Problems faced by industrial workers in the late 1800s

Workers faced many problems in American cities in the late 1800s. One problem was overcrowding. Many of the workers lived in very crowded apartment buildings called tenements. This was because they could not afford to pay higher rents for housing. There were a lot of immigrants coming to the country, and they settled in the cities. This led to an oversupply of workers and very crowded conditions in cities.

Another problem workers faced was very poor working conditions. Because of the surplus of workers and the relatively unskilled work they did, their pay was low. Because many of the jobs required unskilled labor, workers could be easily replaced. Workers conditions were terrible, and the hours were long. There was little the workers could do about these conditions.

When workers tried to unionize, they often were unsuccessful. There were no laws protecting unions. Courts rarely sided with unions in the disputes they had with the business owners. Most strikes ended unsuccessfully. Workers faced an uphill battle in the late 1800s.