Labor

The war years were good to mainstream organized labor in America, for a few reasons:

• First, with men being called to war by the hundreds of thousands, the labor market became very tight, increasing the power of workers, many of whom had been opposed to U.S. intervention in the war in the beginning.

• Second, production of all products—from food to clothing to guns—was needed for both American and Allied soldiers, ensuring that there was plenty of work for all.

• Third, the government showed American Federation of Labor leader Samuel Gompers helped the labor movement make several key gains during World War I. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.) foresight in dealing directly with labor. A Secretary of Labor was established in 1913, and the leader of the moderate American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers—who had been impressed with the way that the British government had treated labor at the outset of the conflict—had easy access to bring grievances to the Wilson administration.

• Fourth, several large companies had been accused of war profiteering, milking huge profits out of the demands created by war for items like meat, coal and steel. That had the general effect of turning public opinion against big business.

• Fifth, Gompers won key concessions from big businesses, including better working conditions, pay increases and eight-hour work days. The AFL’s successes helped boost membership well past 3 million. Meanwhile, the more radical elements of labor—the Socialist party and the International Workers of the World—that had long battled with the AFL for labor supremacy saw their influence reduced by the AFL’s ascension.

Changes in the status of organized labor would have a profound impact across the country, but it especially affected one of Chicago’s largest employers—the South Side’s Union Stock Yards, where most of the country’s meat was slaughtered and packed. For years, attempts at unionizing the stock yards, known for their grueling and inhumane conditions, were foiled by racial divides, company manipulation and intimidation.

But in 1917, under the impetus of railway carman William Foster, and with the approval of John Fitzpatrick, the powerful head of the Chicago Federation of Labor, a new effort to organize the meatpackers—with the butchers, carmen, electricians and all others in the orbit of the packinghouses—began in earnest. By November the movement gained steam, and the fledgling union was able to present demands to the packinghouse chiefs under the threat of a strike. By the end of 1917, President Wilson had set up mediation for the packing houses and its workers. After hearings that lasted until March 1918, the union was able to obtain most of its goals, including an eight-hour workday, overtime pay and the right to organize.

Even with a surge in unionism and a job market that greatly favored labor, wages in Chicago were not exactly booming. According to a study by the National Education Association, the average union baker in 1918 made $1,300. Machinists made $1,945. Printers made $1,612. Carpenters made $1,144. Elementary school teachers made just $807.

Working in Chicago in 1918 was complicated by the uncertain status of money in the country. In order to finance the war, the government sold Liberty Bonds, loosening lines of credit and printing vastly more money. The result was, predictably, inflation.

The war had created such an immense demand for basic necessities at home and for the Allies in Europe that the domestic supply chain could not keep up. The U.S. was providing Britain, France and Italy with everything from wheat and lard to coal and clothing. Prices soared. Inflation hammered the economy. Overall, 1918 registered the second-highest single-year inflation rate in U.S. history, at 17.26 percent. The only worse year was 1917, when inflation was 17.80. (The inflation rate in 2007, by way of comparison, was typical—2.85 percent—and even the severe inflation of 1980 was 13.58 percent). In fact, it was this problem that spurred the government to begin measuring inflation rates and cost-of-living indexes.

A report released in August 1918 showed that from August 1914 until June 1918, the cost of living in America rose 50-55 percent. Food prices rose 62 percent. Clothing was up 77 percent. The price for a pair of men’s overalls, the report stated, rose 161 percent. Working conditions were improving, but the buying power of average Americans was not.

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