Tobey Nelson Milstead APUSH 15 March 2018 Organized Labor’s Lack of Success Due to a large amount of backlash from those in power, organized labor did not show much success in improving the position of workers in the period from 1875 to 1900. Whether it be the cause of the media, politicians, company employers, or economic crashes, labor unions were not able to have much of an impact on improving worker conditions. There was organized labor involved in basically any kind of factory work, in addition to mining work. Often times there would be multiple labor unions for the same type of factory or work. Labor unions became prominent in the latter half of the 19th century, which is also a time in which there were multiple economic crashes. Document …show more content…
Document G is a coroner’s list of those killed at the Homestead Steel Strike. This was an altercation between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and Carnegie Steel Company. This is the deadliest labor strike prior to 1914 (Ludlow Massacre). This is coming from one of the most organized strikes up to this date in US history, as it had clear leaders and lacked in disorganized mass uprisings. Ironically, Carnegie was publicly in favor of labor unions. The altercation came from the workers a part of the union wanting higher pay, and then being denied as the union only represented roughly 20% of the workers at the plant. When private security agents and Pinkerton workers arrived, a massacre broke out and 11 people are shown on the coroner’s list as dead, all but 2 either living or working at Homestead. This was a defeat for the labor union. Document H is from a United States Supreme Court case, In re Debs from 1895. The document states “It is charged… with the duty of keeping those highways of interstate commerce free from obstruction.” This essentially states that it’s constitutionally sound to use military force to break a strike if it obstructs railroads. These documents show the harm that strikes can cause and that at this time period, and with the way in which strikes were conducted, they did not help a cause and instead moved the movement further …show more content…
In document B, The New York Times illustrates a public view of “men too ignorant of too reckless to understand their own interests…” It proceeds to state that these men do, however, have the sympathy of a large part of their community, a community of blue collar labor workers, which, unfortunately, are not the people with power at this time in history. Document C is a satirical cartoon by Thomas Nast shown in Harper’s Weekly, 1878. It shows labor unions being persuaded to kill the goose that lays the golden egg by Communism. The goose is Capitalism, and the golden eggs which it lays are wages. This shows not only disapproval of labor unions, but especially disapproval of Communism in the public eye. Document E shows the effects labor unions have on companies perceptions. It is a Western Union Telegraph Company employee contract. In it is states “I will forthwith abandon any and all membership, connection or affiliation with any organization or society… which in anywise attempts to regulate the conditions of my services or the payment thereof while in the employment now undertaken.” This is significant because it shows the fear and caution that major companies now had to take to avoid dealing with