Labor Trends and Omaha Workers

Dublin Core

Title

Labor Trends and Omaha Workers

Subject

Labor trends
Workers
Lead

Description

The long-term labor trend in the United States from 1900-1950 reveals an increase in employees in the workforce. Nearly every industry, especially manufacturing and mining, show a huge boom in the early part of the century followed by a steady increase in workforce. The numbers are skewed slightly during the two world wars, as there is a sharp increase in bullet and weapons manufacturing during wartime. However, overall, the trend is positively steady. This is due to many factors, but perhaps some of the most formative are longer life expectancies, high population growth, lower infant mortality rates, more diversified job options, immigration rates into the United States, and rising industrialized attitudes. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
In a growing economy, there is an emphasis on being innovative. This was the mantra for those in the lead industry, because in the earliest two decades of the twentieth century showed a huge boom in uses for lead. (Fredrickson, 33) No longer was it just a raw chemical to be harvested - it was added to paint, gas, canning processes, bullet manufacturing, printing, stained glass manufacturing, rubber materials, and more. As a consequence, the booming industry required more workers. For a budding industrial town like Omaha, there were endless opportunities to become involved in the trade. Companies like ASARCO, Gould Electronics, Carter White Lead, Lawrence Shot Company, Electric Storage Battery Company, Johnson CG Boiler Company, and many more found great success in Omaha in the early part of the century. Much of the infrastructure in Omaha itself is planned around this very idea - seen in the profitable and successful Union Pacific railroad.
Perhaps the most famous and notable lead-based company in the Omaha area was ASARCO - American Smelting and Refining Company. This was because it was the middle-man between raw lead material and transforming the chemical into a usable substance by other industries. In the 50-year period between 1900-1950, manufacturing for non-ferrous metals increased by nearly 900% (Bureau of Labor Statistics) As such, lead, through a multitude of different mediums, touched workers and their families at exorbitant rates.
However, post-1950s, the lead industry saw a decline in the workforce. (Bureau Labor of Statistics) This was due to a myriad of factors - leaded gasoline and paint were slowly phased out, tighter federal regulations on worker safety and health (lead mining was a big offender in this category), and innovative technology replaced hand-skilled workers with machinery. (Fredrickson) Most notable, however, was the growing evidence of the harmful effects of lead on health. (Warren) Lead did not thrive past its heyday, just as those exposed to the toxic chemical did not outlive the deadly effects. Regulations tightened with the founding of OSHA, and more federal flexibility was granted to protect those in newly-defined deadly industries, though this spark did not last long. (Markowitz & Rosner 225)

Creator

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Source

https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1960/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1957/hist_stats_colonial-1957-chD.pdf?

Publisher

United States Census

Date

Published 1957

Contributor

Rohit Akella
Betty Straub

Citation

Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Labor Trends and Omaha Workers,” History of Environmental Inequalities, accessed March 28, 2024, https://steppingintothemap.com/inequalities/items/show/68.

Output Formats

Embed

Copy the code below into your web page