Working ConditionsRise of Big Business – Part 3

Growth of Big Business• Lower production

costs– Things were cheaper

• Mass production– More stuff was made

• Trusts are formed• Advertising• Transportation

creates a national market– No longer HAVE to sell

to JUST the local community

Child Labor and Heavy Industries

Working Conditions During Industrialization

• Assembly Line – made production faster!

• Child labor• Low wages; long hours• Unsafe• Sweat Shops - factory with

bad work conditions

Garment Industry of New York City

Women in the Tobacco IndustryNorth Carolina

Children Working in the Coal Mines

Emphysema and Black Lung

Dangers in Textile MillsWomen faced issues with their lungs from working in textile mills as well, breathing in cotton and fiber filaments all day. Many women and children lost fingers and toes in the high velocity machines as well.

Steel Mills were extremely dangerous work environments.Due to the open cauldrons of molten steel, and the heavy mechanized tools which could crush limbs, steel mills were notoriously dangerous. And most companies offered no compensation to workers injured on the job.

The Meatpacking IndustryDue to the de-assembly line methods used in meat packing plants – requiring hasty knife work, many workers were injured on the job – losing fingers, or worse!

When Andrew Carnegie attempted to slash his workers wages, they walked out on strike. When he hired strikebreakers, or “scabs” to replace them, they fought violently to prevent the mills from re-opening. Eventually, the Pennsylvania State Militia forced and end to the conflict using violent force of their own.

The Homestead Strike of 1892

In one of the saddest and most well publicized disasters of the early 20th Century, a group of approximately 150 immigrant laborers were trapped – literally locked in by their employers – in a burning building in New York City. Changes to fire codes and improvements to the working conditions were soon passed to protect employees and factory workers.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911

Improved Working Conditions• Formation of unions– American Federation of Labor:1. Only skilled workers2. NO women!3. Higher pay, less hours, better conditions4. Used collective bargaining

– Knights of Labor: 1. ANYONE could join

This even meant women and African-Americans

2. End child labor3. Shorter workday4. Did not prefer strikes

Strikes• When workers refuse to work in order to gain

something – usually better pay or working conditions