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National Labor Union
In 1866, there were about 200,000 workers in local unions across the United States. Thus, William Sylvis decided to seize the opportunity presented by these numbers and he established the first nationwide labor organization. Not only did the NLU fight for higher wages and shorter hours, Sylvis took labor activity into the political arena. Unfortunately for the NLU, it tried to represent too many different groups and failed to include the realities of all Americans. -
Knights of Labor Society
Begun by Uriah Stephens as a secret society in 1869, the Knights admitted all wage earners into their ranks, including women and African Americans. The philosophy was simple: class was more important than race or gender. They advocated limits on immigration, restrictions on child labor, and government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. -
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
It began at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The leaders of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company ordered this second reduction, a 105 pay cut, in less than eight months, causing railroad workers to go on strike. On July 16,1877, workers in that town drove all the engines into the roundhouse and boldly declared that no train would leave until the owners restored their pay. -
The 1st Labor Day
On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history. The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in September, caught on in other industrial centers across the country, and many states passed legislation recognizing it. Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when the employees of Pullman Car Company went on strike. -
Haymarket Riot
On May 4, 1886, after local chapters of the Knights went on strike demanding an eight-hour day for all laborers, violence broke out at a rally in Haymarket Square in Chicago. No one was really sure who was responsible for throwing a bomb into the crowd; nonetheless, one police officer died and several crowd members sustained injuries. The American press, government, and general public blamed the Knights of Labor and Americans began associating labor activity with mob violence. -
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
In December of 1886, Samuel Gompers met with the leaders of other craft unions to form the American Federation of Labor. An effective organizer and speaker, Gompers maintained the support of the American government and public by refusing to pursue a radical program for political change. Gompers knew that the A.F. of L. would have more political and economic power if unskilled workers were excluded. The A.F. of L. served until the Great Depression when unskilled workers finally came together. -
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers was born in London in 1850 to a family of Jewish cigarmakers. In New York, he became the head of the local cigarmakers' union at the age of only twenty-seven. In 1886, he formed the American Federation of Labor with the mantra, "Keep it Simple." He was a diehard capitalist and saw no need for a radical restructuring of America. -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike was an industrial lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, ending in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892. One of the most powerful new corporations, Carnegie Steel Company, became pitted against the nation’s strongest trade union. Andrew Carnegie stepped up production demands, and the union refused to accept the new conditions. After 300 Pinkerton guards battled 10,000 armed strikers, the Pinkertons surrendered after 16 people died. -
Pullman Strike
This strike was an intensely bitter battle between workers and company management: George Pullman, owner of the company making railroad passenger cars, and Eugene V. Debs, leader of the American Railway Union. When its workers refused to accept a pay cut, the Pullman Car Company fired 5,000 employees. The American Railway Union managed to get about 260,000 workers nationwide to refrain from operating any trains that used Pullman cars. But chaos erupted when the strike was declared illegal. -
Eugene V. Debs
Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1855 to a family of French Alsatian immigrants. Making his way in the railroad industry, Debs formed the American Railway Union in 1892. Debs was not originally a socialist, but his experience with the Pullman Strike and his subsequent six-month jail term led him to believe that drastic action was necessary. In 1900 he ran for President as a socialist and garnered some 87,000 votes.
