Chapter 8
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133
Boys no more than 12 years old worked
in the mines. They worked for 12 hours a
day for pay as low as 25 cents a day. Young
boys were wanted for coal mine work
because they were smaller. They could get
through some of the tunnels in the mine
more easily than grown men. As the
industries of our state grew, Pennsylvania
led the country in the number of children
whoworked inmines and factories. Later, a
law was passed which stopped companies
fromhiring young children.
Because of all the problems workers were
having with the owners, they tried to
improve their working conditions. To do
this, they set upwork
unions
. Aunion is a
group of people in a similar working
situation who gather as one group. As a
group, unionmembers believed theywould
havemore power to improve their pay and
working conditions. If the owners did not
agree to union demands, the workers
sometimes went on
strike
.
A strike happens when many of the
workers who belong to a union agree to
stop working. They refuse to work until
their demands are met. A strike meant a
company had to stop producing the
products itmade. This resulted in theowner
losing money. Of course, the strikers were
not paid. So it was a tough decision for
them to make. However, they felt strongly
about getting better working conditions
and more pay. Because of unions, working
conditions and pay slowly improved.
The Growth of Cities
T
he growing industries meant more
jobs for the people of Pennsylvania.
It also meant that the industries
needed more workers. In those days,
factories were built in or near the cities.
Because factory owners needed so many
newworkers, they sent people to Europe to
bring immigrants to Pennsylvania. Many
people in Europe needed jobs. As a result,
many immigrants arrived to work on the
railroads, in the mines, or in the factories.
Most of the immigrants settled in our
growing cities, where the jobs were.
The Europeans were not the only people
to come to Pennsylvania. After the Civil
Boys worked inmines for long hours and lowwages. A law
was passed that stopped companies from hiring young children.
