Did the industrial revolution of the 19th century lead to a significant deterioration in the working conditions of laborers? Why did workers accept to work in miserable conditions?

Question

Why couldn’t they immediately unite to demand better conditions or stop working otherwise and return to traditional jobs from the pre-industrial era if conditions were supposedly better then?

In: 5

Answer 1

1) The idea of unionizing was still very new (bordering on unheard of) in that era.

2) The traditional jobs were profoundly uncompetitive in comparison to industrialized labor, and as a result there was nothing to go back to. The choice wasn’t between traditional labor and industrial labor, the choice was between industrial labor and nothing.

I.e. better working conditions don’t mean much if there’s no money in it.