TU Key Knowledge

Question 1

Haymarket Affair 1886
Key Points
Effects

Answer 1

Key Points
- Part of a Nationwide campaign for an 8 hour working day
- peaceful rally held at Haymarket square
- Police moved in to disperse crowd
- Bomb was thrown at the Police
- Killed 7 officers and Police shot 4 workers
Effects
- trouble was blamed on immigrants from Germany
- Despite no evidence 8 were arrested and 5 executed
- Encouraged the dislike of Unions
- Led to more suspicion of immigrants
- Destroyed the reputation of the KOL and many joined the AFL

Question 2

The Homestead strike 1892
Key Points
Effects

Answer 2

Key Points
-Workers were locked out of their work after failure to reach a collective bargaining agreement
- Workers strike that lasted 143 days between the steel workers and Pinkerton’s (private security firm brought in to disperse the strike)
- Ended with a large battle/fight which resulted in 10 dead (including the factory owner Henry Frick)
Effects
- violence broke the Union and decline in membership from 24k in 1891 to 10k in 1894
- Seriously harmed the progress of workers gaining rights
- Employers in other industries became far more suspicious of granting recognition to unions

Question 3

Phillip Randolph
Key Points
Effects

Answer 3

Key Points
- Founded the Brotherhood of sleeping Car porters (1925), which organised Black porters for the Pullman company
- Despite strong resistance from the Pullman company Randolph led a long campaign for union recognition
- Threatened a mass march on Washington in 1941 to protest segregation in the military during ww2
Effects
- In 1937, Pullman recognised the union, which was the first major Black-led trade union in the USA, winning better wages, shorter hours and improved conditions
- strengthened Black involvement in organised labour and established Randolph as a national civil rights leader.
- 1941 march pressured FDR into passing Ex Order 8802 (ending segregation in the defence industry)

Question 4

Cesar Chavez
Key points
Effects

Answer 4

Key Points
- Founded the national Farm Workers Association in 1962
- Focused on poor migrant farm workers, and overall farm workers rights
- Organised strikes and protests against grape growers for better pay and conditions
- non-violent protests, national grape boycott
Effects
- Helped farm workers gain better wages, legal protections and union representation
- expanded the labour movement to include latino and agricultural workers

Question 5

Pullman Strike 1894
Key points
Effects

Answer 5

Key points
- In a time of economic depression, the Pullman company cut wages by 25-30%
- But didn’t lower cost of rent or other living costs in the company town
- Workers joined the ARU (American Railway Union) led by Eugene V. Debs
- National boycott/strike that disrupted US transport and mail etc
- troops were sent in to break up the strike and 30 workers were killed, debs was arrested
Effects
- Strike collapsed after Gov’t intervention, highlighting the weakness of unions in the late 1800s
- ARU was destroyed and employers strengthened anti union policies
- Demonstrated the federal Gov’ts willingness to support big businesses against unions

Question 6

Ludlow Massacre 1914
Key Points
Effects

Answer 6

Key Points
- Miners went on strike and moved out of company housing and into tent colonies including one at Ludlow
- guards were sent in to control the strike and there was a fight between miners and guards
- Guards attacked the camp and set tents on fire, killing 20 including women and children
Effects
- the strike by the miners failed to achieve union recognition
- the massacre damaged reputation of Rockefeller and coal companies
- Howard Zinn described it as “the culminating act of perhaps the most violent struggle between corporate power and laboring men in American history”.
- Congress responded to public outrage by directing the House Committee on Mines and Mining to investigate the events. Its report, published in 1915, was influential in promoting child labor laws and an eight-hour work day.

Question 7

Eugene V. Debs
Key Points
Effects

Answer 7

Key Points
- Founded the ARU in 1893
- Led the workers in the Pullman strike
- During imprisonment, became socialist and argued that capitalism exploited workers and should be replaced with socialism
- ran for president 5 times
Effects
Important leader in early industrial unionism
- central role in the Pullman strike led to their imprisonment
- Symbolised the struggle between labour movement and the Federal Gov’t

Question 8

Lochner Vs New York
Key Points
Effects

Answer 8

Key points
-rejected the law that limited the number of hours a baker could work each week
- the court did not accept the judgment that the law was needed to protect the health of bakers
- It was described as ‘unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right and liberty of the individual to contract’.
Effects
- This judgement began a series which invalidated laws to regulate working conditions during the period up to the second world war.

Question 9

Equal Pay Act 1963
Key Points
Effects

Answer 9

Key Points
- Made Wage discrimination on the basis of Gender illegal

Question 10

Civil Rights Act 1964
Key Points
Effects

Answer 10

Key Points
- Aided AAs and Hispanics that had been discriminated against in workplace and employment opportunities

Question 11

The Economic Opportunity Act 1964
Key Points
Effects

Answer 11

Key Points
- provided funds to train people and increase their employment opportunities

Question 12

Age Discrimination in Employment Act 1968
Key Points
Effects

Answer 12

Key points
- prevented discrimination in employment for people aged between 40-60

Question 13

President Reagan
Key Points
Effects

Answer 13

Key Points
- Determined to restrict Union power
- Aimed to remove regulations that hindered US industry but protected workers
- wanted to privatise publicly owned businesses, which was not in the best interest of workers
-PATCO strike in 1981, resulted in Reagan firing 11,000 workers
Effects
- After the PACTO strike more employers became more resistant to strikes
- Overall reduction in Union membership especially in the Private sector
- Negative effects on Unions as a whole

Question 14

Clayton AntiTrust Act 1914
Key Points
Effects

Answer 14

Key Points
- Banned price discrimination
- protected labour unions, declared labor wasn’t a commodity
Effects
- Showed federal gov’t willingness to regulate
- helped future unions as they now could not be as easily prosecuted

Question 15

National War Labor Board (NWLB)

Answer 15

Key Points
-Created by Wilson to negotiate with Unions
- 8-hour working day in some industries.
Higher wages in certain cases.
Right of workers to join unions.
Employers should not punish workers for union membership.
- Encouraged Employers to recognise Unions
- All to maximise production for the War effort
Effects
- reduced strikes during wartime
- increased Union membership
-Yet After WW1 the board was dissolved and many of the gains made by the board disappeared

Question 16

Roosevelt Administration
Key Points
Effects

Answer 16

Key Points
-Most beneficial administration for unions
- To combat depression and get people back in work Roosevelt gave workers the right to: join and organise unions, Collectively bargain, established a minimum wage
- This was all done through NIRA, Wagner Act. NLRB and the Fair labor Standards Act
Effects
- Union membership expanded massivley
- Unions were protected by law
- encouraged collective bargaining

Question 17

National Industry Recovery Act 1933
Key Points
Effects

Answer 17

Key Points
- Minimum wage and Maximum Hours
- Section 7a gave workers the right to join Unions
Effects
- Bettered the position of workers
- Far more joined Unions

Question 18

Wagner Act 1935
Key Points
Effects

Answer 18

Key Points
- Workers were guaranteed the right to join Unions
- Employers were required to negotiate with Unions chosen by workers
- created the NLRB to enforce
Effects
- Gave legal protection to Unions
- Became the foundation of modern US Labor Law
- Was later restricted by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947

Question 19

Taft-Hartley Act 1947
Key Points
Effects

Answer 19

Key Points
- Placed restrictions on Union Strikes and Boycotts
- Union Leaders had to declare they weren’t communists
Effects
- Reduced Union Power
- Led to increased Gov’t intervention in strikes
- Slowed Union Growth

Question 20

WW2 impact on Unions

Answer 20

Key Points
- Increased Gov’t cooperation as they wanted smooth production
- Reestablishment of the NWLB but this was not for union sympathising. It aimed to prevent strikes during wartime to maximise production
-After WW2, decline in blue collar workers and an increase in white collar workers
Effects
- more jobs due to the war effort
- This also led to some greater worker benefits
-White collar workers were less likely to join unions and more willing to sign no-strike agreements

Question 21

Who were the KOL

Answer 21

-Founded in 1869
- inclusive, open to women, black workers and unskilled workers
- advocated for 8 hour work days, abolition of child labor
- following a peak in 1886, following declined due to aftermath of the Haymarket affair

Question 22

Who were the AFL

Answer 22

• Focused on skilled white, male workers,
• Promoted for better wages, shorter hours, more control over their working conditions
• By 1897, 264,000 members
• Began as the KOL began its decline in 1886