Labor Unions: Unskilled Workers In The Gilded Age

588 Words3 Pages
In the last 25 years of the Gilded Age, the American myth was the self-made man (partially obtained from Horatio Alger stories.) Though this was the goal, outcomes similar to Rockefeller and Carnegie’s were very unlikely. The majority of Americans were poor, earning their wages by working in factories with almost unbearable conditions. To try to get better working environments and wages, laborers formed Unions, to try and fight the mishandling businesses. Labor Unions were not very successful in improving the position of workers in the period from 1875-1900, because of the power of the businesses, the fact that they were associated with anarchists, and because the majority were unskilled workers who could easily be replaced. 10% of all…show more content…
When a worker was hired, some companies required them to sign an ‘Ironclad Oath’ or a ‘Yellowdog Contract’ (similar to Western Union Telegraph Company employee contract, 1883; Document E.) If they took part in boycotts or strikes, they would be fired and put on a ‘black list’, which made it incredibly difficult to get jobs with another company. Because of the way assembly lines in factories were being subdivided and workers were really only doing one repeating action (in contrast to earlier when they did many activities in the workplace,) they were not learning anything and remained as unskilled as they were before gaining that position (as described in The Testimony of a Machinist before the Senate Committee on Labor and Capital 1883; Document D.) Since most of the laborers were unskilled, when they went on strike, it wasn’t really a problem for companies, because those workers could be easily replaced. When workers went on strike, they were kicking themselves in the butt (Thomas Nast cartoon in Harpers Weekly, 1878; Document C,) because they themselves were protesting against their source of income, which without they and their families could not…show more content…
All three were defeated by federal troops, showing the government’s unsympathetic views toward the workers. Because of these strikes and the Haymarket Riot, which the Knights of Labor were associated with, (Coroners list of the Killed, Pittsburg, PE, July 7, 1892; Document G,) the support of organized labor decreased greatly. This was because labor unions would then be seen as having communist interests and values. Too many groups were trying to control the labor interest, resulting in no single one of them succeeding (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, January 8, 1887; Document F.) Organized labor was not very successful, maybe even harmful, in improving the positions of workers the last 25 years of the 19th century. Union strikes caused them to be seen as being associated with violence and communist beliefs, but strikes needed to be done to get the laborer’s views acknowledged (Testimony of Samuel Gompers before a commission established by the House of Representatives on the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor, 1899; Document

More about Labor Unions: Unskilled Workers In The Gilded Age

Open Document