Between 1880 and the end of the century, the United States had three times the strike activity of France. Most strikes were over wages, but strikes by skilled workers were more likely to be about work rules and control over work. Control over work sounds abstract, but very often it was a matter of life and death.17 The unwillingness of employers to invest money in technologies or practices that would increase safety at the expense of profit was a constant source of contention between workers and management.
