Labor Unions in 1900
Would you have joined a Labor Union in 1900?I believe that in 1900 I would have been torn over whether or not to join a labor union. Prior to 1900, people had organized together, but they really had no clout. Even though they stood up for what they believed, in the end, the federal government always stepped in on the side of business. Oftentimes, many people were killed during the process. For example, in 1877 when the four largest railroad companies got together and decided to cut their employees' salaries by ten percent, the workers struck back in defense. However, President Hayes called in federal troops. After a few weeks, the battle between the workers and the soldiers ended, but over 100 people were killed. There were also strikes by steel
Many workers lived in company housing and shopped at company-owned stores. After President Garfield was killed, politicians were forced into reforming the spoils system-giving appointed positions to loyal members of the party in power. Employers could also force workers to sign a "yellow dog contract" stating they would not join a union as a requirement for employment. I would be afraid that if I joined a union after signing a contract, I would have risked being fired and not being able to get another job because of my name being on "the list. Employers could bribe politicians, as well as hire scabs to replace the striking workers. Therefore, the corporations had the upper hand. However, the businesses still had the upper hand, and it would be several decades before unions and corporations were on relatively equal ground. In 1900, the public was beginning to understand that workers could join together and bargain collectively instead of individually. The strikers lost about of their disputes, but they won or compromised the other half. "Around 1900, however, things started to change, and the unions started having a little more power. Up to 1900, they had spurred on over 23,000 strikes. This placed many politicians in the position of looking elsewhere for money. Therefore, they turned to where the money was-the big corporations. Consequently, I believe that in 1900, I would probably have started thinking about joining a union, but I probably would not yet have joined one.
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