1. Industrial Workers
Grade: «grade»
Subject: History
Date: «date»

2. Industrial Workers
The Big Idea
Changes in the workplace led to a rise in labor unions
and workers’ strikes.
Main Ideas
• The desire to maximize profits and become more
efficient led to poor working conditions.
• Workers began to organize and demand improvements
in working conditions and pay.
• Labor strikes often turned violent and failed to
accomplish their goals.

3. Main Idea 1:
The desire to maximize profits and become
more efficient led to poor working conditions.
• Several factors led to a decline in the quality of working
conditions in the late 1800s.
• Machines and unskilled workers replaced skilled craftspeople.
• These low­paid workers could easily be replaced. They
brought costs down and caused production to rise.
• Frederick W. Taylor, an efficiency expert, published The
Principles of Scientific Management in 1909.
• Encouraged managers to view workers as interchangeable
parts
• Injuries increased, and conditions worsened.
• Workers looked for ways to bring about change.

4. 1 Frederick Taylor publish a book called The Principles of
Scientific Management. This book viewed workers as
interchangeable parts which resulted in workers:
A having more injuries
B having better working conditions
C getting more time off
D getting paid more

5. Poor Working Conditions
• Small, crowded rooms
• Specialization made workers tired, bored, and more
likely to be injured.
• Managers paid less attention to working conditions.
• Stuffy air
• Unsafe workplaces
• Long hours
• Low wages
• No job security

7. 2 Select all of the following poor working conditions that
many factory workers had to deal with.
A low wages
B great pay
C stuffy air
D still kept jobs if hurt at work
E long hours
F small, crowded rooms

8. Main Idea 2:
Workers began to organize and demand
improvements in working conditions and pay.
Knights of Labor American Federation of Labor
• First national labor union, • Organized individual national
founded in 1870s unions, such as mine­workers’
• Pushed for eight­hour and steelworkers’ unions
workday, equal pay for equal • Limited membership to skilled
work, and end to child labor workers
• Included both skilled and • Used collective bargaining, in
unskilled workers which all workers acted
• Terence V. Powderly collectively, or together, to
became leader in 1879 and negotiate with management
ended secrecy of organization.

9. 3 This is workers acting together, or collectively, to
negotiate with management for better pay and better
working conditions.
A collective bargaining
B negotiations
C helping
D union help

10. Main Idea 3:
Labor strikes often turned violent and failed
to accomplish their goals.
Haymarket Riot Homestead Pullman Strike
• Erupted Strike • Began with workers who
between • Strike occurred made Pullman train cars
protesters and at Carnegie Steel • Spread to workers who
police in Chicago Company in worked on trains pulling
• Resulted in Homestead, sleeping cars
decline of Knights Pennsylvania. • Federal troops stopped
of Labor • Resulting fight strike.
left workers and
Pinkerton guards
dead.

12. Haymarket Riot

13. Haymarket Riot

14. 4 Select three major strikes that took place in the late
1800s.
A Baldwin Strike
B Wisconsin Riot
C Haymarket Riot
D Milwaukee Steel workers stike
E Homestead Strike
F Pullman Strike

15. 5 Would you have liked being a worker in the factories in
the late 1800s?
Yes
No