A Century of Struggle by Robert G. Rodden Formatted and made available electronically by William LePinske Cover design by Elaine Poland and Charlie Micallef "Without machinists there could be no machines; they make the die and the basic tools from which the machines are made. From the initial blueprint the machinist fashions the original tool-the first step in the process. His is the essential skill at the core. He holds the key that unlocks the mystery of the mechanical age. He makes the miracle." Tom Tippett IAM Director of Education 1947-1956 1 God watches over Drunks, Old Ladies, Little Children and The International Association of Machinists (Old Machinists saying) ... And if he won't fight he ain't a Machinist. (Printable part of another, even older Machinists saying) 2 Dedication The history of the Machinists Union is dedicated to a unique brotherhood of roving machinists who were known as boomers. They knew each other by such names as Dutchy Bigelow, Milwaukee Bill, Fireball McNamara and Red Clifford . Texas Frank, Black Jack Roberts, Windy Lane and Silverheel Smith… Crusty Paulson, Happy Anderson, Big Nose Brennan and Steampipe McDermott . Smoky Davis, Silk Hat John Kelly, Yankee Tim Sullivan and Hard Luck Bob Carson . Gabby Cook, Shanty Frank Shannon, Pittsburgh Murphy and Highball Mooney . Kid Richardson, Deacon Hague, Pay Day Conners and Scarface Charlie. It is dedicated to these and all the other unknown, unsung, and unremembered boomer machinists who fought, cussed, drank, rode the rails . and built a union. But most of all it is dedicated to Pete Conlon…the greatest boomer of them all. 3 Author’s Foreword And Acknowledgements From the time of its founding in 1888 to the present, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has had eleven International presidents, For almost three decades I was privileged to work as a special assistant to four of them. When my first boss, Al Hayes, finished his apprenticeship and joined the IAM in 1918 many of the early founders were still active. From Hayes and other old-timers, many of whom are now gone, I first heard the stories and legends that fired my interest in the history of the Machinists Union, In college and graduate school I took a number of courses in U.S. labor history. But I did not appreciate how much the IAM had contributed to the progress of American labor until I met and worked and became friends with Howard Tausch, Rudy Faupal, Bill Dameron, Charlie West and the many other fine old representatives who were stationed at Grand Lodge when I first began to work there. As one of the oldest unions in the United States and Canada, the Machinists have a long and proud history. And yet when I went to the union's leadership schools to talk to local lodge leaders about the struggles that built their union, I generally met a kind of institutional amnesia. Even business representatives and Grand Lodge representatives who were deeply dedicated to the IAM had little concept of the colorful richness of their union's tradition. At local lodge meetings and Grand Lodge Conventions speakers often referred to the IAM as the "Fighting Machinists" but few knew the origins of that proud expression, partly this was because those who made the union's history were usually too busy to write it. Written accounts of the union's history were not only scarce, but tended to be either self-serving propaganda or dry-as-dust academic treatises. Feeling the need for a history that steered a course somewhere between puffery and ponderousness I began to set down this story of The Fighting Machinists. Although admittedly motivated by admiration and affection for the people who built this union, I have tried to maintain a reasonable degree of objectivity. Since this history of the Machinists was written for machinists l have dispensed with source footnotes and other impedimenta that normally serve as evidence of scholarship. However, I set out to create an account that was accurate even when it was not flattering. I am satisfied that to the best of my ability I have done so. My sources consisted primarily of the Machinist Monthly Journal, published from 1889 to 1956. Proceedings of Grand Lodge Conventions, Executive Council minutes and the Machinists newspaper. But I am also indebted to many people who supplemented these sources from their own experiences or memory either orally or in unpublished written accounts. Among those I especially wish to thank are: Alice Chase, an employee at Grand Lodge from 1915 to 1965, who shared her personal impressions of the generation of leaders that included William H Johnston, Emmit Davison, Arthur Wharton and Pete Conlon. 4 George Pearlman, now deceased, a rank-and-file IAM member spent his retirement digging into the union's earliest days and uncovered persuasive evidence that the true founder of Labor Day was a machinist mate Matt Maguire. George Watkins, retired GVP, whose phenomenal memory of experience as a delegate to the 1948 grand Lodge convention contributed to the reconstruction of the off the record debates that eliminated the color bar in the ritual. Frank Heisler, retired airline coordinator, who helped to fill in the story of the early organizing days in the airline industry. Tom Tippett, the IAM's first education director, whose unpublished history of District Lodge 751, written in retirement, was essential in discussing significant events involving members employed by Boeing in Seattle. Hal Shean, retired GL R, and Neil Vander cook, editor of District Lodge 727’s American Aeronaut, for details on the early years at Lockheed in Burbank. Harold Shaw, retired district 54 business rep, for reminiscence and company brochures relating to the so-called workers’ paradise at the Jack and Heintzs company in Cleveland during World War II. Bob Brown, GLR, Great Lakes territory, who contributed to a number of sections including the Exodus from the UV, the tragedy that led to Indiana's compulsory open shop law and the successful campaign that culminated in its repeal. Joe Cott, retired district 54 business rep, for help in narrating the IAM’s role in defeating a right to work for less referendum in Ohio in 1958. Paul Brunsky, president of the AF L-CIO’s metal trades Department, for his help recreating certain dramatic events in Chicago in the 1950’s. Frank Waldner, administrative assistant to the transportation GVP and George Robinson. Director of the IAM's OSHA and community services Department, for clarifying underlying issues in the great airline strike 1966. Jean Glover, GST, and Jerry law Rawlings, machinist associate editor, who is on the spot participation contributed to the account of events at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis in 1969. Gordon Cole, editor of the Machinists from 1947 to 1977, who helped enormously throughout the work by responding willingly and frequently to questioned about the many personalities and events with which he was associated. Oscarr Jager, veteran trade unionist, writer, editor and consultant (now retired) who’s editing undoubtedly made the manuscript more readable. 5 Janice DiPasquale, grand Lodge librarian, repeatedly and cheerfully accepted the challenge of tracking down needed materials all over Washington and who helped in so many other ways from start to finish. Judith Rodden Young, my daughter, the high school English teacher, who got more than she bargained for when she volunteered to check and correct the mistakes in grammar and punctuation. And finally, Barbara Oster, my secretary, who not only typed and then patiently retyped the manuscript through a number of revisions and editing, but said it would have gone a lot faster if she had not found it so interesting to read. Robert G Rodden 6 Abbreviations ACLU American Civil Liberties Union AEU-Amalgamated Engineering Union (British) ALMA-Air Line Mechanics Association ALPA-Air Line Pilots Association AFL- American Federation of Labor AFL-CIO-American Federation of Labor ----Congress of Industrial Organizations ARU-American Railway Union ASA- Amalgamated Society of Engineers (British) BR-Business representative CCC-Civilian Conservation Corps CCF- Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (Canadian) CIO- Congress of Industrial Organizations CP- Communist Party (USA) CWA- Communications Workers DBR-Directing business representative DL-District Lodge FDR-Franklin D. Roosevelt GEB- General Executive Board GLR- Grand Lodge representative GST-General Secretary-Treasurer GVP- General Vice President IAM-International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers IBEW-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBT- International Brotherhood of Teamsters 7 IMF-International Metalworkers Federation MU -International Machinists Union IP- International President ITF- International Transport Workers Federation IUE-International Union of Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers IWW-Industrial Workers of the World LBJ- Lyndon B, Johnson LL-Local Lodge MNPL-Machinists Non-Partisan Political League NAM-National Association of Manufacturers NCF-National Civic Federation NCSC-National Council of Senior Citizens NDP-New Democratic Party (Canadian) NLRA-National Labor Relations Act NLRB-National Labor Relations Board NMTA-National Metal Trades Association NRA-National Industrial Recovery Act NRTW-National Right-To-Work Committee OSHA- Occupational Safety & Health Act PWA- Public Works Administration RLA- Railway Labor Act UAW- United Auto Workers UE- Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America WFTU-World Federation of Trade Unions WLB-War Labor Board WPA- Works Progress Administration 8 Introduction Prelude To A Union The Times . They were hard years. Times had never been easy for working men and women in the 19th Century. But the decades that followed the Civil War were especially brutal. These were years of massive unemployment, widespread poverty and a level of human suffering hard to imagine today. During one typical winter of the 1870's, Harper's Weekly reported that 900 people starved to death in New York.