Questions and Answers
What is deflation?
A decline in the volume of available money or credit that results in lower prices, increasing the buying power of money.
What is an industrial union?
An organization of common laborers and craft workers in a particular industry.
What is a lockout?
A company tool to fight union demands by refusing to allow employees to enter its facilities to work.
What is arbitration?
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What is an injunction?
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What is a closed shop?
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Which unions generally failed during the late 1800s? Why?
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How did employers generally view unions? Why?
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What are some tactics companies used to break up unions?
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What was the dominant union of the late 1800s?
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Did most unions in the late 1800s admit women? Why or why not?
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Study Notes
Key Terms and Definitions
- Deflation: A decrease in the money supply that lowers prices, increasing the purchasing power of money.
- Industrial Union: An organization uniting laborers and craft workers within a specific industry to advocate for common interests.
- Lockout: A tactic used by companies to prevent employees from entering work facilities as a way to resist union demands.
- Arbitration: A method of resolving disputes by accepting a decision from an impartial third party.
- Injunction: A legal order requiring a person to do or refrain from doing a specific act.
- Closed Shop: An agreement where a company hires only union members, ensuring workplace unionization.
Union Challenges in the Late 1800s
- Failure of Industrial Unions: Lacked specialized skills leading to easy replacement of workers; trade unions had stronger leverage due to skilled labor representation.
- View of Employers on Unions: Employers regarded unions as conspiracy threats to property rights, with courts often siding with them due to a lack of legal acknowledgment of unions.
Tactics Against Union Formation
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Company Strategies to Disband Unions:
- Workers required to pledge to not join any unions or sign anti-union contracts.
- Use of detectives to target union organizers.
- Vocal opposers to union organization faced termination and blacklisting.
- Implementation of lockouts, denying workers access to work facilities.
- Hiring replacement workers, known as strikebreakers, to undermine union efforts.
Dominant Labor Organization
- American Federation of Labor (AFL): Primarily represented skilled workers, became the leading labor union in the late 1800s.
Gender Dynamics in Unions
- Exclusion of Women: Most unions did not admit women due to wage disparities and societal assumptions that women had male financial support, perpetuating exclusionary practices that did not help overall wage bargaining power.
Economic Context
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Impact of Deflation:
- Industrialism led to significant improvements in living standards, with average wages for workers increasing by 50%.
- Despite higher buying power due to falling prices, companies frequently cut wages, prompting workers to establish unions for better wages and conditions.
Summary of Lockouts
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Lockouts as a Company Tool:
- Companies effectively used lockouts to impede union activity, with the financial strain of no wages bolstering their power.
- Workers could be replaced by those willing to sign contracts opposing union formation.
- Efforts to eliminate unions often succeeded due to the absence of legal protections for labor organizing, with courts viewing strikes as conspiracies against free trade.
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Description
Explore key terms from History Chapter 3 Lesson 4 with these flashcards. Learn about important concepts such as deflation, industrial unions, and lockouts to enhance your understanding of economic impacts and labor relations. Perfect for revision or quick study.
