Industrial Revolution: Reforms

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Industrial Revolution Reforms
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Labor Unions

• By the 1800s, working people became more active
  in politics
• Workers joined voluntary labor associations
  called unions to press for reforms

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Labor Unions

• Unions
• Negotiated between workers and their employers
• Bargained for better working conditions and
  higher pay
• If demands were refused, union members could
  strike

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Labor Unions

• Skilled workers led the way to forming unions
• Why might this be?
• Special skills gave them extra bargaining power
  as they were harder to replace.
• Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 (Great
  Britain) outlawed unions and strikes
• Factory workers ignored threats of jail or job
  loss and joined unions anyways

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Labor Unions

• 1824-Parliament repealed the Combination Acts
• By 1825 unions were tolerated
• By 1875, Right to strike and picket peacefully
• Membership of about one million people.

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Think, Pair, Share

• What problems do we see with Child Labor?
• What new laws would you propose to parliament?
• What will the implications be?

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Reforms

• 1830s Parliament starts to investigate child
  labor issues in mines
• The Factory Act of 1833
• Illegal to hire children under the age of 9
• Children 9-12 could not work more than 8 hours a
  day
• Those 13-17 could not work more than 12 hours a
  day

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Reforms

• The Mines Act of 1842
• Prevented women and children from working
  underground
• Ten Hours Act of 1847
• limited women and children to working 10 hours a
  day in factories

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Other Reform Movements

• Abolition of Slavery Slavery existed in British
  colonies (but not Britain itself) abolished in
  the empire in 1833
• Some were morally opposed to slavery, others
  opposed it because they saw it as a threat to
  industry
• Cheap labor over slave labor

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Other Reform Movements

• Womens rights often paid 1/3 of what men were
  paid
• Inspired by abolitionists work against slavery,
  women realized they could gain rights as well by
  protesting and striking