During the mid/late 1800's monopolies were rising, and working conditions were in the gutters. Workers were at work for 12 hours day, in unsanitary conditions and very little pay. The workers had bad living conditions already along with high rent which lead to many deaths due to the low wages. People got angry and started rioting and going on strikes and formed labor unions to fight back against companies.
Rise of Labor Unions in the Industrial Revolution
The Knights of Labor were one of the first prominent labor unions to emerge in the 17th century. They gained lots of members very fast but had too many to deal with eventually. It was lead by Terence V. Powderly.
The American Federation of Labor was another popular union established near the fall of the Knights of Labor. Samuel Gompers was the president of the AFL.
The American Railroad Union was made to include workers of all kinds. It was established by Eugene V. Debs.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 happened when companies took wage cuts because of a long economic depression. Workers began unlinking train cars until the military got involved to break up the strike. The strike wasn't organized so this event pushed people to realize they needed unions to plan and execute more strikes like this. In the end, the strike was unsuccessful and at least 10 people were killed by military forces.
The Haymarket riots were movements against the police for using force on protesters. 1400 people grouped together to fight back against the violence but a protester tossed a bomb towards the police killing several officers. The Knights Of Labor were later blamed for the incident causing high tensions between work unions and the police force. This riot was unsuccessful because it made the entire work situation worse for the workers and the unions.
The Homestead Strike of 1892 was a large strike of 5000 people at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant. The military was called during this event as well. This caused 10 deaths and 23 injuries and setback unions from being formed. No new rights were earned making this an unsuccessful strike.
Due to the panic of 1893, wages were cut by ⅓ and when Pullman fired a suspected union worker, a strike rose. This became the Pullman strike of 1894, police and authorities arrested leaders of the strikes. Debs tried to run for president but was unsuccessful. Socialism became more popular because of these events. This riot was successful because the government gained more power of the economy and of the workers.
The labor unions and the strikes they caused helped the workers in the long run because it made businesses more aware of them. Along with this new guidelines were put in place for worker safety. In some cases the workers were able to work less hours with more pay. Overall the strikes did not end well but eventually they paid off and made better work conditions.