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One muckraker wrote a book reflecting on issues and dangers in the workplace. He said, " you could scarcely find a person who had the use of his thumb; time and time again the base of it had been slashed, till it was a mere lump of flesh against which the man pressed the knife to hold it. The hands of these men would be criss- crossed with cuts, until you could no longer pretend to count them or to trace them. They would have no nails, – they had worn them off pulling hides; their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a fan." This book shows the struggles and mistreatment of workers in the industry. It also woke people up to what they were getting in their food.

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Here is an article that talks about women's rights in the workplace. Women also struggled in the workplace in the Gilded Age.

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A look back at history shows that women have made great strides in the fight for equality, including women's suffrage and inroads in equal opportunity in the workplace and education.

Despite the tremendous progress made in the struggle for gender equality, women still face violence, discrimination, and institutional barriers to equal participation in society.

Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, the ACLU Women's Rights Project pushes for change and systemic reform in institutions that perpetuate discrimination against women, focusing its work in the areas of employment, violence against women, and education.

In the employment realm, laws and workplace policies that exclude women from certain job sectors and allow them to be forced out of the workplace when they become pregnant or return to work after having a baby cause persistent disparities in women's income, wealth, and economic security.

Survivors of gender-based violence face discrimination when police, schools, landlords, and other institutions fail to adequately address and prevent violence and also when laws and policies penalize them, impeding the ability of women and girls to live safely and with dignity.

In the education sector, many public schools have introduced programs based on unfounded stereotypes about the learning abilities and preferences of boys and girls, limiting equal educational opportunities for all.

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Women's Rights | American Civil Liberties Union

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Today, gender bias continues to create huge barriers for many women. Ongoing struggles include ensuring equal economic opportunities, educational equity, and an end to gender-based violence.

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Here is an article on the UK Buzzfeed CEO, who wants to prevent a union. CEO's used to discourage unions in the Gilded Age, too.

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BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti is hoping he can change the minds of British employees who just decided to join a union.

A majority of BuzzFeed UK's editorial staff signed cards announcing they had elected to join Britain's National Union of Journalists, BuzzFeed reported on Wednesday.

Although the announcement amounts to a formal request for recognition of the union from management, United Kingdom labor laws mean workers don't need their employer's agreement to form a union, making the effort essentially a done deal.

But that is not stopping Peretti from a last-ditch attempt to convince the company's 80 London-based editorial workers that unionizing is against their interests. Peretti sent BuzzFeed UK staff an email acknowledging that "some" employees had signed union cards. He announced that the company's head of human resources would be traveling to London to discuss the matter and that he would follow suit next week.

"Before any decision is made, it is incredibly important to me that I have a direct line of communication with all of you, that I know about any concerns, complaints, or suggestions for improvement you have, and that we can speak openly and directly with each other," Peretti wrote. "Lenke Taylor, our Chief People Officer, feels the same way and has worked with the U.S. editorial team to improve clarity of job titles, career paths, compensation benchmarking, benefits, diversity initiatives, and securing additional budget to fund these programs. We were in the process of extending this to the UK when we received the union letter and we'd like an opportunity to talk directly with you before you make any irreversible decisions."

Unions typically view such mandatory, so-called captive audience meetings, which are common in U.S. private-sector workplaces, as attempts to intimidate workers with veiled threats about what unionizing will mean for their future.

"Editorial staff are keen to engage positively with management on a range of concerns and see this as a constructive opportunity to do that," NUJ organizer Laura Davison told HuffPost. "We welcome the CEO's comment that the people who work at the company are a top priority and would like to reassure him that a majority of editorial staff rather than some support recognition. Staff are the lifeblood of creativity at the company and they enjoy their work. Far from stifling it they want to enhance the success of the company by working together."

NUJ confirmed to HuffPost, however, that in the UK, if the majority of staff in the bargaining unit want recognition, it will ultimately proceed.

Peretti has made no secret of his opposition to a union at BuzzFeed. He elicited criticism for remarks in August 2015 in which he said unions were appropriate for workers "on an assembly line" but counterproductive for "new-economy companies... where there's an alliance between managers and employees." He claimed at the time that unionizing would actually result in lower pay for BuzzFeed employees.

The digital news chief defended and reiterated his argument in Wednesday's email, maintaining that a union would, among other things, hinder workplace flexibility.

"Unions represent employees around a rigid skillset that doesn't reflect the fluid and flexible way we work, they introduce an extra layer of bureaucracy and process, and they unnecessarily divide our teams, limiting the many benefits of everyone being part of a venture backed tech company," Peretti wrote.

Contrary to Peretti's assertions, however, digital media workers are often just as eager as their bosses to avoid collectively bargained contracts that limit their workplace opportunities. Some recent contracts negotiated by staff unions at Gawker Media, Vice and ThinkProgress define job titles broadly with considerable room for interpretation.

His contention that unions interfere with relations between employees and their managers is a classic union avoidance talking point. In reality, regardless of how fond employees are of their bosses, they typically seek union representation because they realize that without it they are at the mercy of management on a wide array of issues ranging from layoffs to pay and benefits.

Peretti's comments represent an attempt to keep at bay a wave of unionization sweeping the digital media industry. As internet-based news sites have matured in recent years, their workers have begun seeking the protections of collective bargaining enjoyed by many peers in legacy media organizations.

The Huffington Post became the largest such operation to unionize, receiving voluntary recognition from management in January.

Other news sites' leaders have, like Peretti, taken a more confrontational approach. Both Law360 and Fusion tried to convince employees not to unionize in captive audience meetings before agreeing to hold secret ballot elections on unionization. The workplaces' staff voted overwhelmingly to unionize in both instances.

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BuzzFeed CEO Argues Against UK Office Unionizing

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BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti is hoping he can change the minds of British employees who just decided to join a union. A majority of BuzzFeed UK's editorial staff signed cards announcing they had elected to join Britain's National Union of Journalists, BuzzFeed reported on Wednesday.

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This is a biography of a muckraker who exposed the Standard Oil Company.

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Ida Tarbell was an American journalist best known for her pioneering investigative reporting that led to the breakup of the Standard Oil Company's monopoly.

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Here is a website containing a long summary of working conditions in the Gilded Age.

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Because we live in an age in which workers are protected by federal and state laws as well as by sound business practices, it is hard for us to imagine a time when workers-especially unskilled, often immigrant workers-were completely at the mercy of their employers.

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This is an image of immigrants entering the country from Ellis Island.

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This is a magazine calling for workers in unions to strike.

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Poway Unified School District - Page not found

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We are in the process of implementing a new website. You may have reached this page due to a page address change. Please click on www.powayusd.com and select a new page from the menus on this page. The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

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Here is one way that the Gilded Age is reflected in the present.

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Watch full-length episodes of PBS documentary series FRONTLINE for free. The Trouble with Chicken - FRONTLINE investigates the spread of dangerous pathogens in our poultry, and why the food-safety system isn't stopping the threat.

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There are many lessons from the Gilded Age and Progressivism that relate to the present. Through the muckrakers, we can see that sometimes it’s not bad to know what’s really happening in our world. History repeats itself in many ways. For example, they had issues with the production of their food then and sanitary issues. The article on “The Trouble With Chicken” shows that maybe that battle isn’t over. Our chicken is contaminated with "dangerous pathogens" and the food protection system isn't helping to protect us. There are many protests and issues with Unions today, like with Buzzfeed UK's CEO. There are troubles with women’s rights, as shown in the article "Women's Rights." Individuals can and are still making a difference. We can take the history of the Gilded Age and use it to our advantage today.

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At the end of the Gilded Age and during the transition to the Progressive Era, many people were upset with the problems that had arisen during the Gilded Age. Unions attempted to address these problems by promoting workers’ rights. They gathered as many working Americans as they could in order to make deals with employers, slowly eliminating issues like child labor, low wages, long hours, and dangerous conditions. Muckrakers attempted to end behind-the-scenes blackmail through espionage.They published their findings and exposed many high-class individuals. Ida Tarbell did this, writing about Standard Oil Company, one of the largest companies in the country at the time. She exposed the blackmail that the owners were using to get ahead and make more money. Lewis Hine also did this, publishing pictures of little children suffering in the workplace. Many people tried to make a difference by supporting Unions, protesting for their rights, striking, and becoming reformers. The Gilded Age was slowly killed by individuals who decided to band together.

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Taken by Lewis Hine to expose the problems of child labor.

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Featuring the original photo captions by Lewis W. Hine

About these Photos

Faces of Lost Youth

- Out after midnight selling extras. There were many young boys selling very late. Youngest boy in the group is 9 years old. Harry, age 11, Eugene and the rest were a little older. Washington, D.C. Left Mid - Newsboy asleep on stairs with papers. Jersey City, New Jersey. Right - Michael McNelis, age 8, a newsboy [with photographer Hine]. This boy has just recovered from his second attack of pneumonia. Was found selling papers in a big rain storm. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

- Young cigar makers in Engelhardt & Co. Three boys looked under 14. Labor leaders told me in busy times many small boys and girls were employed. Youngsters all smoke. Tampa, Florida. Left Mid - Boys in the packing room at the Brown Mfg. Co. Evansville, Indiana. Right - Willie, a Polish boy, taking his noon rest in a doffer box at the Quidwick Co. Mill. Anthony, Rhode Island.

- After 9 p.m., 7-year-old Tommie Nooman demonstrating the advantages of the Ideal Necktie Form in a store window on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. His father said, "He is the youngest demonstrator in America. Has been doing it for several years from San Francisco to New York. We stay a month or six weeks in a place. He works at it off and on." Remarks from the bystanders were not having the best effect on Tommie. Left Mid - Joseph Severio, peanut vender, age 11 [seen with photographer Hine]. Been pushing a cart 2 years. Out after midnight on May 21, 1910. Ordinarily works 6 hours per day. Works of his own volition. All earnings go to his father. Wilmington, Delaware. Right - In business for himself. Boston, Massachusetts.

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The History Place - Child Labor in America: Investigative Photos of Lewis Hine

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Sixty-nine extraordinary photographs of children at work from 1908-12, taken by Lewis W. Hine, the investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Beareau.

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There were many issues in the Gilded Age. Although it looked good on the surface, there were numerous unfortunate events underneath the shield of booming economies and big businessmen. Consumers were being fed poisoned food which incorporated rats, rat poison, and feces, along with many acids, as shown in "The Jungle." Workers weren’t safe either, even if they were adults. They were working under deadly conditions and were not receiving enough pay to make a living, causing their children to have to work. Children faced exploitation from their employers, who stuck them into dangerous situations without sufficient pay (sometimes only 2 cents a day!!). Immigrants faced difficult situations in attempting to enter the country on Ellis Island where they were examined in every aspect and stripped of their dignity. Women didn’t have a say over where their husbands’ paycheck went, which was usually to the saloon. They were forced to make a family out of tatters and no steady paychecks. These were just a few problems of the Gilded Age.