Mechanization and mass production threw skilled laborers into unskilled positions.
Being desperate for workers like this is so dangerous because many people have been serious injured or even died from jobs they were trained for. And they also didn't make much money doing it. Risking death for only a few bucks...
Socialists argued that wealth and power were consolidated in the hands of too few individuals, that monopolies and trusts controlled too much of the economy, and that owners and investors grew rich while the workers who produced their wealth, despite massive productivity gains and rising national wealth, still suffered from low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions
I feel like this is still the case with many companies today and is probably worse than before. I don't understand why its so hard to just pay people a decent amount of money if they are the reason that there is money being made. If only there were some type of law put in place on percentages of wealth with profit, but that's a whole can of worms that probably shouldn't be opened.
Skills mattered less and less in an industrialized, mass-producing economy, and their strength as individuals seemed ever smaller and more insignificant when companies grew in size and power and managers grew flush with wealth and influence. Long hours, dangerous working conditions, and the difficulty of supporting a family on meager and unpredictable wages compelled armies of labor to organize and battle against the power of capital.
I see this happening a lot today in the fast fashion industry. There are so many websites and apps where they produce tons of clothes, trying to keep up with the trends. The manufacturing of these clotthes happen in less fortunate countries where the workers are paid nearly enough to live. The working conditions are also a danger to them but they go through with it for money. Those that are in charge are getting millions of dollars and producing more waste into the world.
Panicked business leaders and friendly political officials reacted quickly. When local police forces would not or could not suppress the strikes, governors called out state militias to break them and restore rail service. Many strikers destroyed rail property rather than allow militias to reopen the rails.
This reminds me a lot of what was happening a couple months ago with the Black Lives Matter protest sparked by George Floyd's death. Some of the protestors also destroyed property and many were wounded by the "protection" that was put in place to calm them down.