Which strategy did companies commonly use to prevent strikes from growing during the early development of industrial economies?

• A. Reducing production to avoid labor disputes
• B. Increasing wages for all employees immediately
• C. Allowing workers to form unions without restrictions
• D. Hiring strikebreakers to replace striking workers

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the historical context of early industrial economies, where labor strikes were common due to poor working conditions and low wages.
2. Recognize that companies aimed to minimize the impact of strikes to maintain production and profits.
3. Identify common strategies used by companies, such as reducing production, increasing wages, or allowing unions, and evaluate their feasibility and effectiveness during that period.
4. Focus on the strategy of hiring strikebreakers (also known as 'scabs'), which involved employing replacement workers to continue production during strikes, thereby weakening the strike's impact.
5. Conclude that hiring strikebreakers was a widely used tactic to prevent strikes from growing and to discourage workers from striking by reducing their bargaining power.