties
ii.
Hurt the Labour party because
poorer, working class party members could not provide salaries
to the party’s elected representatives
i.
Parliament Act, 1911
i.
Stopped the House of Lords from
vetoing laws passed by the House of Commons
ii.
Paid members of parliament an
annual salary (so that anyone could afford to serve)
j.
Labour party, 1920s
i.
Surpassed the Liberal party in
power
k.
Social security (a.k.a. social
welfare), 1940s-1950s
i.
Labour party government brought
increased social programs, including socialized medicine, along
with government control of several industries (electricity,
steel, television)
VIII.
Legal protections for
workers
a.
Limited hours for women
i.
Later—equal pay for equal work
b.
Eventual end to child labor
i.
Schools and requirements for
school attendance grew as children were removed from the
workforce
c.
Health and safety codes
d.
Minimum wage
e.
Legalization of unions
IX.
Rights of female and
child workers
a.
Women and children could legally
be paid less than men for the same work
i.
Factory owners were more willing
to hire them
ii.
Male workers grew resentful
b.
English child laborers
i.
England had a history (going back
to the 17th century) of training pauper (poor)
children (even those younger than five years old) in a trade
ii.
Poor children followed their
mothers into factories
c.
Early male-dominated unions
fought to banish women and children from the workplace
i.
Eventually this strategy was
abandoned
ii.
Women eventually won the right to
equal pay for equal work
1.
Though women today, in reality,
still earn less than men at the same types of work
X.
Social
insurance/security
a.
Accident insurance (known as
workers’ compensation in the United States)
i.
France, 1928; Germany, 1884;
Great Britain, 1906; Italy, 1898; U.S.A., by various state laws
b.
Sickness insurance
i.
France, 1928; Germany, 1883;
Great Britain, 1912; Italy, 1898; U.S.A., by various laws in
some states
c.
Old age insurance (known as
Social Security retirement benefits in the United States)
i.
France, 1910; Germany, 1889;
Great Britain, 1908; Italy, 1898; United States, 1935
d.
Unemployment insurance
i.
France, 1928; Germany, 1911;
Great Britain, 1912; Italy, 1947; U.S.A., 1935
e.
Socialized medicine (also known
as universal health care)
i.
France, 1948; Germany, 1884;
Great Britain, 1948; Italy, 1948; U.S.A., Medicaid for the very
poorest citizens in the 1960s, and under President Barack Obama,
conservative reforms (by international standards) are set for
all Americans in 2014
XI.
Review Questions
a.
How and why did employer-employee
relationships change during the Industrial Revolution?
b.
Describe living conditions in
factory towns.
c.
Describe the weapons used by
employers and unions.
d.
Why was the establishment of
yearly wages for members of Parliament important to the British
Labour party?
e.
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of unions for workers and consumers? |
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