FINNISH_AMERICANANARCHO- SYNDICALISMAND THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERSOF THE WORLD

DouglasJ. Ollila & Auvo Kostiainenx

x This article was originally written by Party after the industrialunionists bolted late professor Douglas J. Ollila, Jr-, of the Party subsequently afiiliated with Augsburg College, Minneapolis.Auvo Kos- communismand becamethe largestnational tiainen, Ph.D., of the Univetsity of Turku, groupin the Workers'Partyof Americain has prepared a shortened version of the the early 1920's.comprising more than paper as well as rewritten parts of it, parti- 40 percent of the membership.2The cularly in the last pages, to include the disastrousstrikes on the Mesabilron Range latest stage of research of the Finnish- in 1907 and 1916, the illfatedMichigan '1913''1914, American history. CopperDistrict strike in and the troubledhistory of the Socialistinvolve- ment in the Butte, Montana,labor unrons Finnish immigrantsin America are a and municipalgovernment effectiv€ly radi- remarkableexception to the conservative calized who were soon convinced immigrant thesis presentedby American that the American capitalistist system scholarslike GeraldRosenblum.l Inrt""d of itself had to be destroyed.Thus it was growing accommodation and acceptance arguedthat the Americanlabor movement of the American way of life, the labor was not radical enough, and left wing Finns moved steadily leftward, protesting Finns increasinglysought more and more the Americancapitalistic system. Experien- revolutionarysolutions- ces in the labor movementthrough a series of drsastrousstrikes led to the conviction The purpose of this article will be to that more radical solutionswere necessary examine the sourcesand developmentol to solvethe problemsof industrialAmerica. radicalismin the Finnish-AmericanSocialist Many were convincedof the poverty of labor movement, from its Social Demo' craft union solutionsto the dilemmao{ cratic beginningsto its involvementin the industrialized labor, and they chose to Industrial Workersof the World. The be- move away from the WesternFederation ginningsof that story go back to , of Miners to affirm the lndustrialWorkers where the growing political and trade of the World, and a large bloc seceded union movement came increasinglyunder from the SocialislParty o{ Amefica to the swayof GermanMarxism. The Finnish -freedo join the ranks of the industrialunionists Diet. which enjoyed relative m and and to recognize the leadershipof Big autonomyeventhough the nation Wasa Bill Haywood.Many of the Finnishpolitical Grand Duchy of imperialRussia, excluded radicalswho remainedin the Socialist the working classesas well as the small

17

L- iarme.s and agricultural laborers. The Lutheranism which had not kept pace issueof political representationintensified with the dramaticchanges in Finnishsociety. working class consciousnessat the same The jntroduction of Ouaker teachinos, time that Finland was sharpeningits own Methodismand the growth of indigenous sense of national selfconsciousness,At Lutheran reviva,ism failed to stem the a meetlngin 1899, it was decidedto found tide of this alienation.3 Efforts of the the Finnish Labour Party which adopted church to prevent the precipitous slide Kautsky'sErfurt Program.While the trade into l\4arxistSocialism had come far too union movement remainedquite weak, late, partly because the clergy wele too the political labor organizationaleffort patriarchial,and "credulousalmost to the became very popular, and by the time point of blindness".a That the church a fully democraticfranchise was introduced, was reactionarywas indicatedby its support the laborites, now called the Social De- from 1899-1905of Russificationpolicies mocratic Party, were able to capture 80 in Finland,and citizensbecame so disen- out of the 200 seatsin the legislaturein chanted with the clergy that the clerical 1907. estate was abolished in 1906 with the establishmentof a one house parliament. Nineteenthcentury Finnish peasantculture had been dominated by the Lutheran The changesin agriculturewith the rapid Churchand a numberof revivalmovements growth of farm tenancy and population which flourished under the umbrella of meant that the emigration from Finland the nationalchurch. But the churchsteadily was iargelya ruralexodus. Finnish industry alienated the lower classes,particularly grew too slowly to draw off the excess the new industrialworkers, smaller lease- populationinto employment.thus emigrat- holdets(totppari) and landlessagriculrural ion was the only choice left. Between laborers.During the rising tide of labor 1893 and 1920, passportswere issuedto selfconsciousness. the leadingclergy decried 273 366 emigrants,of whom 236 507 the new liberalismwhich they belivedhad were from rural communes.lvost of them causedthe lower classesto lose respect were landlessfarm workers, domestic for society's class distinctions, oemano servants,landowners' and tenants'children. political power, excessivewages and too and personswith no fixed occupation.5 much freedom.Some of the alarmedclergy Reino Kero'sresearch on Finnishemigrat- in the growing urban centersadvanceo tne ion indicatesthat a d isproportio nate number British model o{ Chrrstiansocialism as d of the radicaiscame from the southern suitablealternative, but for the most part, and easternareas of Finland,while con- the status quo of societywas regardedby servative Finns were primarily from the churchas the proper"order-of creation" SouthernOstrobothnia (the westerncoastal regions),especially the provinceof Vaasa.6 By the time that the GermanSocial Demo- The Vaasaprovince also contributedmany cratic model becamenormative for Fjnnjsh adherents to the Finnish-Americanlelt, Socialistsin 1899, the church steadily but thesewere the proletariatof the Finnish lost communicationwith ;ndustriallaborers. countryside-landlesslaborers, cottagers, In the importantindustrial city of Tampere, hired hands, and mainds.TThese persons lor example,attendance at Holy Communion were lhus raw materialfor the radical by factory workers dropped from twenty- labor movement in America, along with six percent in 1895, to ten pefcent in the impoverishedclasses in Southernand 1905, sharply demonstratingthe break- EasternF inland. down of the rigidly class stroctured old

t8 While very {ew of the landlesspeasants the revolt of the Russiangarrison, Fort from Finland had been exposed in great Sveaborg,such as Leo Laukki. the high measureto socialismin the mother count- priest of the industrial union Finns and ry,8 neverthelessmuch of the early reaoers- principal of the TycivAen Oprsto {Work hip of the movement had been exposed People'sCollege) at Duluth, l\4inn. Many to socialismand an urban setting already fled to North Americaafter the Red Guard in the homeland.In a biographicallist lost the CivilWar in Finlandin l9l8 when by Elis Sulkanenof 115 Finnish-American the Red leadershipwas purged by the labor leaders,it comes out that seventy- victoriousWhite government.For example, three percentof them cameto the United Oskari Tokoi, who had been Prime Mi- Statesbetween 1900 and 1910, during nister in 19'f7, came 10 edit Raivaaja. the years when the Social Democratic l\4anyothers such as Dr. Ant-eroTanner, Party and lVarxism had made enormous l\4osesHahl, Kaapo l\4urrosand Vihtori strides. Over thirty-five percent had had Kosonenadded to the list of socialistleaders direct contact and involvementwith the who brought the new gospelto immigrant Socialistpolitical or trade union movement. Finns who listened with wonderment at and forty percentwere born in an urban the new evangel. center or had lived in one. Most of the leadershipcame from the southern and The earlierimmigrant Finns had already eastern portions of the country. Conser' organizedchurches and temperancesocieties vative Vaasa province, for example, before the radicals began to arrive after contributed only twenty'five percent of 1900. At first, there was hope that all of the leadership,but nearly fifty percentof the Finnsmight be unitedinto a harmonrous the emigrants.About seventy-ninepercent ethnic community. Fellow countrymen of the radical leadershipcame from the bound themselvestogether in churches, skilled trades and professions,while a temperancelodges, and the lmatraWorkers' scant seventeenprecent were industrial League which representedan idealistic, workers or farmers.The educationallevel mutual benefit type of workers' society. of the leadershipwas also much higher. But the illusionof a united Finnishcom- percent gone Some seventy-five had on munity was shatteredvery quickly. From grammar beyond school, and twenty-five 1904. the apostlesof socialismpromoted percent qualified for the university, or class consciousdoctrines in the pagesof had attendedhigher educational institutions. the newly tounded Tydmies and the Bai- This is comparedwith roughlyforty percent vaala newspapers.Several popular journals general of the immigrantpopulation which spelledout the principlesof international had attended only confirmation school, socialismand its history in Europe and percent and forty which had attended America, and the basic l\,4arxistcrassrcs elementary school from a few weeks to wereissued in a steadystream. two years.9

A most dramatic event in the immigrant pricipitous A series of events brought community was the conversion of the much of this elite quard of the Finnish flounderingPeople's College into the Work socialiststo America, giving to the mo- People'sCollege in 1907. Socialistspur- vementunusually effictive leadership.Taavi chasedthe majority of the stock and con- journalist Tainio,a and party leaderwas verted it into a l\4arxisttraining institution forced to leaveFinland because of speeches whic offered basiceducation and socialist against military conscription into the doctrine as its curriculum. The school Russianarmy in 1904. Others came after enrolledas many as 159 pupilsin a year,

19 a- but began to ilounder after the Chicago 8ut political and labor concerns were 166 trial and persecutionby the Minne- not missing.At the founding convention sota Commision of Public Safety. But of the Federation,the issueof industrial there w€re other inslitutional conversions unionism was a key issue.Kaapo Murros as well. In some communities,socialists argued against old style craft unions as "insolentlv seized" temperancehalls and effectivesupports for working classpower, transformed them into Iabor temples. and he supportedthe Industrial Workers while l\4arxistagitators were elected pastors of the World. His argumentswere familiar, of congregationsbecause the memership emphasizingorganization of unskilledwor- had converted overnight, One zealous kers in all industries,using revolutionary agitator was even proclaimed a bishop, "direct action" techniquesand the general began to spread like wildfire strike in order to seizethe meansof pro- amongthe. immigrants, and "sank into us duction.l3 Why many Finns affirmed like hot greaseinto dry ieather",observed IWW principlesat such an early date, even one temperanceleader who had become before the IWW itself had hardly begun a convert.lo tg define its own purposesand solve its factional problems with the OeLeonists. The FinnishSocialist Federation, founded is not surprising.Murros had translated in 1906,was far more than a labororgani. anarcho'syndicalistwritings in Finland,and zation or political movement with more he had belongedto the radicalfaction of than 17,000members in 1914.Socialism the Social Democratic Party in Finland becamea way of life asa secularized,substi- which advocateddirect revolutionary techni- tute church. complete with itinerant ques to establish a radical government. agitatorswho were called"apostles", cong- He and many of his comradeshad parti' regationsot the faithful, Sunday Schoois, cipated in the highly successfulGeneral sewingcircles, labor temples,a puritanical Strike in Finlandin 1905,and it seemed ethnic, and an eschatologicalhope for the only natural to translatethat experience cpming great r€volution. Some 260 local intoAmerican terms.14 clubs boasted df musical orqanizations, athletic clubs. lecture and debatesocieties and agitation committees. Becauseother The moderatefaction at the Federation's Finnish organizationsoften lackedcultural founding convention argued against in- and recreationalactivities, socialist groups dustrial unions,and favoredworking with sponsoreddances. and 107 dramaticgroups the AmericanFederation of Labor,conver- performed innumerablepalys and operas, ting its membersto socialism,and engaging all the way from homespun proletarian in legislative activity. The convention dramato the operaCarmen at the Virginia, compromised the issue, however, con- Minn., "Socialist Opera" house.The broa- demning those unions which "groped denedrange of socialand culturalactivitie5 after bourqeoisesupport" and "opposed was dubbed "hall socialism",and these classwarfare". and supportedthose unions activitiesoften overshadowedpolitical con. which were "based on class struggleand cerns and labor organizingefforts.ll One the furthering of socialist education". writer complained that the radicalswere This le{t the door openfor the lWW,and the no longerintrested in planningthe revolut- purification of the AFL as well. These ion, but only in promoting frivolity. The issuesot dual unionismand politicalactivity Duluth, lvlinn., local was consideredto were never solved by the socialists,and be degeneratebecause it produced only eventually resulted in a schism in the splendid plays where overJlow audiences Federation. hadto be turnedaway.1 2

20 The enthusiasticresolve oi the nascent radicalsnever forgot the blacklisting,and party was soon translated into practical after the Russian revolution embraced action.During the summerof 1906.Teofila communism, Some of these more dedi' Petriellawas sentto the Mesabilron Range cated revolutionariesfinally left the United in lvlinnesotato organizeminers into the States for Soviet Karelia to assist in the WesternFederation of Miners(which at the technological development of that re- time belonged to the IWW), and after public.17Others moved off to new indus- 2.500 were organized.a strike was called trial towns to find employment or were on July 20. 1907. Finns plaYeda major slowly rehired in the mines. but vowed part in the strike in organizingand sup' that the next strike would be victorious, portive roles. The strike failed because and that radical union organizational ol massiveresistance by the mining com' activity must continue. The Easternsocia' panies,local businessmen and the churches. lists,on the other hand,viewed the walkout The governor of the state determined as a momentousdisaster. questioning the to remain neutral,so the militia could not validity of strikesand the ensuingviolence. be enlisted.Accordingly. th€ Oliver l\4ining Conflict within the Finnish community Co., a subsidiaryof U.S.Steel, hired armed continued. The lvlinnesotai'adicals were deputies,and imported1,124 lrontenegrin chargedwith anarchismby SocialDemocrat and Croatian strikebreakerswho replaced "yellows" and right wing Finns as well. the miners, bringing production back to Local newspapersdeveloped such stereo' normal. Local stores were pressuredto types as "Finlanders ' fiery followers of cut off credit from the strikers,and by the Red Flag", "Jackpine Savages"and the middle of September,the strike was "members of the l\4onqolianrace". In a - over. test case, John Svan and sixteen others were denied citizenship as "l\4ongolians" The strike had far reachingeffects ln the until a lower court judgmentwas reversed total Finnish community. Conservatives by the U.S. District Court in January, 8 who called themselves"true Finns" often 1908.1 became victims of discriminatoryhiring practicesbecause the companiesassumed A conventionof the Federationwas called all Finns were radicals.ln order to preserve in 1909to dealwith the syndicalistposition, the good nameof the Finns,church leaders resulting in a disavowalfrom anarchism issuedofficial proclamations,dubbed "Judas and the impossibilists.thus attemptingto resolutions" by the socialists,condemned quier fears that Finns in America were the leftists as "anarchists,atheists, and undesirablecitizens who favoredradicalism, betrayersof the Fatherland".A rash of atheism.and the lWW.19 anti-socialistsocieties sprang up throughout the immigrant community. and the net But the radicaltendencies continued in the effect of all theseevents v,/as to dividethe Federation,especially in the CentralDistrict. Finnish-Americansirreconcilably, making Primaryinspiration for a syndicalistposition rapprochementbetween "white" and "red" was providedby the Work People'sCollege FInns rmpossrore. " whose principal teachers representediar left socialistpositions. The most important But the strike intensitiedconflict in the ot theseleaders was Leo Laukki. As princi' ranks of the socialistsas well. Many of pal and ideologicalleader at the school, the embittered,blacklisted socialists moved he trained young immigrantsin socialist into the cutover lands and eked out a doctrines, revolutionary techniques and livingon submarginalfarms. lvlany of these organizationalskills. Servingas sometime editor ot fyiimies, author oJ severalvolumes Charles Moyer, WFM union head, was on socialisthistory and theory, and a spell- shot and ridden out on a rail, and Tydmies, bindingorator at laborfestivals, he isjudged servingas publisherJor WFM propaganda to have been the most ;mportant leader and strike headquarters,was continually of the syndicalist Finns.20 lmportant harrassed.The strike was finally broken, also was Yricj Sirola, a genuine Marxist and it was announcedthat die hard union from Finland, who taught at the College men could find employment elsewhere. .|910-1913. in Students used Haywood Radicalsof the FinnishSocialist Federation and Boh\'s lndustrial Socialismas a standard drew only one conclusion from these textbook, and debated "tactics" in their disastrousresults - the WFM wasbankrupt, studentsociety, eventually concluding that bound to the "reactionary shacklesof the MacNamaradynamiting episode had tradeun ion ism".22 been beneficialfor the workers,and that the WFM was bankrupt, Eastern"yellows" The troubled situation in Butte, lMontana. labeledthe students"tussarlt" (gun hawks), brought radicalsto a similar judgment. and vowed to cjeansethe Federationand Socialistsin that city controlledthe muni- schoolof IWWheresy.21 cipal government,and the WFI\4 union counted 8,000 members. But Anaconda Copper outmaneuvered both municipal Nothing seemedto avert the inexorable governmentand the unionthrough company radicalizationof the Central Districtof the agents and spies. Sympathizerswith the Federation.A conv€ntionof the Fede.ation radicalIWW had agitated for a more militant was called in 1912. where the national stance for a number of but they Party's anti-syndicalist amendment was Vears, were controlled through the use of a adopted,and tight control over the Work "rustling card" which was an employment People's College was pianned through application used as a blacklistingdevice. monjteringthe curriculum.But convention Frustration over the company-controlled actions proved to be only a temporary union reacheda peakon June 13, 1914, truce, and severalevents in 1913.1914 when workers destroyed the union hall brought a Jinal showdown and schism. and voted overwhelminglynot to show their rustling cards. Charles Moyer was The Michigan Copper District strike in out '1913-1914 driven of town in a shoot out, but convincedmany of the Finns he wasfoilowed by a FinnishWFM organi- that the WFM had sold its soulto capitalism, zer who had been a leaderin the Copper and that the strike failed becauseof a lack District strike, Frank Aaltonen. A radical of militancy,mismanagement and regressive Finnish miner then stormedinto the local policies. This strike wasmarked by violence, mayor'soff;ce and demandedthat Aaltonen panic party ltalian a at a Christmas at the be removedJrom the city. Both shotat each died,a Hall in Calumetwhere seventy-four othe.. the miner €ventuallydying from his good socialistrhetoric deal of intemperate wounds. The paralysis of the WFIV in vigilante by the Citiz€n'sAlliance and action Butte was Jurther evidencethat the more paraded40,000 peoplewho vowed which militant IWW was the only suitablealter- go. 14,500miners that the WFM must Some native,at least as far as the radicalFinns were idled by the walkout, and state were concerned.23 negotiationproposed by Michigan'sprogres- sive GovernorFerris and federalinvestigat' These crises within the WFM and the ion brought no results.With the aid of disastrousstrikes coincidedwith the {irst over 3.000 special deputies and state major schism within the Finnish Socialist militia, the mining companiesstood firm. Federation.A divisionwithin the Negaunee,

22 Michigan,local brought the issueof indus' faced great difficulties becausethe union trial unionismto a head.The local manager was called in after the walkout had begun of the Labor Temple,William Risto,an spontaneously,nevertheless some 5,000 anarchist agitator, alienated the Social of the 10.000 were successfullyrecruited Democraticmembership by preachingsabo- into lvletalMine Workers'lndustrial Union tage and revolution.When he was blamed 490. Again the strikewas broken,this time for mismanaginga state Socialist Party by 1,000 armed deputieswho kept picket election.the state secretary,James Hooger- lines open. Becauseforeian labor was no hyde, revokedthe charterof the local and longer availableto replacestrikers as was gavea new one 10 the smallerSocial Demo- the casein the 1907strike, the companies craticminority. resortedto intimidationand terroristtactics, as well as starvationto force strikersback to EasternDistrict socialists and their power- their jobs. After a confrontation at the lul voice Raivaaja, decided to expose the home of Philip l\4asonovich,where a deputy "vile" intentions of the midwestern red and a bystanderwere killed.Scarlett, Tresca industrialists,and locked the Federation and Schmidt were arrestedand charged in a conflictwhich culminated in the Central with murder, even though they were District conventionwhere the yellow Social nownerenear the scene. Democrats and their spokesman,Frank Aaltonen. were discharged after seven No amount of pressure.applied by federal daysof debate. investigatorsand two local mayorson the miningcompanies, brought rhe adversaries The red takeover of Tydmies newspaper towards settlement. On September 17, was averted with the help of Raivaaja after a vote by the workers,the strikewas company'sfinancies. The reds, however, called off. The strike was an immediate managed to confiscate enough money failure,but eventuallythe companiesmade to begin their own daily, Socialisti,latel some concessionsalong the lines of some called lndustrialisti.24 The Work People's federal recommendationsfor change,mar- Collegeremained in the handsof the mid' king the beginningof paternalistic,welfare westernreds and in 1920became the official capitalism.But the unionwasnot recognized, trainingschool ot the lWW. and it was over two decadesbefore miners againattempted to organizea union. Not With the ruptureof the Federationcomple- only were the industrialgiants too formi- ted, over thirty percentof the membership dable to defeat in spite of some support had resigned or were discharged,thus for laboramong small mechants and poli- leavingonly 9.000members in the national tical leaders.but lack of among organization.The reds, in the meantime, solidarity workers themselveshampered eJforts. Not affiliatedwith the lWW. all workersjoined the union. and labor Finns were divided among themselves, It was not long beforethe new commitment with SocialDemocrats generally not suppor- was tested.In 19'16,Finns were engaged ting the strike. Many Southernand Eastern in the giganticMesabi strike, organised Europeansremained anti'union and faithful by CarloTresca. Sam Scarlett, Frank Little, to their churchand lodges. JosephSchmidt, Joseph Ettor and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. and aidedby ethnicleaders For the red Finns,the strikewas not regar- George Andreytchine,a Bulgarian,and ded as a failure. ln fact, it was reqarded William Wiertola and Charles Jacobson as "a time of glory" which foreshadowed who were Finns.While the IWWorganirers the final greatconflict which would bring I forth a glorious victory in the form of a The case of the Finnish-Americanl\tVW generalstrike, and a proof that the move- did not. however, indicate the death of mentaway from political,reformist methods Finn ish-American radicalism. In the 1920's had been well founded. lt was generally many Finnish-American Wobblies joined agreedthat the strike was not really over, the Bowanist,decentralist Emergency Pro' and the word of the Strike Central Com- gram of the "true" lWW, and still in the mittee providedonly hope: "we haveplan- 1920's the movement had strong support ned to tight to a fjnish our next en- in the l\4idwestand contactswith the One counter."25 Big Union supporterson Canadianside of the state border were frequent. In the In actual fact. however,the end of the 1920's the cultural life of the Finnish- Mesabi strike marked the beginning ol American Wobblies was still vivid with the declineof the Finnish IWW movement. lndustrialistihaving good circulation.The The time of glory had passed.and the traditionalactivities in the hallswere main- group never recovered its revolutionary tained for years to come with the aging fervor. There was a brjef but unsuccessful Fin nish -American population after the immi- strike of lumber mill workers in the area grants quotas were enforced in the early at the end of 1916, and a strike of mine 1920's.The IWW Finns officially affirmed workers was called for the summer of the orthodox doctrines of the IWW to 1917,but therewas no response. the very end in the pagesol lndustrialisti until the paperceased publication in 1976. Nothingseemed to go right atter the strike. lmprisonments,systematic harassment. pro. An important occurrencewas the shift tractedlegal t/ials, detections to communism of many Wobbly leadersand rank and file and the Soviet Unjon, and the persecution into the communist group, which was of the Minnesota Commissionof Public the casein the American IWW movement Safetyall combinedto exhaustand dissipate in general and in the Finnish-American the energiesof the radicals.Leo Laukki movement, too. The subsequent main and four other Finns receivedsentences body of the Finnish-Americanradical at the Chicago 166 trial, and whi,e at movement was now to be lound in the Leavenworth,Laukki and several of his vigorousF inn jsh-American communist mo- friends defected to communism. While vement with more than 6,000 members on bail, Laukki and Haywood escapedto and with a notablepart in the communist the SovietUnion. circlesin the UniredStates.25

TITVTSTELMA

Amerikansuomalainenanarko-syndikalismi l,hteva rausta ja hakea siira setarlajia tiikkeen ja the Industrial Workers of the World k:iy1t;y(ymiselle ja tuelle, joka annertiin lWWJte. Erityisesti t:illdin on kiinnirefty huomiota tyo Artikkelissa on kesitelty amerikkala;sen anarko vieniiikkeen nousun sosEaliseen taullaan: maar- syndikalistisen tyovaeniarjeston. the lndustrial tomjen suurajn joukkoihjn, Suomen vahirtaiseen Workers of rhe World ih {per. 1905) suomajajsja teollistumiseenja ioisaatlakirkon kyvytrdmyyieen kannattaiia. L;hrokohtaha on oliut selvitleij vastala muu uneiden olosuhteid€n asettamiin amerikansuomalaisen tyovaenliikkeen Suomesla haasteisirn,On my6s havaittu, ena amerikansuo-

24 malaisessatyovaenliikke€ss6 on ollut poikkeuk' Leo Laukki ia Yrj6 Sirola, ioka ilmeisesti sai sellisen palion kyvykkdite johtajia, jotka io Suo pal,on vaikutteita IWW:n menertetytavoista. messa ovar ioimrneet aktrvisesti tydvdenjdrjes- tiiiss:i ,a toisaalta, vaikka monet ,ohtohenkildist6 Amerikansuomalainenkin anarko syndikalismi oli olivat kotoisin maaseudulta,he olivat usein tyds nein ollen melko vaatimaton ruloksiltaan. Se kennelleet Suomessakin teollisissa ammateissa. sai kannattajikseen osan Suomataisen Sosiatisti, Nain ollen ko. radikaaleilla johtajilla on selve jarjest6n tesenist6, mutta kulen amerikkatainen teollinen tausta, mikb on poikkeuksellista tar- emijjArjestonoin satatuhantisinei?isenjoukkoineen, kasteltaessa suomalaista amerikansiirtolaisuutta eivat sen suomalaiset kannattajatkaan menes kokonaisuutena. Myds johtajien koulutustaso on tyneet paljolti oman kansallisuusryhmiin utko- ollut huomattavasti keskjmaereiste korkeampi. puolella. Ehka tdrkeimpana syyna tijhen oli van,

Yhdysvalloissasuomalainen ty6vaenliike jarjest;y hoien ammattijarjestojensaama vakiintunut asema, tyi valtakunnallisesti vuonna 1906, jolloin pe- vajkeutti uuden nousua_Toisaatta rustettiin Yhdysvaltain Suomalainen Sosialisti- loka i6rjeston IWW oli selviisti ulkomaalaisp€raistenammatti- jerjestd. Alkuaan sosialidemokraattisensuunnan taidottomien ty6leisten dominoima, mika osal edustajana se joutui jyrkkaa injaaajavien IWW:n taan vaikeutti varsinaisenamerikkalaisen tydv6€s- kannattajien taistelukentaksi: vaadittiin IWW:n tdn kannatuksensaamista, periaatteiden mukaisesti yleislakkoa, suoraa toi' minraa ja jopa sabotaasia,koska vanhat ja vakiin- Amerikansuomalaisen anarko-syndikalistisenliik tuneet ty6v:ienliikkeen menetelmat eivat neyt keen voimakkainta tukialuetta olivat Yhdys taneet tuovan toivottua tulosta ja nopeaa yhteis' valtain keskiosat seke idan teollisuuskeskukset. kunnallista muutosta. Neiden n5kemysten kerjis Suurimmillaans,lle lienee ollut noin 10 000 tyminen tapahtui amerikansuomala,sten osalta suomalaastatukijaa. Heidbn toimintansa keskittyi jd suurten tyotaistelujen kuten Minnesotan Mesabi- pa;osin Indusrridlisrilehden rukem'reen so j?jrjestiimiseen alueen rautakaivosty6l6isten lakon (v. 1907) ja siaalisten tilaisuuksien jasenilleen Michiganin Kuparaalueenlakon (w. 19131914) sen lisaksi, ert; varsinainen tarkoitus oli koota seurauksena. NaissA ilmeni seivasii. kuinka voi tydveestb "yhteen suureen unioon". Jerjeston mattomia vanhat ammattij:jrjestbt, kuten Western oppi "tyov6eston jarjestamisest;teollisuuksitiain" Federation of Miners, olivat ja toisaalta, miten pysyi periaateenaIndustrialistin palstoilla aina helppoa ty6nantajien ola saada viranomaisten sen lakkauttamiseen asti vuonna 1976. Viele suora tai ep:ituoratuki lakon murtamisessa. on syyta todeta, etta huomattava osa amerikan- sLromalarsistalWWlaisista siirtyi sen toimaniaan pettyrlein:i 1920-luvulla amerikansuomalaisenkas Erityisesti vuoden 1916 lvlesabinlakko kuitenkin vavan kommunistisenli'kkeen riveihin. osoitti, ettei IWW:kaan voinul kunnolla aiaa ryovdesroneruia. vdikkd \e oli niin veill6nyl |-{ Tuosta lakosta alkoi varsinaisesti amerikansuo malaisensVndikalismin lasku. Samaan suuntaan vaikutti myds ensimmdisenmaailmansodan aikana FOOTNOTES: Yhdysvalloissavdhitellen voimistunut radikalismin vasrainen suuntaus. Tyovaenliikkeen aktivisteja 1) Gerald Rosenblum, lmmig.ant Wotkets lNew pidatettiin,tuomittiin pirkiin vankeusrangaistuk- York, 1973), pp. 135 138. This view has siin ja jopa karkotettiin maasta. been cha lenged by, for example, Herbert Gutman, in "Work, Culrure, and Society Terkea merkitys 3merikansuomalaisensyndikalis- in Industrializing America, tg15-1919", min kehitykselleoli Tyovaen Opiston (Duluth, American Histo.ical Review, June 1973, N4inn-)muuttamisella kirkollisesta koulusta maal pp. 531 588, and lvlichaelKarni, ed., liseksi ly6vaestdn oppilairokseksi vuonna 19O7- Specttum, May 1975, p. 1, f. Pian sait; kehattyi jyrk6n suunnan kannattajien 2) See Auvo Kosriainen.The Fo.ging of Finnish- tukikohta ja lopulta IWW:n virallinenoppilaitos. American Com.nunism, 1917.1924. A Study Opettajina siell6 toimivat mm. amerikansuomalai in Ethnic Radicalism_ Migration Studies I sen syndikalisen suuntauksen varsinainenjohtaja C 4, Turku 1978,esp. pp. 'tI 138 152. 25 ! I I I 3) Paavo Kortekangas, Kitkko ja Uskonnollinen f. See also lMichael Karni, "The Founding El6me Teotlistuvassa Yhteiskunnassa. Tut' ot the Finnish Socialjsr Federation ard the kimus Tampereesta, 1855.1905 lPotuoo, MinnesotaStrike of 1901" , in For the 1965),pp.314-318. Common Good Fihnish lmmbrants and 4) Jussi Kuoppala, Suomen Papisto ja TydvAen' the Radical Besponse to lndustrial America, kysymys, 1863-1899 (, 19631, pp. Michael G. Karni and Oouglas J. Ollila Jr., 344'365,379. eds., (Superjor, Wisc., 1976), pp. 65-86. 5) fryilliarh Hoglu^d, Finnish lmmtgrcnts in r6J Eveleth News, July 28, 1907. Rauaata, Amel,;a (Madison, 1960), pp.3-16. October 12 and 26, 1907; Amerikan Suome- 6) Reino Kero, "The Social Origins ol the t r. April 8 and 15, 1908. Left Wing Radicals and Church F inns' 17) Auvo Kostiainen,"Finnish-Americao among Finnish lmmigrants in North America" Workmen's Associations , in Vilho Niitemaa tn Publicat;ons of the lnstiute of Genetal e1 al. eds., Old FriedsStrcng Ties lVaasa, History, University of Tulku Finland, Nt 7, 1976), pp.205-234. s.?dbt Vilho Niitemaa, ed., lTurku, 1975), r8)Mesaba Ore (Hibbing), July 27, 1901, and pp.55-62. Hans R. Wasastjerna,History of the Finns 7J Reino Kero, "The Roo(s of Finn;sh American in Minnesota. Translation by Toivo Rosvalj. Left-Wing Radicalism", in Publications of (New York Mills, Minn. 1957), p. 476. the lnstitute of General Histoty Univeisty r9l Komannen Amerikan Suomalaiseh Sosialittj- of Turku Finlahd. /Vr. 5, Stud,es, Vilho jdrjestdn Eclustajakokouksen Pijytdkija. Ko- Niit€rhaa,ed., (Turku, 1973i, p.53. kous pidetty Hancockiss, Mich. 23-30 p, 8) Kero, ibid., p. 54. Elok., 1909. Ed. by F. J. Syrjalii (Fitchburs, 9) Amerikan Suomalaisen fy6vdenliikkeen His' Mass-,n.d.,, p. 10. iorrb (Fitchb'rrg, Mass., 1951), pp. 485- 201 Tero Ahola, "Leo Laukki AmerikEn suoma- 503. larsessa tyovaenlrkkeessa (lv1A thesrs In 10) Douglas J. Ollila, "The Emergence of Ra political history, University of Helsinki, dical Industrial Uniomism in the Frnnish 1973),p. 1-14. Sociajist Movement", in Publication nr 7, 21) Douglas Ollila, "The Work People'sCollege: Siudl€s. pp. 21-29. The besr study on the lmmig.ant Education for Adjustmeni and Work P€ople's College is Hannu He,nilii, Sofidarity", in Fot the Common Good, pp. Work People's College - Amerikansuomalai 102-111. sen tycjvaeston oppilaitos {MA thesis in 22) Arthur E. Puotinen, "Early labor Organi- general history, University of Turku, 1976). zataons in the Copper Country", in ibid., l1r S€e Kosr,arnen. The Fory'ng, pp. 35.37. pp. I l9 166, preseDls a comp'eheDsive 121 l ndustrialisti, Ja^uaty 17, 1922. history of the strike. 131 P6yadknja. Amerikan Suomalaisten Sosialisti 23) Raieaia, Augusr 11, 1914 and Soc;alisti, osstojen Edustajakokouksesta Hibbingissli, August26, 1914. Minn-, Elokuun | 7 peivina t906 (Hancock, 24) For a detailed history of these events see Mich.,1907), pp. 10 23. Ollila. "The Emergenceof Radical Industrial 14) Hannu Sofkkanen,Sor,b/lsmtn tulo Suomeen. Unionism",pp.44-54. 'fhe EnsimmaisenyksikamariSen eduskunnan vaa- 251 Kostiainen, The Forging, pp. 128-137. leihinasti. (Helsinki, 19611, p. 324. analysisof the Oevelopmenl of the Finnish 15) Hyman Berman, "Education for !!ork and American Wobbly movement from 1920's Labor Solrdarity: The lmmigrant Miners onuvards as well as the Finnish One BiS and Badicalism in lhe Mesabj Range', un- Union supponers still wail for scholarly published ms., (lmmigration History Research treatmenl. Thus far only general statement Cenrer, Universrty of Minnesota), p. 38, havebeen presenred,

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