DOCSLIB.ORG

The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas A retrospective exhibit recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Texas Labor Archives, 2017 Curated by Dr. George Green in conjunction with UTA Libraries Special Collections The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas A retrospective exhibit recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Texas Labor Archives, 2017 Curated by Dr. George Green in conjunction with UTA Libraries Special Collections Cover photos clockwise from top right: United Auto Workers Union activist Dr. Gene Lantz, protesting the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement in Dallas in the early 1990s. Texas Labor archives Fort Worth’s union boilermakers and musicians turned out for the annual Stock Show parade, 1916. The musician’s local was chartered in 1898. These players were probably part of the city’s first professional orchestra, 1912-1917, which disbanded because of World War I. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra was re-born in 1925. ForT WorTh ProFessionaL Musicians associaTion records, AR10 "Boil Hitler in Texas Oil," seven members of Oil Workers International Union and the CIO hold banner, circa 1941-1942. Clyde Johnson PhoTograPh collecTion, AR213-1-1 Union Shop sign, circa 1940s. JourneyMen barbers, hairdressers, and cosMeToLogisTs inTernaTionaL union oF America #63, dallas, Texas coLLecTion AR1-3-16 Contents Walking the Line: The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas Organized Labor in American History 1 Hard Times 1919 to 1940 13 The Founding of the Texas Labor Archives 3 Open Shop 14 The Beginnings of the Labor Movement in the U.S. 4 Crises and Strikes 14 The Gilded Age Mid-1800s to 1900 4 Open Shop Begins to Falter 15 The Typographical Union and Albert Parsons 4 Texas Labor During the New Deal 16 The Knights of Labor in Texas 5 Left-Wing Rebellions 17 Jay Gould and the KoL District 101 5 Goons of the Ford Plants 17 The Great Southwest Strike 6 Tejanos Hit Back 17 Convict Labor and the Texas State Capitol 7 The Good Years 1940 to 1975 18 The Knights and the Farmers’ Alliance 7 Organizing 18 The Farm-Labor and Wage-Hour Movements 7 Resistance to Labor Revival 18 Eight-Hour Day Movement 8 Civil Rights and Coalitions 19 A Day in the Life of the Dallas Electrical Workers’ Union 8 Sick Chickens in Texas 19 Working on the Railroads 8 One Occupational Disease 20 Thurber Coal Miners 8 Senator Ralph Yarborough 20 Progressive Era 1900 to 1918 9 Valley Farm Workers 20 The Farm-Labor Movement 9 A Worker Safety Case 21 Thurber Mine Workers 9 Public Employees 21 George Clifton Edwards and Child Labor Laws in Texas 10 Demise of the Poll Tax 21 Labor Reform Legislation 10 The Challenging Years Since the 1970s 22 Effects of Legislation on Organized Labor in Texas 11 The Building Trades 22 C.W. Woodman, Labor Reformer 11 PaTco 23 Organizing the Unorganized 11 The American Civil Liberties Union (acLu) 23 The Post Office—Example of Federal Workers 12 Trade Treaties 23 The Waco General Strike 12 Grass Roots Struggles 24 Houston Workers and World War I 13 Farm Workers and Immigration 24 Organizing Tejano Workers 13 The Texas afl-cio 24 Ent ratium ex et pa con nobita qui ut esent mo maio. Em. Ita nem iunt volupta tureped ut utature con core lam dolest, corro ommodi omnis rehent erfernat ut poreped maiost, am, coressed elit at platint re, nobitatius dolluptati cone venesti- busam el intia sunt ea incimpelecti nis eum aut etur acitatatur, eos audam eat. Me natem eatio blantiis apeditiorepe laborepti odiones sequibu sapiet occae. Et quatisi occum susam quiae solum, vitintis di repre liqui cus, intis repelliqui cuptatur seribernati blant et facerum destiora quas qui tem quis dolecea tquiasit esto dolecus pa nienis vollabore qui non num unturib eruptas aut por alique sequi seque doluptur, ut molut alia aut et vitisi- mus re consequam, tem faccae lam undis eatendipist ande velendi oratio tem expliqui dolorerum faccull aboreped que aut dolestia debis as dit endiaesed maion nobit quis num facessim veliaecture voluptat. Optatquaerem reped qui aut voluptatia quuntiist dolo conserrovid modisim perest, aut ad maioren iminimus eliquundi ommolup tatur, aut la as suntiatur, tem. Et estis net, cus et facerum cusciis con nis eicimod modite pra commoluptat et lab ipiditi totatur? Qui nonsequae quis con re lat esti sum non res a si nobis alibus. Bus ma quia pratur solo eos et erit essimil laborpo restes ma qui nus dipiet ma net lab ipidem. Nam aliberunt pre excea cus vernam, qui am doluptatur, consectem quia neceatet etus. Bus estia esequatem eaque verit ligendendae consequam apeles digendel im fugiam et litemqui quam, sum harchicto Walking the Line: The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas Organized LabOr in american histOry he task of organized labor is to persuade em- revenue source, and the nation concurred by the 1910s ployers to recognize unions and to share more with the adoption of federal and some state income Tof their wealth. Also—during much of our state taxes and with lower tariffs. Also during the Progres- and national history beginning in the 1830s—labor sive Era, unions fought voter suppression by lobbying called for a reduction in hours per day and days per against poll taxes and for women’s suffrage. (It was an week. In that early era, 14–16 hours worked were old battle—the first workers’ strike in America, 1619, was common over six, sometimes seven, days per week. to achieve the right to vote.) Labor also began working By the late 19Th century, health and accident com- with political allies. It began in Texas as soon as labor pensation were vital goals in more dangerous jobs, organized statewide in 1885–1886. They cooperated with notably in the railroad, mining, and lumber indus- family farmer organizations off and on until recent times. tries. Railroad brotherhoods began as benevolent organizations, becoming somewhat less dependent Beginning with Gilded Age industrialization, work- on corporations and legislation than timber workers ers had to utilize strikes to achieve any concessions and miners. But all unions in the private and public because few employers believed in unions. Many would sectors benefited from state and federal legislation, not even talk to their own workers. Waves of strikes as well as strikes for wages, hours, and benefits, occurred in Texas and the U.S. in 1877, 1885–1886, beginning in the Gilded Age (mid-1800s to 1900) 1919–1922, and 1934–1941, prior to the adoption and and accelerating in the Progressive Era (1901–1918). enforcement of even-handed labor laws. Beginning Legislation, however, was often inadequate and spo- with World War I precedents, the Wagner Act of 1935, radically enforced. and wartime legislation in 1942, collective bargaining was institutionalized, and corporations and govern- Already in the Gilded Age beginning in the 1870s, unions ments generally ceased trying to debilitate unions. The favored progressive taxation rather than high tariffs as a Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938, established a norm of Page 1 Walking the line: the Diverse history of organizeD labor in texas eight hours a day and a five-day work week. The accord of private employers, many of whom refused to coun- between labor, capital, and government prevailed from tenance unions. The union membership base shifted about 1941–1942 to about the mid-1970s and early 1980s. toward public employees. The federal government’s It did not end all strikes, of course, but it produced destruction of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers two generations of sustained economic growth, rising Organization (PaTco), 1981, showed public employees standards of living, and national affluence. The U.S. was were also vulnerable. Few Texas state employees are given a boost by the devastation of European and Asian unionized, and over 6,000 are on food stamps. The economies during World War II. standard of living has slowly declined for many workers for some forty years. The accord fell apart because of structural economic changes, especially the shift away from production and Vibrant unions helped create a decent working class toward a white collar service economy. There was a standard of comfort and helped maintain a stable soci- drastic decline in the proportion of workers engaged in ety. Union diminution today is reflected in the decline mining, manufacturing, and transportation, largely be- in the working/middle class and the yawning income cause they were replaced by machines. Jobs were also gap. The U.S. is struggling to cope with it. shipped abroad, but many of them were soon destined for automation. This process enhanced the leverage Page 2 Walking the line: the Diverse history of organizeD labor in texas the FOUnding OF the teXAS LabOr ARCHIVes uring the Southern Historical Association A letter from UTA President Jack Woolf to Texas convention in November 1966, some twenty aFL-cio President Hank Brown launched the effort to Dyoung scholars organized the Association name the prospective Texas Labor Archives the official of Southern Labor Historians. We were Southern depository of Texas labor. Secretary-Treasurer Roy historians interested in discovering new aspects of Evans, Education Director Harold Tate, and Hank’s the field. Our purpose was to promote this neglected secretary Lynita Naughton encouraged Hank to agree, area by encouraging the collection of labor records in which he did. Dr. Lackman and I made the first trip to various states, researching the records, and publish- Houston and Galveston that summer to contact unions ing the results. I was inspired to take action at the and labor councils, funded by UTA and the McKnight institution I had just joined, The University of Texas trustees. Other funding through the decades came from at Arlington (UTA).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • (CWA) Before the US House Committee On
    Testimony of Christopher M. Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means March 27, 2019 “The 2017 Tax Law and Who it left Behind” Thank you Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Brady and Members of the Committee for inviting me to testify today. My name is Christopher Shelton and I am the President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). CWA represents approximately 700,000 workers in the telecommunications, media, airline, manufacturing, health care and public sectors in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. We appreciate having the opportunity to testify today at this hearing on the 2017 tax law because it was one of the most consequential pieces of legislation to be enacted in some time that directly impacts all our members’ lives in many ways, regardless of the sector of the economy they work in. Unfortunately, during the debate and consideration of that legislation there were no hearings or forums where we were given an opportunity to directly share with this Committee or others in Congress our views on how the tax code could be reformed or restructured to benefit working American families. Hearings like this one should have been held before the law was rushed through Congress. So we are deeply grateful Chairman Neal for you and the Committee now giving us an opportunity to share our views on how the new tax law has impacted working Americans’ lives. CWA strongly believes that our tax code needs restructuring and reform and we followed the debate on the tax cut closely.
    [Show full text]
  • ABILENE JULY John F
    A Home Town Devoted to the Paper For Interests of Putnam People Home People he Putnam New "When The One Great Scorer '-“lues To Write Against Your Name Vol. 11 He Writes Not If You Won Or Lost But How You Played The Game" THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1946 FROM THE JOHN F. OODER, FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF EDITOR’S WINDOW MASS PRODUCTION IN ALL INDUSTRIAL LINES BY MKJS. J. S. YEAGER PUTNAM SCHOOL, DIED IN ABILENE JULY John F. Oder, a funner resident n i j n f k AI Ip II I Tl NOT OPA SOLUTION TO INFLATED PROBLEMS A school teacher was recently of Putnam and superintendent of U AI i Ih ILiIIA l L stopped in Detroit for driving th­ the Putnam high school for three rough a red light and was given a years, died in Hendricks Memorial j l l C C Ifcj (|U A il AM Back of all the talk of inflation ticket calling for her appearance hospital at Abilene Friday morning U l L u 111 IJIiJlIIilltl TEXAS & PACIFIC MRS. GLENN BURNAM and price control is the undeniable in traffic court the following Mon­ at 2 a. hi. after an illness lasting (J flO H I T i ■ T l i r P I l 1 V fact that heavily increased produc­ day. She went at once to the judge, for more than two months. HUOl I I AL I UtOllA I tion is our only salvation. told him that she had to be at her Mr. Oder had taught ISO years be RAILWAY MAKINIG HONORED WITH Everyone knows that hlnek mark­ classes then, and asked for the im­ fore retiring and had taught at et:; are created by an inadequate mediate disposal of her case.
    [Show full text]
  • Labor and Labor Unions Collection Inventory
    Mss. Coll. 86 Labor and Labor Unions Collection Inventory Box 1 Folder 1 Toledo Labor Unions, ca. 1894 (Original) 1. Pamphlet, possibly for multi-union gathering, gives brief history of the following unions: Painters and Decorators’ Union No. 7; Metal Polishers, Buffers and Platers No. 2; Union No. 25, U. B. of C. and J. of A.; Bakers’ union, No. 66; United Association Journeymen Plumbers, Gas Fitters, Steam Fitters, and Steam Fitters’ Helpers, Local Union No. 50; Local Union No. 81 of the A. F. G. W. U.; Toledo Musical Protective Association, Local 25; Beer Drivers’ Union No. 87; Brewery Workers’ Union, No. 60; Drivers and Helpers’ Protective Union, No. 6020; Barbers’ Union No. 5; Toledo Lodge No. 105, I. A. of M.; Amalgamated Council of Building Trades; Toledo Typographical Union, No. 63; Coopers’ Union, No. 34; and Stone Pavers’ Union, No. 5191 Folder 2 Toledo Labor Unions, ca. 1894 (Photocopy) 1. See description of Folder 1 Folder 3 Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen, Local 466 1. Circular re Kroger and A&P groceries, n.d. Folder 4 American Flint Glass Workers Union, AFL-CIO 1. House organ, American Flint, vol. 68, no. 7 (July 1978) 100th Anniversary – 1878-1978 2. Pamphlet, “American Flint Glass Workers Union, AFL-CIO, Organized July 1, 1878, Toledo, Ohio, ca. 1979 (2 copies) Folder 5 Cigarmakers Int. Union of America, Local Union No. 48 1. Letter to Board of Public Service, Toledo, April 21, 1903 Folder 6 International Association of Machinists, Toledo Lodge No. 105 1. Bylaws, 1943 Folder 7 International Labour Office, Metal Trades Committee 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Albert Parsons Last Words
    Albert Parsons last words Albert Parsons last words: reprinted in Lucy Parsons, The Life of Albert R. Parsons (Chicago, 1889) 211- 212 Cook County Bastille, Cell No. 29, Chicago, August 20, 1886. My Darling Wife: Our verdict Ns morning cheers the lw" of tyrants throughout the world, and the result will be ….There was no evidence that any one of the eight doomed men knew of, or advised, or abetted the Haymarket tragedy. But what does that matter? The privileged class demands a victim,and we are offered a sacrifice to appease the hungry yells of an infuriated mob of millionaires who will be contented with nothing less than our lives. Monopoly triumphs! Labor in chains ascends the scaffold for having dared to cry out for liberty and rightl Well, my poor, dear wife, I, personally, feel sorry for you and the helpless little babes of our loins. You I bequeath to the people, a woman of the people. I have one request to make of you: Commit no rash act to yourself when I am gone, but take up the great cause of Socialism where I am compelled to lay it down. My children - well, their father had better die in the endeavor to secure their liberty and happiness than live contented in a society which condemns nine-tenths of its children to a life of wage-slavery and poverty. Bless them; I love them unspeakably, my poor helpless little ones. Ah, wife, living or dead, we are as one. For you my affection is everlasting. For the people - humanity.
    [Show full text]
  • Haymarket Riot (Chicago: Alexander J
    NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NFS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 HAYMARKET MARTYRS1 MONUMENT Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service______________________________________________National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: Haymarket Martyrs' Monument Other Name/Site Number: 2. LOCATION Street & Number: 863 South Des Plaines Avenue Not for publication: City/Town: Forest Park Vicinity: State: IL County: Cook Code: 031 Zip Code: 60130 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: X Building(s): Public-Local: _ District: Public-State: _ Site: Public-Federal: Structure: Object: Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing ___ buildings ___ sites ___ structures 1 ___ objects 1 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register:_Q_ Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: Designated a NATIONAL HISTrjPT LANDMARK on by the Secreury 01 j^ tai-M NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 HAYMARKET MARTYRS' MONUMENT Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National_P_ark Service___________________________________National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this __ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Trotskyists in the United Auto Workers, 1939- 1949
    The Role of the Trotskyists in the United Auto Workers, 1939- 1949 Victor G. Devinatz Willie Thompson has acknowledged in his survey of the history of the world- wide left, The Left in History: Revolution and Reform in Twentieth-Century Politics, that the Trotskyists "occasionally achieved some marginal industrial influence" in the US trade unions.' However, outside of the Trotskyists' role in the Teamsters Union in Minneapolis and unlike the role of the Communist Party (CP) in the US labor movement that has been well-documented in numerous books and articles, little of a systematic nature has been written about Trotskyist activity in the US trade union movement.' This article's goal is to begin to bridge a gap in the historical record left by other historians of labor and radical movements, by examining the role of the two wings of US Trotskyism, repre- sented by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Workers Party (WP), in the United Auto Workers (UAW) from 1939 to 1949. In spite of these two groups' relatively small numbers within the auto workers' union and although neither the SWP nor the WP was particularly suc- cessful in recruiting auto workers to their organizations, the Trotskyists played an active role in the UAW as leading individuals and activists, and as an organ- ized left presence in opposition to the larger and more powerful CP. In addi- tion, these Trotskyists were able to exert an influence that was significant at times, beyond their small membership with respect to vital issues confronting the UAW. At various times throughout the 1940s, for example, these trade unionists were skillful in mobilizing auto unionists in opposition to both the no- strike pledge during World War 11, and the Taft-Hartley bill in the postwar peri- od.
    [Show full text]
  • Exhibit 1 the Brine Leases
    Exhibit 1 Brine Leases The Brine Leases (as defined in the Motion) are between Great Lakes Chemical Corporation and the counterparties listed below. There are no cure amounts due under any of the Brine Leases. AMANDA M MCCLEVE ARTHUR M SMITH BARBARA ANN BRASWELL 17801 S 157TH WAY P O BOX 2766 1558 BRASWELL CORNER ROAD GILBERT, AZ 85296 REDMOND, WA 98073 MAGNOLIA, AR 71753 BARBARA RICHMOND BEORA JONES BEVERLY SMITH 230 UNION 537 923 FRIENDSHIP ROAD 2919 FM 1875 EL DORADO, AR 71730 LISBON, LA 71048 BEASLEY, TX 77417-9770 CASANDRA HILL CLAUDIA ELIZABETH TAYLOR DEVERA CREER 906 WINTERGREEN RD CLAUDIA CHURCH TAYLOR, GDN 328 ARC AVENUE LANCASTER, TX 75134 1905 CALION ROAD STOCKTON, CA 95210 EL DORADO, AR 71730 DIANE MCCLELLAND DOLORES R CREER DORIS CREER 2111 SOUTH LEWIS AVENUE 328 ARC AVENUE 8042 APPLETON DRIVE NORTH CHICAGO, IL 60064-2544 STOCKTON, CA 95210 UNIVERSITY CITY, MO 63130 EDDIE B CREER JR ELIZABETH LEE MCCLEVE - JOBE EULALYN WILSON CLARK 503 SOUTH 9TH STREET 17801 S. 157TH WAY 832 NORTH 6TH AVENUE SALINA, KS 67401-4243 GILBERT, AZ 85296 LAUREL, MS 39440-0106 FOUNDATION MINERAL PART II LP HAZEL MARIE MATTHEWS JAMES CLAYTON EDWARDS 1845 WOODALL RODGERS FWY 5419 ROBIN RD. 130 BIRCHWOOD CIRCLE SUITE 1275 LITTLE ROCK, AR 72204 CABOT, AR 72023-2585 DALLAS, TX 75201 JAMIE CLARK ALPHIN TRUST JAMIE CLARK ALPHIN TRUST #3 JAMIEL D CREER FIRST UNITED TRUST CO. NA, TR FIRST UNITED TRUST CO. N.A.,TR 10116 WHISPERING PINE DR P. O. BOX 751 P. O. BOX 751 LITTLE ROCK, AR 72209 EL DORADO, AR 71731-0751 EL DORADO, AR 71731-0751 Brine Leases (continued)
    [Show full text]
  • Texas Legislature, Austin, Texas, April 24, 1967
    FOR RELEASE: MONDAY PM's APRIL 24, 1967 REMARKS OF VICE PRESIDENT HUBERT H. HUMPHREY TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE AUSTIN, TEXAS APRIL 24, 1967 This is a very rare experience for me -- to be able to stand here and look out over all these fine Texas faces. Of course, I have had considerable practice looking into Texas faces -- sometimes I get the feeling that whoev·er wrote "The Eyes of Texas rr had me in mind. But what makes this experience so rare is that, this time, I am doing the talking. And I don't mind telling you: You may be in for it. But you don't need to worry. The point has already been made. One of your fellow Texans reminded me this morning that Austin was once the home of William Sidney Porter who wrote the 0. Henry stories -- and he .observed that 0. Henry and I had much in common: 0. Henry stories al'ltfays have surprise endings and in my speeches, the end is always a surprise, too. I am happy to be in Texas once again. As you realize, one of the duties of a Vice President is to visit the capitals of our friendly allies. Believe me; we are very grateful in Washington to have Texas on our side -­ that is, whenever you are. I am pleased today to bring to the members of the Legislature warm personal greetings from the President of the United States. He is on a sad mission today to pay the last respects of our nation to one of the great statesmen in the postwar world -- a man who visited Austin six years ago this month -- former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • State Offices on Line Saturday
    The one great rule We will serve no group or party but of composition is to will hew hard to speak the truth. the truth as we find Ot.loto it and the right as —Thoreau Ohotrurt we see it. An Independent Liberal Weekly Newspaper Vol. 48 TEXAS, JULY 25, 1956 10c per copy No. 14 State Offices on Line Saturday AUSTIN Monday night television program that The Democratic voters of .Texas Shivers-Daniel Meeting, Money, was presented on stations all over the go to their school .houses and fire state. stations SatUrday to 'vote for the W. Lee O'Daniel boasted he'd win men they want to run Texas govern- CIO's . Role Are Hotly . Debated without a runoff. "When I sell thein ment and politics for the next two they stay sold,". he said "I learned in areas of public ethics, labor-man- "He was driven to the back door of that ixi the f tour business." years. agement relations, state taxation, so- the Governor's Mansion that night. Precinct conventions will decide cial welfare, states' rights, and inte- He conferred with the Governor Daniel asked hoW "a man" (O'Dan-, whether the loyalists who won the gration of the schools: (Shivers) alone. He left at night and iel) "can say he's running on the Golden Rule", and then "seem to be' Presidential • conventions of May. or Most voters have probably made up was flown out of Austin. Shortly trying tomake it appear that . I'm still the forces that have been led until re- their minds, but the candidates -let fly thereaftcr he announced for Governor cently by Allan Shivers will control I know this because the man Who a member of the Veterans' .
    [Show full text]
  • Haymarket From
    Name: ___________________________ Task: Find and label (with words!) the answers to the following questions: 1. Who is Albert Parsons? 2. Who is August Spies? 3. Why were people worried about Alfred Nobel’s invention of dynamite? 4. What happened on May 1, 1886? 5. What happened on May 3, 1886? 6. What happened on May 4, 1886? 7. How many men were on trial? 8. What happened during the trial? 9. Clemency is an appeal for mercy or forgiveness. Why is clemency important in the months after May 4, 1886? 10. Was justice served in the Haymarket Square case? Keep the following question in mind: How would events at Haymarket impact public opinion about unions. People & Events: The Anarchists and the Haymarket Square Incident (May 4, 1886) Albert Parsons was the leader of the American branch of the International Working People's Association (I.W.P.A.), an anarchist group whose stated goal was to engineer a social revolution that would empower the working class. Parsons himself was a paradox: a Confederate soldier who became a Radical Republican after the Civil War and married a former slave. August Spies was the editor of the English-language anarchist newspaper, The Alarm. Together, Parsons and Spies addressed the working class German community of Chicago, calling for demonstrations and organizing parades. The I.W.P.A. had, at most, only five thousand members, but its tactics were so confrontational that it had an undue influence. Demonstrators would snake by the clubs and homes of the elite, or around the Chicago Board of Trade, shouting slogans and waving fists.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S. Labor's 1967 Wage Approach
    William U.S. LABOR’S 1967 Allan WAGE APPROACH The Detroit correspondent of the US W orker tells of coming struggles on the wages front, and some new features of those struggles. THERE’S A NEW KIND of struggle note sounding off in the ranks of American labor on the eve of negotiations for close to 4,000,000 workers in 1967. “Substantial wage increases” is what you hear, along with no wage freezes; instead, wage re-openers after one year. Warmade inflation and higher profit making are being pointed to in union meetings as new factors in boosting these demands. Negotiating in ’67, will be a million teamsters, a million auto workers, thousands in maritime, railroads, telephone. A million steel workers whose wages are frozen until ’68 are champing at the bit to break loose from that freeze and go get a piece of those steel profits. Half a million workers employed in national, state and city governments, always tied to whatever crumbs politicians will give them, today are walking picket lines, taking strike votes, and are shaking up the city hall, state capitals and Washington. They want at least $2.80 an hour instead of $1.50. United Auto Workers’ Union president, Walter Reuther, always thought to be a pacesetter in labor negotiations, in Long each, California, last June at his union convention told the 3,000 ^legates he favored “an annual salary”. It fell flatter than a Pancake and nowT Reuther is talking of a “substantial wage jttcrease”. He will convene 3,000 delegates from his 900 locals April here in Detroit to finalise the 1967 demands.
    [Show full text]
  • 19-04-HR Haldeman Political File
    Richard Nixon Presidential Library Contested Materials Collection Folder List Box Number Folder Number Document Date No Date Subject Document Type Document Description 19 4 Campaign Other Document From: Harry S. Dent RE: Profiles on each state regarding the primary results for elections. 71 pgs. Monday, March 21, 2011 Page 1 of 1 - Democratic Primary - May 5 111E Y~'ilIIE HUUSE GOP Convention - July 17 Primary Results -- --~ -~ ------- NAME party anncd fiJ cd bi.lc!<ground GOVERNORIS RACE George Wallace D 2/26 x beat inc Albert Brewer in runoff ­ former Gov.; 68 PRES cando A. C. Shelton IND 6/6 former St. Sen. Dr. Peter Ca:;;hin NDPA endorsed by the Negro Democratic party in Aiabama NO SENATE RACE CONGRESSIONAL 1st - Jack Edwards INC R x x B. H. Mathis D x x 2nd - B ill Dickenson INC R x x A Ibert Winfield D x x 3rd -G eorge Andrews INC D x x 4th - Bi11 Nichols INC D x x . G len Andrews R 5th -W alter Flowers INC D x x 6th - John Buchanan INC R x x Jack Schmarkey D x x defeated T ito Howard in primary 7th - To m Bevill INC D x x defeated M rs. Frank Stewart in prim 8th - Bob Jones INC D x x ALASKA Filing Date - June 1 Primary - August 25 Primary Re sults NAME party anned filed bacl,ground GOVERNOR1S RACE Keith Miller INC R 4/22 appt to fill Hickel term William Egan D former . Governor SENATE RACE Theodore Stevens INC R 3/21 appt to fill Bartlett term St.
    [Show full text]