Industrial work life/labor movement

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Industrial Work Life and the Labor Movement

I CAN

I can identify why factory owners applied scientific management practices to industry

I can identify the types of labor union that represented workers

I can explain how workers organized and responded to powerful corporate interests and government pressure

Scientific Management

Frederick W. Taylor- ways in which workers could do the same jobs but save time and energy, called scientific management. The end result would be cost-saving for the factory owner.

Owners and managers realized that if they divided up the various steps to produce a product, it would save labor costs. This job specialization assured them that each worker would perform a single step of the manufacturing process in a short time and would be able to do his part faster.

Multiple Choice

Why did efficiency and scientific management appeal to factory owners?

• 
  The workers could slow down their work to be more careful on the job

• They could produce more goods at lower costs

• 
  Job specialization increased the number of jobs a single worker could do.

Open Ended

how did workers organize and respond to powerful corporate interests and government pressure?

Labor Organizes Unions

Unions are organizations of workers in a trade or industry who join together to negotiate for their wages and working conditions as a group, called collective bargaining.

The first major effort to organize workers’ groups on a nationwide scale was the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor-

• Their motto was “An injury to one is the concern of all.” 

 

• Membership was open to all workers no matter their gender, race, or degree of skill. 

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) gradually took its place in the labor movement. AFL focused on skilled workers.

Multiple Select

types of labor union that represented workers

• Open to all workers including unskilled

• Focused on skilled craft workers

• Open only to children performing labor

Companies kept the names of employees that they viewed as union agitators, called a blacklist, and shared them among other industries to bar them from future employment opportunities.

companies forced workers to sign yellow-dog contracts, in which workers promised they would never join a union

The government also supported the interests of employers over the workers

During both the Homestead Strike and the Pullman Strike, the federal government sent troops to bring an end to the union strike

​Employer and Government Barriers to Unions

Summary

Scientific management practices led to rigid and challenging working conditions

Work life for industrial workers included long hours, low wages, and dangerous working conditions.

Workers organized labor unions to advocate for better working conditions and wages.

Many labor union strikes during the Gilded Age turned violent.

Management and government set barriers to limit the effectiveness of unions.