Table of Contents Struggles Workers are Facing-----------------------------3 Strike For Equality Ad----------------------------------------3 What are Unions doing for America-----------------------5 Presidents of the 1920s-------------------------------------6 Nothing Wrong Here ad-------------------------------------8 Good for Production Bad for Workers--------------------9 Today's Industrial Workers--------------------------------11 Bibliography--------------------------------------------------13
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Struggles workers are facing and how they’re fighting back Ed Dowling The cruelty of industrialists and the suffering of our working class is undeniable. It’s time to take action America, one fourth of all Americans face oppression because of their employers and companies. It’s time to fight back against this selfish and diirty system. Workers need sufficient wages, steady government protection, benefits through quality unions, and better working conditions.
Workers are hopeless wage slaves and need improvement. Bosses are milking workers with unjust amounts of work. The inequality and wage gap between workers and bosses is extremely large. Worker’s also have unjust living conditions. Workers live in small and inhumane apartments while their bosses live in lavish mansions. American’s should not have to work hard and live in meager apartments while the economy is booming. American’s need to be rewarded for their work ethic throughout each generation.
Pro union advertisement
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Workers need steady “Welfare Capitalism” that is provided by government funded unions, not unstable businesses. Welfare Capitalism is benefits and protections workers receive, but “Welfare Capitalism” is only voluntary and a way businesses create loyalty amongst their workers. Unions have been looked upon as having ideologies against democracy like communism and socialism. The Red Scare made it so Unions’ trust level dropped. We need to revive the unions through strikes. The policeman in Boston went on strike and showed that they had the power in the city as crime broke out across the city. Coal miners received 60% higher wages and 6-hour work days after their strike. This dramatic increase in the standard of living is a precedent for all workers across the country. All workers have the ability to have a higher standard of living.
We need to take a stand America, after all we are the backbone of our economy that powers our country. Without our work, we wouldn’t have products yielding immense profits; we are discredited. Workers need variety in their jobs and higher wages to lessen the inequality between bosses and workers. Workers need to obtain government aid by going on strike. By going on strike, workers can get a hold of the government’s attention and receive aid. The more strikes there are, the more aid the government will give. Strikes cut down half of the steel industries across America; rebellion is power! Worker’s must realize they are capable of reforming the government for the better.
Workers need more variety in their jobs, insurance from danger, and more meaningful work. Americans need unemployment compensation if they’re injured because of work. Steady insurance will keep workers relaxed and less anxious if they can’t work. Workers don’t have to feel like they’re families won’t eat if they get injured. Also, workers start to lose meaning in their work when they do the same task over and over. Workers will feel more purposeful if they’re given a wide variety of jobs to help the process.
Company owners try to decide on giving aid to their workers to make them loyal or to not give the workers benefits and keep the money for themselves.
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What are unions doing for america Dquavius Kelly Unions have brought great changes in the American economy, including better pay, hours, working conditions, child labor laws, and more.Aside all the exceptional things that they have done for us, are they really helping us or harming us? Yes, unions have done a lot of good for America, however, as the laws changed, there was less and less need for unions. Because of that, union membership shrank. In response, the unions became more explicitly involved in politics. Over time, they managed to co-opt the Democratic Party, pull their strings, and rewrite our labor laws in their favor.As Lord Acton noted, "Power tends to corrupt," and that has certainly been true for the unions.
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Presidents of the 1920’s: America’s most harmful presidents Bernado Perez Presidents of the United States should consist of responsible and caring leaders, who listen to the people. In spite of this, America’s recent taste in president’s has been rather lacking. In fact, they are tending to go against the working population. They favor big businesses and lack regulation, leaving us Americans with less than favorable working conditions. America’s presidents are against today’s industrial workers, and are repeatedly reducing our rights.
The first president of the 1920s, Warren Harding, began leading America’s economy into ruin. After the end of World War 1, and Woodrow Wilson leaving office, we elected Warren Harding as our president. Harding called for a “return to normalcy,” which many Americans desired after the drought that was World War One. The return to normalcy asks for us to return to our normal lives before the war. However, this process required demobilization, leading the American economy unprepared. As these factories closed, people lost the industrial jobs that these facilities required. Being let off of these jobs made industrial workers to take up jobs with very few rights. Harding believed that, “... we meant to have less of the government in business as well as more business in government.” This left industrial workers without government support, leaving businesses to prey on our rights.
Warren G. Harding giving his famous “Return to Normalcy” speech
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After Harding, Calvin Coolidge was elected president. Coolidge seemed to be refreshing after learning about the scandals the Harding presidency brought with it. Yet, it was still harmful for industrial workers. A labor union formed by the Boston Police Department was refused help back when Coolidge was Governor of Massachusetts. This showed how Coolidge was against labor unions. When Coolidge became president, he continued with the objectives of Harding, stating that, “The chief business of the American people is business.” He believed that, “They use their power to serve, not themselves and their own families, but the public.” This was far from the truth. In reality, businesses were allowed to lower wages for workers and pay less attention to safety. Coolidge lowered the amount of regulation in businesses, once again leaving workers with few rights.
Our current president, Herbert Hoover is not far from our previous two presidents. Hoover shares a similar ideology to Coolidge and Harding. He too opposes the idea of regulating businesses. “... in addition to this great record of contributions of the Republican Party to progress, there has been a further fundamental contribution- a contribution perhaps more important than all the others-and that is the resistance of the Republican Party to every attempt to inject the Government into business in competition with its citizens.” Although admitting that regulating businesses during World War One helped many industrial workers and gave them better rights, Hoover believes that this way of treating business is too socialist. However, when government assisted in regulating business, citizens found themselves with more jobs, and workers found themselves with more rights.
Calvin Coolidge’s election slogan
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These last presidents have clearly been harmful towards industrial workers. Currently, the United States has no national child labor laws, no national labor code, and no social insurance. Former six time presidential candidate Norman Thomas states that, “This great industrial country of ours… offers to the masses of the workers no security against sickness, unemployment, and old age.”
Right now, industrial workers have few to no rights, and our presidents aren’t helping. What we should do to solve this issue is support unionists, and adopt policies which protect the oppressed workers instead of big businesses. It’s time to protect our rights, and not let our leaders bring us down.
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Good for Production Bad for Workers Tyler Halverson We as Americans should be prideful in American made goods and services. Or should we? The new techniques of creating products and ways of mass production create horrible working environments for the workers. The products created via this method which we buy, encourage this way of mass production. When you as a consumer buys these mass produced products it encourages the hurtful new ways of production. Henry Ford, the creator of the Ford Motor Company pioneered the assembly line. This style of work permits each of the employes to do a simple task for up to twelve hours a day. The workers receive only one break in their day, which is for lunch and they only get fifteen minutes. Your position at the company had zero security and many workers describe the job as having aspects very similar to slavery. The pay however at the motor company is quite good. Pay is the main reason for why many workers stay with the company. The companies implanted the new techniques because they save time. This allows them to make more money, and of course companies will do anything to make a little more money even at the brutal expense of their workers. Multiple other companies followed suit with Ford and switched to new ways of production. Many of the techniques involved turning the worker into a machine. They live simple and quite boring uneventful lives. Imagine, you wake up, do the same task for twelve hours, come home, go to bed, then do it all again the next day. The life which the new production techniques create for people are miserable. Many just work because “that is what you're supposed to do.” Many have no goals, and no motives for life. The men and women
and no motives for life. The men and women working at factories which use mass production work there because they don’t have anything else to do. They need a job, so they just have to deal with the horribleconditions and toil work.
Typical work force of 1920
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Work unions, or groups of workers who help each other to get better pay or protect their interests are a large threat to assembly lines and the new work techniques. To avoid unions companies often fired anyone they found guilty of being in a union. Companies also hire spies to try to figure out if workers are trying to plan a revolt or strikes because these forms of protest could greatly hurt the new assembly lines. The companies do their best to control their employes and make their lives miserable if they joined a union or planned to revolt. Large groups of businesses and companies have blacklists, which are lists compiled of people's names which were involved in a union or protest. If your name is on the list then the companies will not hire you. The source of all the blacklists are the new production techniques. If companies didn't
use new production techniques then they would not have a need for blacklists. This would give workers better job security and they wouldn’t have to worry about losing their job because of being involved in a union. Factory workers have horrible working conditions, poor pay, and they no job security so they could be laid off at any moment with no warning. Not only did they have to deal with workings conditions, and poor pay but the work was grueling and extremely repetitive. Do not support these new work techniques for they hinder the lower classes greatly. Life like the lives which these workers have is not living and no one should have to live such as they do. The new techniques are horrible for the workers .
Workers in a Union on strike
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Today’s industrial workers A long time issue of the proletariat class people covers their working rights. In the past, our working rights have been abused, and conditions less than favorable. Recently, workers have been gaining more and more rights, as this problem is being better acknowledged. However, currently we are struggling to continue to obtain these rights. The industrial workers of today have attempted to gain better working rights and conditions through various ways, such as unionism. However, due to poor working conditions, inequality, unprogressive presidents and untrustworthy unions, workers are struggling and are not succeeding in receiving better conditions. Through Henry Ford’s inhumane working conditions and a huge wage gap between workers and bosses, workers are fighting an uphill battle to obtain better conditions. Workers have extremely low wages and long 12 hour work days, while their bosses are living lavish and easy lifestyles. Worker’s also don’t have quality working conditions. Dangerous equipment surrounds workers that could possibly end their careers. Worker’s also don’t have steady protection and benefits to accommodate their underpaying jobs. Unions must be revived in order help equality in America. The Red Scare has made unions untrustworthy, the government needs to revive them in a different way that creates more trust.
Workers at assembly line, 1913
For the most part, our recent presidents haven’t been aiding in helping industrial workers. In fact, they have done more in contributing to the problem than fixing it. Warren Harding’s “return to normalcy” lead too many factories being shut down too fast, leaving many workers unemployed. Those that were still employed
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were left with fewer rights than they previously had. These presidents believed that the government should stay out of business, allowing businesses to treat workers how they liked. This left many workers vulnerable, seeing as we had no national labor code, no social insurance, and no national child labor guideline. These presidents have made it more difficult for industrial workers to make a living, which is the opposite of what we need, especially with the recent recession. Unions have brought great changes in the American economy, including better pay, hours, working conditions, child labor laws, and more. Aside all the exceptional things that they have done for us, are they really helping us or harming us? Yes, unions have done a lot of good for America, however, as the laws changed, there have been less and less need for unions. Because of that, union membership shrank. In response, the unions became more explicitly involved in politics. Over time, they managed to co-opt the Democratic Party, pull their strings, and rewrite our labor laws in their favor. As Lord Acton noted, "Power tends to corrupt," and that has certainly been true for the unions. Overall, the industrial workers of today are under serious abuse. As we look at the systems we developed to combat oppression and a lack of working rights, we see that we are continually being brought down, and our support denounced. Bringing back a way of achieving working rights that isn’t unionism could aid our cause tremendously. Politically, we need the support of leaders that will back up the majority of the population, instead of just the rich few. If we can do this, it’ll allow us to bring back the America we truly envision, not the America businesses envision.
Political ad from the Los Angeles Times
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Tyler: “1920's Labor Unrest.” Ytimg, 20 Dec. 2015, i.ytimg.com/vi/x_-UX1oGu90/maxresdefault.jpg. Kallen, Stuart A. The Roaring Twenties. Kallen, Stuart A. The Roaring Twenties. Lynard, Robert S., and Helen Merrel Lynd. Middle Town: A Study of American Culture . 1929. Niebuhr, Reinhold. Leaves From the Note Book of Tamed Cynic . 1929. Tindop, Edmund. America in The 1920s. 2009. White , Percival. The Almighty Minute . 1920.
Bernardo: “Calvin Coolidge.” Biography, A&E Television Networks, 17 June 2016, www.biography.com/people/calvin-coolidge-9256384. “Explore Encyclopedia Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/. “Herbert Hoover.” Biography, A&E Television Networks, 2 Apr. 2014, www.biography.com/people/herbert-hoover-9343371. “Main Page.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2017, www.wikipedia.org/. “Sacco and Vanzetti.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti. “Warren Harding.” White House, White House Historical Association, 2006, www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/warrenharding. “Ford Assembly Line.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 July 2017. Scoop question 2: Document a,b,c, and d from Source Pack.
Ed: Packard's Passing. Digital image. AP Images. Associated Press, 29 Jan. 1999. Web. 19 Oct. 2017. Lindop, Edmund, and Margaret J. Goldstein. America in the 1920s. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century, 2010. Print. History Brief: Labor Disputes in the 1920s. Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2017. Baughman, Judith S. American Decades: 1920-1929. New York: Gale Research, 1996. Print.
"Welfare Capitalism: Definition and History." Study.com. Study.com, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2017. Scoop Question 3: Document A, B, C, and D from source pack Dquavis: Sep 17, 2013 - First, full disclosure: My father was a proud Teamster, member of Local 384 in East Norriton, Pennsylvania, rising from truck driver to shop … Nov 22, 2014 - In much of industrial America, workers long toiled under very unsafe conditions, ... So there's both good and bad associated with unions. Feb 18, 2009 - Interactive map: Unions Are Good for Workers and the Economy in Every State ... Unions Paved the way to the middle class for millions of American workers and ... process would be introduced to thwart bad-faith bargaining.
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