V LA 0 lIAR6,0, ALWAYSemen i - Al au =S ==w LED.. 1 ~NASNEVER BEEN ou ONE QUESTION IN AUL CIZ HOW TO'KEEP A FEW MEN FROM SAING TOMAWYMEN:YOU WORK %NDEMNBIAW WEWUILEA 'LABOR HAS ALWAYS LED An Account of the Accomplishments of Orgnized Labor in the United States1. 0 A booklet is intended to be read jor information, to be used as a course outline in labor history APRIL, 1948 A UAW-CIO Publication Prepared with the help of the CIO Department of Research and Education REC :; INSTIrJTE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ApJS 1 5 ,LA TABLE OF CONTENTS 0 Unionism Up to the Civil War -__-__-_-__ 5 From 1790 to 1827 __________---7 Reform Movements-1840------------------ 16 The Growth f a National Labor Movement____ 19 Knights of Labor- - ________________ 21 Origins of the American Federation of Labor___ 26 The American Federation of Labor 29 The World War----------------------____ 36 Growth and Stagnation of the AFL_-_______- 37 Rise of theC ______ ______ _ _ - _ 42 Major Contributions of the CIO - ___- ____- 50 Sum-ming Up- ------------------------52 Note to Instructors- -______ 57 Selected Readings --------------------------58 A Year-by-Year Account of What Happened in History-Chronological History of Labor in the US ----------- ____________________ 61 4 LABOR :HAS ALWAYS LED A Six-Unit Course in American Labor History for teading or Teaching,, SESSION I Unionism Up to the Civil War 5 1. Introductory background 2. Handicraft period-merchant capitalist-narrow market 3. First unionsof skilled crafts 4. Employer associations and courts vs. unions 5. Economic development after War of 1812-ex- tension of markets, growth of manufacturing 6. Beginnings of labor movement in 1820's-city trades assemblies, workingmen's parties, labor press 7. Attempts at national federation 8. Depression of 1837 and decline 9. Period of reform movements-1840's 10. Attempts to reIuild unions and effects of depres- sion-1850's Introductory Background The American labor movement is as old as the nation itself and its beginnings can be found in the colonies. In its essentials it is the story of workers who banded together in local unions, in national un- ions and national federations for their common pro- tection and advancement. Decent wages and working conditions have always been important goals of labor unions. But- such immediate goals have always been connected with the drive for a better life-political and social re- form. In its broader aspects, the history of organized labor in America has also been the history of thle struggle for a greater degree of political, social and 6 economic democracy.. The story of organized labor and of the country as a whole has gone hand-in-hand. A. Early Beginnings Economic Background The period covers the years 1790 to 1827. The country was mostly agricultural and largely concen- trated on the Atlantic seaboard. The dominant economic figure was the merchant-capitalist, an im- porter-exporter, who frequently financed the small shops of the time. Work in the shops was per- formed by skilled craftsmen who owned their own tools. -TiE FIRST srRiKE 1 AMERICA TOOK PLACE .7 The Industrial Revolution and the factory system started in the U. S. about the middle of the period. The factory system brought with it large new groups of factory workers, dependent on the owners for their livelihood. The narrow market of the earlier years began to expand with the development of roads, canals and cities. During this period and for many years later, a vast area of unexploited natural resources made for a measure of freedom of' oppor- tunity and individualistic habits of thought. The Unions Workers' organizations in the sense of bargain- ing agencies began among the skilled crafts, notably I 1819 1837 1859 ISM 1I WAR of MEAN WAR CIVIL WAR 181Z 184-48 1861-65 8 the carpenters, the shoemakers, the printers and the tailors. Their demands against the employers in- cluded a system of apprenticeship, minimum wages, regulation of the price of the finished product, and even what we now know as the closed shop. The tactics used to enforce these demands were the strike and the picket line, which were remarkable for their peacefulness. The boycott was used against the scab as a form of social pressure, and not against the product of the employer. There were cases when the carpenters and the shoemakers- resorted to pro- ducer-cooperatives either to undersell a struck em- ployer or to earn a livelihood after a lost strike. SPANISH WAR tRD-WA WORLD WARU 1898 1911-18 1941-45 9 s jeA.w-P-.Ar 10 Employers used employer associations and the courts to combat union organization. The ehployer associations were largely weapons for anti-union Pol- icies. The courts held that unions and their tactics fell under the doctrine of conspiracy in English common law. Unions and collective action to improve work- ing conditions were therefore ruled to be illegal con- spiracies. Employers' associations used the conserva- tive-controlled courts in their fight against workers' organizations. These unions started among the better-paid skilled workers. Their skill gave them a high degree of bar- gaining power and made it difficult for employers to replace them. These were crafts in which the intro- THE F1tST PICKET-LINE IN 1805 11 duction of machinery had as yet had little effect. The objectives of the unions were mainly concerned with wages, hours and working conditions. Disputes with employers centered on these issues. The fight fog legal recognition became part of the broader national political conflict between the conservative Federalist Party and the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party. B. A Labor Movement Emerges, 1830's-1840's Economic Background .The European wars of the 1800's and the War of 1812 with England compelled the U. S. to become more self-safficient. The factory system began, par- ticularly in the New England textile industry. There was a growth of markets through the development of roads and canals. As the productive capacity of the nagdon increased, the recurrence of depressions became more severe. Thus we had the panics of 1819 and 1837 with their widespread hardships in the cit- ies and towns. The constant efforts of the merchant capitalists, who financed the operations of the manufacturer, to cut production costs and increase profits brought an attack on wage standards through the use of cheap prison labor. The new factory workers included a large percentage of women and children. Wages were pitifully low and the hours were from sunup to sundown. During this period, we see the beginning of an economically interdependent nation, in which no sec- 12 don was able to exist solely on its own efforts ith- out utilizing the products of other localities. The country, expanded westward to the Mississippi and mid-west farm products were already becoming im- portant. The Labor Movement The unions of the late 1820's were not isolated, short-lived local unions as in the earlier period, but city-wide organizations conscious of their strength. There was a growing realization of the common in- terest of workers within a city and among workers in the different cities of the country. Thus, the develop- ment of a labor movement. In Mary Beard's words: "The labor movement is marked by growing sympa- thy among all crafts, trades and classes of workers." The labor movement made itself felt in the forma- tion of a city trades assembly in Philadelphia (Me- chanics' Union) in 1827 where for the first time members of different crafts combined for mutual economic objectives. Similar city-wide labor bodies developed in other-cities during these years of the late 1820's. The labor movement started its own 13 rBEY fRAKL1N SAtD: WE EITHER HANG TOGETHER NOW J WE'LL HANG A SEMATELYT LTE An'~~ v b PAC in 1827 ORGAt1lED BY THE MECHNICS UNION OF TRADE ASSOCIATIONS newspapers (such as the Mechanics' Free Press of Philadelphia and the Workingman's Advocate of New York). From these developments arose the first labor party-the Philadelphia Workingman's Party and similar parties in other communities throughout the country. The practical program of the labor parties includ- ed the following objectives: 1. The 10-hour day 2. Free and equal education 3. Elimination of monopolies, especially bank mo- nopolies. 14 4. Agitation for mechanics' liens (wages to have first claim on the proceeds from the sale of a con- struction project) 5. Abolition of imprisonment for debt 6. Temperance 7. Abolition of lotteries The labor party of Philadelphia met with moder- ate success at the polls during its short stay (1827- 32), but its greatest contribution was the impetus it gave to such issues as the reduction of the working day, free public schools which didn't bear the stigma of charity, and greater legal protection of workers. In some localities, the labor parties lasted longer. It was the period of President Andrew Jackson and the "rise of the common man." There were attempts to form a national labor fed- eration. It was estimated that in 18-36 there were 300,000 union members. However, the economic crisis of 1837 destroyed much of the labor move- CA5cU' WOR *25 mept. Young, inexperienced unions, with small treasuries, were unable to withstand the onslaught of the depression. C. Reform Movements and Attempts at Revival- 1840's and 1850's Reform Movements With business at a standstill, strikes were bound to be unsuccessful. The economic world seemed to ENTER FACTORY SYSTEM4 IN 1840... 16 collapse after 1837. Reform leaders tried to rally workers behind their ideas. Among the reform ideas popular at the time were profit sharing, cooperatives, self-supporting coopera- tive communities, building associations and the free distribution of the public lands in the West.