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STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW
EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
(VOLUME XII] J £_\s[0 2>O ~ •• [NuMBER 1
HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL
LABOR UNIONS
BY
WILLIAM MAXWELL BURKE, PH. D.,
Sometime University Fellow in Political Economy and Finance
PUBLISHED FOB
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1899
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I
HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL
LABOR UNIONS
STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW
EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
/ VOLUME XII] j £KLo, 2>n -r ^[NUMBER 1J
HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL
LAROR UNIONS
i
•»
BY
WILLIAMlMAXWELL BUBKE, PH.D.,
///
Sometime University' Fellow in Political Economy a?id Finance
PUBLISHED FOR
Columbia University
BY h
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, NEW YOKK
P. 8. KING AND BON, LONDON
1899
3PRKKACK.
THIS investigation of Central Labor Unions was suggested
by Dr. Thomas N. Carver, of Oberlin College, and was be-
gun under his direction. It was finished at Columbia Univer-
sity, where original sources of information are more acces-
sible.
The sources of the material are of necessity almost wholly
original, and consist of:
ist. An almost complete set of constitutions and by-laws
of Central Labor Unions in the United States, as well as
several of those in England.
2d. Reports of proceedings of the American Federation of
Labor, and pamphlets published by that organization.
3d. Reports of the Trades Union Congress of England.
4th. Answers to circulars addressed to Secretaries of all
Central Labor Unions in the United States.
5th. Personal observation in the Central Labor Unions of
Cleveland, Ohio, and 'New York City.
6th. Personal interviews and correspondence with promi-
nent labor leaders and officials of Central . Labor Unions in
Cleveland, New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Toledo, Boston,
and several other large cities.
7th. Newspaper clippings and files of newspapers.
The books which refer to the subject of Central Labor
Unions are very few in number, and the references are
merely incidental. For England, Sidney and Beatrice
Webb's History of Trade Unionism and Industrial Demo-
cracy, and George Howell's The Conflicts of Labor and Capital
VI
PREFACE
and Trade Unionism, New and Old, constitute almost the
whole of the literature on the subject. For the United
States literature is not more abundant, and is greatly inferior
in point of accuracy and detail. It consists of Ely's Labor
Movement in America; McNeill's The Labor Movement the
Problem of To-day, and Powderly's Thirty Years of Labor.
Thanks are due, and gladly given, to the Secretaries of the
various Central Labor Unions, and especially to the delegates
of the New York Central Labor Union, who have in many
ways kindly aided in the preparation of this dissertation.
WILLIAM MAXWELL BURKE.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, June, 1899.
\
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
LABOR FEDERATIONS
I. In England :
A. Introduction 13
B. Definitions 13
1. Amalgamation 14
2. Federations . . . 14
3. Webb's definition of Federation 14
4. Affiliations 15
C. Two periods 15
1. Before 1866 15
(a) National Federations 15
(b) Rise of Trades Councils 16
2. Since 1866: 22
(a) Federations of Allied Trades 23
(b) Trades Union Congress 23
I. Parliamentary Committee 24
II. In the United States :
A. Early forms 27
1. General Trades Union of New York 28
2. General Trades Union of Boston 29
3. New England Association 30
B. National Trade Unions, 1850-1865 . 32
C. National Labor Union, 1866 33
I. Political action, 1872 33
D. American Federation of Labor, 1881 34
E. Principles of Knights of Labor and American Federation of
Labor compared 36
I. Rapid growth of Knights of Labor 38
CHAPTER II
ORGANIZATION
I. Rise of Central Labor Unions , . . 40
A. Three Periods : 40
1. To the close of the Civil War 40
2. To 1880 41
3. To the present . . 4!
(vii)
Viii CONTENTS
B. Necessity for Central Unions : 42
I. The city the natural district'of Federation 43
(a) Number of laborers 43
(b) Sympathetic strikes 43
(c) Area 43
(d) Public opinion . . 43
(e) Weakness of local 43
(f) Preamble of Central Labor Union 43
II. Officials and Committees :
A. Simplicity 44
1. Democratic 44
2. Good will of locals 44
B. Officers and their duties 44
1. President and Vice President 44
(a) Term of office 45
2. Corresponding and Recording Secretaries and Treasurer. 47
3. Trustees and Sergeants-at-Arms 48
4. Business Agent 49
C. Standing Committees 51
A. Necessity , 51
B. How appointed 51
C. Duties 52
1. Credential Committee 52
2. Executive " 52
3. Organization " 52
4. Legislative « 53
5. Grievance " 54
(a) Example of cases 55
6. Label Committee 55
7. Statistics " 55
8. Resolutions " 56
9. Agitation " 56
10. Building Trades Committee 57
D. Delegates and Constituent Unions 58
A. Qualifications 58
B. Seceding unions . 59
C. Classes of men excluded from membership 60
D. Characteristics of the delegate 61
E. Duties of delegates 62
1. To the Central 62
2. To the local 63
CONTENTS ix
FACB
III. Representation, Dues and Revenues:
A. Bases of Representation 64
1. Proportional 64
2. Progressive 65
3. Arbitrary 66
B. Dues and Revenues 67
1. Low dues 68
2. No reserve fund 68
CHAPTER III
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
I. Objects:
A. What they are meant to show 70
B. Where found 70
C. ' How far accomplished 70
D. Organization 71
E. Education 74
F. Offensive and Defensive 78
II. Principles :
A. Industrial 86
B. Organization 87
C. Legislative 88
D. Political 89
E. Socialistic 89
III. Allied Trades Councils :
A. Compositions 90
I. Building Trades and Printing Trades 91
(a) Example — Board of Delegates 92
(b) Objects 92
(c) Membership 93
(d) Rules 93
(e) Delegates 94
(f ) Independence and Centralization of Power . . 94
(g) Advantages over general Central Labor Union. 97
CHAPTER IV
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM
I. Method of legislative enactment in foreign countries :
A. Widespread desire 99
I. Shorter work day 99
x CONTENTS
PAGE
B. In Germany 99
I. Collective bargaining 99
C. In England loo
1. National Trade Unions loo
2. Political machinery of Trade Unions ico
(a) Parliamentary committee loo
(b) Trades Councils ico
(c) Locals 100
3. Conditions necessary to success 101
(a) Platform IOI
(b) Support of candidate . 101
4. Attitude of Trades Union Congress 102
II. In United States :
A. Similarity to English conditions 102
B. Dissimilarity to English conditions 103
C. Three classes of Trades Unionists in regard to Political Action
and Socialism 104
1. Conservatives — " Pure and Simple " 104
2. Neutrals — Balance of Power 105
I. Methods of work 106
(a) Before election 106
(b) After election 108
3. Socialists — " Class conscious " Trades Unionists .... 109
1. Independent political action no
2. Kind of men 112
3. Examples of effort 112
CHAPTER V
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
I. Method of Collective Bargaining :
A. Subordinate questions 114
1. Insurance 114
2. Influencing legislation 115
B. Growth of organization 115
C. Growth of centralization 115
1. Trade sections 115
2. Allied Trades Councils 115
3. Business agent 116
D. Use of this method 117
I. Importance 117
CONTENTS xi
PAGB
2. Authority of central bodies 118
3. Autonomous local unions Il8
4. Incorporation 1 19
II. Independent political action :
1. " New Unionism " 119
2. Political machinery 119
3. Hold upon parties I2O
4. Evidence of Central Labor Union constitutions and the
American Federation of Labor 121
5. Harmony between the two ideas 122
III. Dangers to be avoided :
A. Internal 122
1. Envy and jealousy 122
2. Lack of confidence in leaders 123
3. Lack of definite policy 124
B. External :
1. Party politics 124
2. Lawlessness 125
THE HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
CHAPTER I.
PART I. LABOR FEDERATIONS IN ENGLAND.
THE Central Labor Union, while it is not the very latest
form of federation, is a type of that form of labor organiza-
tion which for the last thirty years has grown into great favor
with trades unionists in England and America. It is well,
then, before we begin the study of the Central Labor Union,
to see what has been done in the way of federations, amal-
gamations, and affiliations of labor unions which have
grown with such rapidity and consolidated into such im-
mense organizations.
It has been pointed out by some writers that these terms,
federation, amalgamation, and affiliation, have unfortun-
ately been used interchangeably. The different societies
which bear the names seem to have no very clear idea as to
the differences, if any, between them ; and we have societies
of practically the same formation, constituents, and adminis-
tration called amalgamations as well as federations. John
Jarrett, president of The Amalgamated Association of Iron
and Steel Workers, writing in 1887, said: "These different
unions were federated in 1876, forming the present great
organization known as the Amalgamated Association of Iron
and Steel Workers of the United States." l All constituent
unions of the American Federation of Labor are said to be
1 The Labor Movement, the Problem of To-day, page 268.
(13)
I4 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
affiliated, while the Knights of Labor organization, in which
all local assemblies and district assemblies are subordinate
to the General Assembly, is spoken of as a federation of
labor.
If one can judge at all from the use of words in the labor
literature of the United States, there is practically no differ-
ence in these terms. Theoretically, however, there is quite
a wide difference, and as misunderstandings might arise, it is
best to define the words, and then to use them in the sense
defined. Amalgamation, in the labor world, means that form
of industrial association which ensues when two or more
organizations cease to exist as separate societies and are
merged into one, with a single set of officers, a common
purse, and one executive. National trade unions are ex-
amples of this form of association. Federation, on the other
hand, means the binding together of societies, which still
preserve their autonomy, into one organization for the
mutual benefit of all. This binding together is on the
quid pro quo basis, where the constituent unions relinquish
certain rights and receive certain advantages. The Ameri-
can Federation of Labor is the one great example of this
kind of combination in the United States.
Mr. Webb says that " Amalgamations and Federations,
being definitely limited to similar or related and interdepen-
dent trade, are, in idea, essentially Trade Unions."1 As Mr.
Webb is speaking only of conditions in England, this may
be true ; but even then he must except the Trades Councils,
the members of which are not limited to similar, related, or
interdependent trades, while he admits they are federations.
In the United States it is certainly not true, for in the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor we find wood carvers and hod car-
riers, which are surely not related or interdependent. Ever
since 1875, the Trades Union Congress of Great Britain has
1 Webb, History of Trade Unionism, page 103.
LABOR FEDERATIONS \$
been trying to organize a Federation of Trades, and this does
not mean a federation of similar related or interdependent
trades, but a federation in which all trade unions shall be
eligible to membership. The Cotton Spinners' Federation
was more of an amalgamation, according to Mr. Webb's
idea, for the constituent unions were of one craft or crafts
which are very closely allied. An affiliation, finally, is a
very loose form of federation, easily entered into and easily
broken. The federations of the various American cities are
at present perhaps the only cases of this sort of organization,
although some of these belong more correctly to the second
class.
Both in England and the United States the labor move-
ment resolves itself into two almost identical periods of time.
Before 1866 we hear little in either country of national fed-
erations of labor, and since that time the history of the
movement is, in the main, a history of attempts, more or
less successful, to establish national amalgamations or fed-
erations. This is particularly true of the United States.
Whether we believe with Howell that trades unions are
the direct successors of the old craft guilds, or with Mr. and
Mrs. Webb that their origin cannot be traced directly to
these guilds, we know that it was not until the beginning of
the nineteenth century that the modern trade union began
to flourish and to grow in strength and numbers. It was not
very long after this new growth among working men, that
we find evidences of a greater ambition and a groping after
greater strength. This was thought to be found in some
sort of combination among the different trade unions for
moral and financial help. If unions of workingmen were
helpful, it was suggested to some that unions of working-
men's unions would be helpful also.
Perhaps the earliest recorded attempt at a general union
was suggested by Mr. John Cast, in 1818, who advocated a
!6 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
general workman's organization, as distinguished from sepa-
rate trade clubs.1 Some time before 1825, Cast formed a
Committee of Trades Delegates, which was the first attempt
to organize a federation of labor unions that finally devel-
oped into the Trades Council. There are of these in Eng-
land now about one hundred and thirty-four.
In the United States these unions are known by various
names, among which are: "City Federation," "Trades Alli-
ance," "Trades Council," " Workingmen's Union," "Work-
ingmen's Assembly," "Trade and Labor Alliance," but most
commonly of all they are known as " Central Labor Unions."
This organization in London, known as the " Committee
of Trades Delegates," consisted of two delegates from each
of the London trade unions. It was a powerful support to
the workingmen in their fight against the Combination Laws.
Just when it was organized, or how or when it died, is not
known.2 We know nothing of the administration or the
methods of this body ; in fact about all that is known is that
it existed. This, however, is important because, although
there had been loose federal organizations among unions in
the same craft for twenty-five years, there had been no at-
tempt to combine unions of different crafts or trades. At
about the same time and for the same purpose — to prevent
the re-enactment of the Combination Laws against workmen
— similar committees were formed in Manchester, Glasgow,
Sheffield, and Newcastle. After the repeal of the Combina
tion Laws, when the bill allowing trade societies to exist for
the purpose of regulating wages or hours of labor had passed
the House of Commons, the master ship-builders circulated
a handbill at the door of the House, in which they insisted
"at any rate that all federal or combined action among Trade
Clubs should be prohibited." This would go to show that
1 Webb, History of Trade Unionism, page 76, note.
1 It was represented at the Conference in London in 1845.
LABOR FEDERATIONS \-j
whether or not there had been combined action among the
trades prior to 1824, the manufacturers feared such action.
We hear again of the " United Trades " of London, Man-
chester, Sheffield, Norwich, Hull, Bristol, Rochdale, and Yar-
mouth sending delegates to a convention held in London in
Easter, 1845, f°r ^e purpose of forming a National Federa-
tion of Trades. Whether the United Trades Society of Lon-
don was a continuation of, or direct successor to, the Com-
mittee of Delegates of 1825, cannot be determined; but it is
altogether likely that from the latter date to the present
London has not been without a society which would corre-
spond to the present Trades Council. Since 1848, in partic-
ular, these Committees have been especially active. In 1855,
one of them included eighty-seven unions, and represented
forty-eight thousand men. In Glasgow, these delegate Com-
mittees were in almost continual existence until the founding
of the present Trades Council in that city. The Committees
were in general organized for particular purposes, and not
as a continuous body. While they did not exercise all the
functions of a Trades Council, yet in their formation as dele-
gate bodies, receiving delegates from unions existing in a
single town or district, they closely resemble a Trades Coun-
cil. Mr. Webb does not recognize these Committees as
Trades Councils, for he says that there were none in England
prior to 1848.'
In 1848 there was formed in Liverpool a Trades Guardian
Association, almost the sole object of which was to protect
trades unions from suppression by the use of criminal law
on the part of the employers.1 From 1850 to 1857 little is
known of this society, but in the latter year it subscribed
nearly $2,000 to the Liverpool Cabinet Makers. It was re-
organized in 1 86 1 upon the model of the London Trades
1 History of Trade Unionism, page 225.
* Ibid., pages 225, 226, note.
IS HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
Council. The Trades Council of Sheffield was established in
1857 under the name of "Association of Organized Trades,"
and had a special object. Dublin and Bristol had almost
constantly some kind of Council of the local trades ; Man-
chester had a species of Central Union before 1854. From
1858 to 1867 about twelve Councils were organized.
In December, 1818, John Gast suggested the formation of
a National Trades Union. His idea embraced a General
Committee of delegates from each trade, a centralization of
'funds and a contribution of a penny per week. In 1819 this
organization was spoken of as an accomplished fact, with
Gast as president. It was, however, never heard of after-
wards. In 1826 a union was organized at Manchester, but
did not extend very far or live very long. The first federa-
tion which was of practical value to trade unionists was
conceived and founded by John Doherty, an officer of the
Cotton Spinners' Union. This was to be a national associa-
tion to which all trades would be eligible. Doherty called a
meeting of delegates at Manchester, in February, 1830, and
after five months the National Association for the Protection
of Labor was formed. " Its object was to resist reductions
but not to strike for advances." 1 The initiation fee for socie-
ties was one pound, together with a shilling for each mem-
ber, and the dues were a penny a week. Not long after the
society was established, the membership rose to one hundred
and fifty unions. There were represented the textile trades,
mechanics, moulders, blacksmiths, and even agricultural
laborers. It contributed the so-called "strike pay" and
helped in the work of organization.2 This " National Asso-
ciation," it is said, at one time represented one hundred
thousand workmen, and its official organ, The Voice of the
People, had a circulation of thirty thousand, although it was
1 History of Trade Unionism, page 106.
2 " Labor Federations," The Economic Journal, vol. iv., page 408.
LABOR FEDERATIONS ICj
stamped weekly and was sold at the price of seven pence.
About the end of the year 1831, this first really national
federation came to an end. It is not recorded what caused
its downfall, but Mr. Webb thinks that its leading spirit,
Doherty, quarrelled with the executive committee, and The
Voice of the People died.
The next federal union to appear was one of the building
trades, organized some time before 1832. In 1834 it con-
sisted of six thousand seven hundred and seventy-four
members.1 Each local union was strictly autonomous and
was governed by its own by-laws, which were subject to the
general rules adopted at an annual delegate meeting.
Besides the constitution and code there was an elaborate
ritual, and provision was made for many weird performances
at the initiation of members. The first fight of the union
was against the system of contracting in vogue among the
Liverpool employers. Mr. Edwards says that " during this
period the building trades were better organized in England
than they have ever been since." 2
The Grand National Consolidated Trades-Union was
organized, existed for two or three years, and collapsed in
1836. The principal reason of its downfall was the great
prevalence of strikes during the years 1833-35. Robert
Owen was one of the chief spirits of this union, and it was
owing largely to his activity that it grew with that mar-
vellous rapidity which has since been equalled only by the
growth of the Knights of Labor during the few years prior
to 1887. Grievous difficulties immediately beset this great
federation ; large numbers of workmen were locked out
merely for joining, or in some cases for refusing to leave the
union. All these workmen had to be supported, and the
finances of the union were not able to stand the strain. The
1 History of Trade Unionism, page III.
2 The Economic Journal, vol. iv., page 409.
2Q HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UAVONS
executive in 1834 ordered a levy of a shilling per head to help
the fifteen hundred members who had been turned out by the
employers at Derby. This " turn out," together with the
strike of the gas-stokers of London, which put at least part
of the city in darkness, turned the people against the union.
The Government was frightened at this manifestation of the
dreaded power of the trades union, and began at once to
devise legislative measures against it. Nassau Senior, the
economist, was invited to advise the cabinet and made a
report in which he suggested certain remedial legislation.
According to his scheme, all solicitations, combinations,
subscriptions, and solicitations to subscriptions were to be
prohibited under severe penalties. If this should prove in-
sufficient for the purpose, confiscation of union funds
deposited in savings banks was recommended.
The alarm of the Government and of the whole country
culminated in the monstrous sentence of seven years' trans-
portation of six Dorchester laborers. Mr. Edwards, in a
recent article on " Labor Federations," * is evidently mis-
taken when he says that these six laborers were members of
the National Association for Protection of Labor and that
it aided in securing their release. The Association was not
heard of after 1832, and the trial occurred in March, 1834.'
Its place was taken by the Grand Consolidated Trades
Union. What Edwards says of the former society was true
of the latter. The demonstration of protest which this
society organized is said to have been attended by more
than four hundred thousand people. A committee of fifty
thousand persons waited upon Lord Melbourne and pre-
sented a petition signed by two hundred and sixty-six
thousand persons.3 After five years of work and agitation
1 The Economic Journal, 1893.
''•History of Trade Unionism, page no.
3 The Economic Journal, vol. iii., page 408.
LABOR FEDERA TIONS 2 I
a committee of London workmen — probably from what
then was the Trades Council — succeeded in having the men
pardoned and brought home.
In 1834 there occurred a series of disastrous strikes and
lock-outs which compelled the Grand Consolidated to levy
an assessment of eighteen pence on its members ; as a
consequence, much dissatisfaction was felt. This, together
with a vigorous " presentation of the document," the sign-
ing of which would prevent the worker from having any-
thing to do with unions, gradually broke up the first great
federal union. As Mr. Webb says, " there is no date when
it was dissolved, but it gradually faded away."
There appears to have been no national federation of
trade unions after the dissolution of the Grand National
until in 1845. The new federation was suggested by the
United Trades of Sheffield, which was the forerunner of
the Trades Council. The Secretary of the United Trades
drew up the proposals which were then laid before the
leading London unions. A committee was formed in
London, and at Easter, 1845, one hundred and ten delegates
assembled in London. Here there were delegates from the
United Trade Societies of eight cities, London, Man-
chester, Sheffield, Norwich, Hull, Bristol, Rochdale, and
Yarmouth. The result of this conference was the formation
of two associations. The first, The National Association
of United Trades for the Protection of Labor, undertook
the functions of a federation of to-day, i. e.> labor disputes
and legislation, while the other society, The National
United Trades Association for the Employment of Labor,
was organized for the purpose of co-operative industry.
The latter did not prove successful, and in 1848 the two
Associations were merged into one. The co-operative
feature was not abandoned, but the Association needed more
capital and made an attempt to raise it. In this year the
22 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
President and most active worker resigned, and in 1849 a
prolonged strike and the accompanying litigation ruined the
finances of the union and started its decline, which
culminated about 1860. This was the longest-lived of any
general federation of trade unions in England. The
reasons for its long life appear to be three :
1st. The dues were higher, thus enabling the Association
to make longer and better fights while continuing " strike
pay."
2d. It had little or nothing to do with politics, considering
that one thing was enough at a time.
3d. Its officers were more cautious, and, on the whole,
more able than those of previous associations.
During the years from 1 86 1 to 1866 the chief movement
in the English trade union world was the rise of the Trades
Councils. Most of the energy of organization spent itself
here, and nothing was attempted in the way of a National
Federation.
PERIOD SINCE 1866.
In 1866, however, the federation spirit again seemed
strong and a delegate conference was held at Sheffield.
There were assembled one hundred and thirty-eight dele-
gates, representing about two hundred thousand workmen.1
A committee was appointed to draft a set of rules which were
to be submitted to the local societies prior to the next
Trade Conference. The reason given in the preamble to
these rules for the formation of a national federation was
the growing prevalence of lock-outs. Although no attempt
was made to define a lock-out, it was said that the chief
incentive to the formation of the federation was the
determination to fight the employers who used this weapon.
This finally led the organization into trouble; for no one
1 History of Trade Unionism, page 240.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 23
could tell what disputes were to be supported. Dues were
not paid regularly and some locals were constantly behind;
the Executive Council was, as a result, very much hampered
in its work. The United Kingdom Alliance of Organized
Trades lasted but four years and died because constituent
unions kept falling away. This was the last successful
attempt to establish a national federation in England.
In spite of the fact that a national federation of trade
unions has just been formed in England, a strong, perma-
nent federation of unions of different trades is not likely to
exist in England for a long time to come, if ever. Strong
national trade unions are loth to admit men of other crafts
to a share in their government. They prefer a federation
of the allied trade unions into a national, and to fight their
battles for themselves. Experience, too, has demonstrated
that organizations of this kind are much more successful than
general federal unions, as, for example, the organization of
the Engineers, the Building Trades, and the Printing Trades.
These organizations have proved their usefulness and per-
manence, and would probably consent to a federal union
only if a solid system of finance were the foundation, and
then only on the conditions of a very loose bond and a strict
autonomy. These national trade unions of England, al-
though they form probably the most important part of the
trade union movement at present, are not generally feder-
ations and need not be studied here. Federations of allied
trades do come, in a way, under the head we are studying.
As we wish, however, to deal primarily with Central Labor
Unions, which are federations of unions not necessarily
allied, we shall consider the history of those only which
approximate to that type.
Some of the functions of a national federation are exer-
cised by what is known as the Parliament of Labor, or the
Trades Union Congress. As far as legislation goes, this
24 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
body does all that a federation could 'do, but into other
fields it does not enter. This organization, like the great
American Federation, owes its existence to the Trades
Councils.1 There had been a conference of the trade union
delegates summoned by the Glasgow Trades, and held in
London in 1864; but this, as well as its successor summoned
by the Sheffield Trades Council in 1867, was a congress with
a special mission, and led to no continuous organization.
In April, 1868, however, the Manchester and Salford
Trades Council issued a circular calling for an Industrial
Congress, which was held the following year for the first
time. The circular, which is to be found in an appendix to
Webb's History of Trade Unionism, laid stress particularly
on the necessity for effort by working classes to prevent
legislation adverse to their interests. Delegates were
awaited from Trades Councils, Federations of Trades, and
Trade Societies in general. It was also expected that the
Congress would follow the methods of the Social Science
Association, from which, says the circular, " the artisan class
is almost excluded."
Thirty-four delegates answered this call, and claimed to
represent one hundred and eighteen thousand union work-
men. The next year the number of constituents was more
than doubled. Not until the Congress of 1871, however, did
the real leaders of trade unionism join the new movement,
and in the next meeting, in 1872, three hundred and seventy-
five thousand workingmen were represented. It was not
until 1871 that the Trade Union Congress became more
than a large debating society.
The Trade Union Congress is the only body in England
which approaches, in organization or functions, the general
federation as it exists in the United States. Its organization
is almost wholly in the hands of the Parliamentary Com-
1 History of Trade Unionism, page 264, note.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 25
mittee, which was first appointed in 1871. The president is
elected by the delegates after they have met, preferably
from among the delegates of the town where the Congress
is held. The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee is
to be vice-president, and the secretary and treasurer of the
Parliamentary Committee fill similar offices for the Congress.
The Parliamentary Committee is composed of thirteen mem-
bers, including the secretary, who receives a salary of three
hundred pounds. Its duties are as follows:1
First. To watch all legislation affecting labor.
Second. To initiate such legislation as the Congress may
direct.
Third. To prepare the program for the Congress.
Fourth. To act as a credential committee for the Congress.
Fifth. To constitute a committee of harmony with power
to suspend for two years.
With this Committee seems to rest all the executive power
of the association, while it is the means of doing practically
all the work for which the Trades Union Congress exists.
We say, practically all, for beyond passing resolutions, and
debating all kinds of political, industrial, and educational
questions, the Congress exists only to advance the interests
of trade unionism through legislative action. Unlike the
American Federation of Labor, all business is transacted
by the whole body of delegates without reference to special
committees. As the Congress grows in numbers from year
to year, this is a decided disadvantage. Valuable time is
needlessly spent in discussing points when there is no prac-
tical disagreement — although in this case the president has
power to end the discussion. The difficulty has been met, in
part, by revising the constitution so as to limit more strictly
the number of delegates sent to the Congress. The basis of
representation is one delegate for each two thousand mem-
1 Reports of Proceedings of the Trades Union Congress.
26 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
bers or fraction thereof, provided they pay one pound for
each one thousand or fraction thereof, and ten shillings for
each delegate attending.1 On this basis, four hundred and
six delegates attended the Congress of 1897, which would
make the number of union men represented eight hundred
and twelve thousand, while as a matter of fact, about a mil-
lion and a quarter were represented. A delegate meeting of
four hundred and six workingmen is rather unwieldy, espe-
cially where all business must be transacted without the use of
special committees. The last motion to restrict the number
of delegates was voted down, because, as a certain delegate
said, "We are going very well; let well alone."
At almost every meeting of the Trades Union Congress
since 1875, a motion in some way looking toward a National
federation has been presented and voted on. The view has
generally been held that such a federation was necessary.
Little or nothing, however, came of the resolutions until a
special congress was called for 1899, at Manchester, to con-
sider this subject fully.2
The work of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades
Union Congress has been eminently successful in securing
the abolition of antiquated and unjust laws unfavorable to
workmen, and the enactment of many laws which afford them
greater justice and safety. They have accomplished in Eng-
land that for which the American workmen have as yet
striven in vain : the abolition of conspiracy laws, as relating
to labor disputes. It has not been many years since a
prominent labor union in the United States ordered its
minute-books burned because an indictment for conspiracy
was feared, on account of the declaration of a boycott ; while
it is no uncommon thing to hear our judges declaring boy-
cotts to be conspiracies, and punishing those interested in
1 Since 1895 Trades Councils have been excluded.
3 Reports of Proceedings of the Trades Union Congress.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 2/
declaring the boycott. For nearly a century the trade
unionists of England fought such laws, until, largely through
the efforts of the Parliamentary Committee, they were finally
abolished.
PART II. LABOR FEDERATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
The labor union history of the United States, prior to
1866, is mainly a history of local unions and national trade
associations.
By a national trade association is meant an organization
which includes among its members workers in but a single
craft, or, at most, the workers in crafts which are very
closely allied. Examples of this kind of organization are
the International Typographical Union, founded in 1850,
and the Hatters, who had a national organization in 1854.
None of these national unions founded before the Civil War
were federations, or attempts at federations. The federa-
tion idea was started in America as in England, not on a
national basis, but with districts very much smaller. The
local union,' the foundation of all federations, amalgama-
tions, and associations, did not appear in America before
1803, when we find that the New York Society of Journey-
men-Shipwrights was incorporated on April 3.1 The
House Carpenters of New York City also were organized
and incorporated in 1806, as were the Tailors. The aims of
these unions at this early date, were the shortening of the
daily labor time, and an increase in wages. They also took
a more or less prominent part in the co-operative and
socialistic experiments of the first half of the century.
The first form of labor federation which we find in the
United States is a union of the local trade unions in the
larger cities. It will be remembered that in England also
the first form of alliance between trade unions was the
1 Ely, Labor Movement in America, page 38.
28 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
delegate trades committees of the larger towns, which
finally developed into the trades councils, and which have
had a large share in the labor movement of England since
1845. The first of these Trade Delegate Committees in
England was organized some years before we hear of any-
thing similar in this country.
On December second, 1833, there appeared in one of the
daily papers of New York,1 an advertisement pertaining to
the proposed procession of the " General Trades Union.'*
In this order of procession, as there given, we learn that the
following unions constituted the General Trades Union of
New York City : Typographical Union, Journeymen House
Carpenters, Book-binders, Leather Dressers, Coopers,
Carvers and Gilders, Bakers, Cabinet Makers, Cord Wainers
— men, Cord Wainers — women, Tailors, Tailors of Brooklyn,
Silk Hatters, Stone Cutters, Tin-plate and Sheet-iron
Workers, Type founders, Hat-finishers, Willow-basket
Makers, Chair Makers and Gilders, Sail Makers, and Block
and Pump Makers. The route of the procession was given ;
Robert Townsend, Jr., was Grand Marshal and James
McBeatty and John H. Bowie, Secretaries. The address
was by the President, Ely Moore, who afterwards, during
Jackson's second term, became the first labor representative
in Congress.
In the Courier and New York Inquirer of the next day,
we find an editorial which gives the date of the founding
of the society, as well as some comments on the society
and the address. The General Trades Union was instituted
in August, 1833. In this general meeting there were the
twenty-one charter societies above named, and four thous-
and persons, most of them constituents. The editor says :
" We observed not a single individual who was not hand-
1 Morning Courier and New York Advertiser.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 2g
somely dressed, the utmost harmony, order and sobriety,
having characterized the whole proceedings of the day."
In President Moore's speech we learn the objects of this
General Trades Union. "To guard against the encroach-
ments of aristocracy, to preserve our natural and political
rights, to elevate our moral and intellectual condition and
promote our pecuniary interest, to narrow the line of distinc-
tion between journeymen and employer, to establish honor
and safety of our respective vocations upon a more secure
and permanent basis, and to alleviate the distresses of those
suffering from want of employment." The right of laborers
to combine for the protection of their interests is vigorously
maintained, and the position is taken that the General
Trades Union will diminish the number of strikes and lock-
outs, and not increase them, as their opponents had claimed.
The extracts from the constitution, quoted to prove this, are
as follows : " Each trade or art may represent to the conven-
tion, through their delegate, their grievances, who shall take
cognizance thereof and decide upon the same." "No trade
or art shall strike for higher wages than they at present re-
ceive, without the sanction of the Convention."1
On January 8, 1834, about one month after the meeting
of the General Trades Union of New York City, the General
Trades Union of Boston was formed. A circular containing
the plan of organization was sent to the different "locals,"
and sixteen unions responded. In March a constitution was
adopted, and afterwards ratified by the local unions. The
anniversary of Independence Day, 1834, was celebrated
under the auspices of this General Trades Union. Frederick
Robinson, of Marblehead, delivered the oration in the open
air on Fort Hill. In one of the toasts, our " Brethren of New
York," this sentiment was indulged in : " They have struck
the first blow at oppression : may success attend, and pros-
1 Labor Movement in America, page 44.
30 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
perity crown all their lawful undertakings."1 This General
Trades Union was still active in 1847, and had an official
organ called the Workingman's Advocate, published by Mr.
Evans.2
About the same time, the Baltimore Trades Council was
heard from in a memorial which it addressed to Congress,
praying that Congress should limit the hours of those em-
ployed in public works to ten hours a day. "The memorial
was brought up in Congress March 2, 1836, and after a
short debate was tabled."3 Again, in 1850, the workingmen
of Baltimore succeeded in carrying a bill through the House
of Delegates of Maryland, making ten hours a legal day's
labor, but providing for special contracts.4 This was un-
doubtedly due to the presence in Baltimore of a Central
Labor Union. Outside of a very few cities like New York,
Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, little or nothing, how-
ever, was done in the work of federating the different local
unions of the various cities, until about the end of the Civil
War. Although this was the earliest form of federation for
unions in different trades, the movement for many years
after its inception seems not to have taken a very firm root,
or to have become very widespread until after the foundation
of the Knights of Labor, and of the American Federation of
Labor.
The first association of laborers embracing a larger district
than the city was the New England Association of Farm-
ers, Mechanics, and other Laborers, whose first meeting was
held in Boston in 1832.5 Of this meeting there is left no
account, but of the second meeting, also held in Boston, we
have a very good report, preserved in the First Annual Re-
port of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor.
Seventeen delegates from all the New England States ex-
1 McNeill, The Labor Movement, the Problem of To-day, page 83.
9 Ibid., page 109. ' Ibid., page 87. * Ibid., page 117. 5 Ibid., page 78.
LABOR FEDERA TIONS 3 l
cept Vermont attended. Who or what those delegates
represented is not stated ; that most of them were delegates
from local trade unions is evident from the fact that the
question arose whether the association should make the
adoption of the ten-hour system indispensable, or leave it to
the discretion of the various associations.
The meeting considered the expediency of a national con-
vention of workingmen, as well as the question of further
organization throughout New England, with a Central Com-
mittee for each State. Here we see for the first time sug-
gested and considered two ideas which have been realized to
such an extent during the last thirty years. What action
was taken, or what were the results, we do not learn. After
the Convention of 1834 we lose all trace of this association.
Eleven years later another labor association was formed in
New England, called the New England Workingmen's Asso-
ciation. This was not a federation, but merely a larger as-
sociation of the mechanics and workingmen of New England.
The object of the association was declared to be " Union for
power, power to bless humanity." Up to this time it was
the largest association of workingmen in the United States.
In the same year, 1845, the first National Industrial Con-
gress was convened in New York. Delegates appeared from
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Kentucky, Michigan, and
Virginia.1 The plans of the Industrial Convention included :
First : The establishment of a society to be called the Indus-
trial Brotherhood, to be composed of associations of actual
producers upon a plan of mutual insurance similar to the
"Odd Fellows," and with the additional object of political
action. Second : An annual industrial congress, to be
composed of representatives of the Industrial Brotherhood
and all societies having the same political aim. The Indus-
1 Young America, G. H. Evans, editor, October 18, 1845.
32 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
trial Congress continued to meet annually for four or five
years, after which period nothing is heard of it.
From about 1850 till the close of the Civil War was a
period of autonomous trade organizations on a national
basis, while little energy was spent devising or perfecting
federations of any kind. The International Typographical
Union, 1850, the National Trade Association of Hat Finish-
ers, 1854, the Iron Moulders' Union of North America, 1859,
and the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Union of North Amer-
ica were all organized during this period.
Professor Ely says : " It is stated that twenty-six trades
had national organizations in i860."1 This error is repeated
in the form of a definite statement by J. L. M. King.2 After
careful investigation we cannot find one-half of that number
of trades having a national organization before 1860. In
fact, Mr. P. J. McGuire, in his Sketch of the Growth, Benefits
and Achievements of National and International Trade Unions
of America, gives but five national trade unions founded
before 1860.
That five such unions were founded in ten years is evi-
dence of special thought and agitation in this particular
direction. This is doubtless the reason why there was no
effort at a general federation for more than ten years after
the Industrial Congress had ceased to meet. The Civil War
now ensued, and with a great army of productive laborers
turned into a great army of non-productive consumers there
was not that need for labor unions, either local or national,
which had hitherto been felt. When the war ended, how-
ever, and the soldiers again turned to the arts of peace, the
labor market was crowded and wages were in great danger of
falling. As a result a new impetus was given to the organ-
ization of labor. One of the first things which strikes our
' Labor Movement in America, page 60.
2 The Journal of Political Economy, volume v, page 206.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 33
attention at this time is the revival of a desire for a national
organization on the lines of a federation.
In 1866, the central unions or trades assemblies of New
York and Baltimore issued a call for a national labor con-
gress, and on August 2Oth of the same year one hundred
delegates, representing sixty-one labor organizations, met in
Baltimore. Among these organizations were international,
national, and local unions. Political, industrial, and social
questions were discussed, the principal topic being the eight
hour system. A national organization, called the National
Labor Union, was formed, and the next year more than two
hundred delegates attended its congress held in Chicago.
In 1868, two conventions were held — one in May, at Pitts-
burg, and the other in September, at New York. The latter
convention was called principally for the purpose of discuss-
ing the general movement for an eight-hour day. Here it
was proposed by the president to make all unions subordi-
nate to a central power ; but no action was taken on the
suggestion.
Nothing of particular importance happened in the conven-
tions of 1869, '70, and '71, which met in Chicago, Boston, and
Philadelphia, respectively. In 1872, when the convention
met in Columbus, Ohio, the union felt called upon to enter
actively into the political arena, and nominated David Davis,
of Illinois, for President of the United States. This was a
death-blow to the National Union ; for local unions one by
one withdrew from an organization which was entering upon
a course contrary to their recognized principles.1
In 1873 trades unions, like everything else that depended
upon industrial activity for support, went to the wall in the
financial panic. Wages now began to fall rapidly, and the
most intelligent of trade unionists thought that it would be
possible to stem the tide by forming a new national organ! -
1 P. J. McGuire, The American Federation of Labor — its History aud Aims.
34 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
zation, and to avoid in it the mistakes of the former one.
Hence, on a personal call, delegates assembled at Rochester,
New York, April 4, 1874. A constitution was adopted, but
the organization had no life. In 1875, at Tyrone, Pa., an-
other convention met with a like fate.1 In 1878, however,
there seems to have been a more healthy growth of trades
unions, principally because the local unions were founded
on a more substantial basis, and also because Central Labor
Unions, Trades Councils, Trades Assemblies, etc., were
formed, which had the effect of holding local unions to-
gether.
In 1 88 1, a call was published, emanating from a conven-
tion of labor delegates from the central and western States,
for a convention to be held in Pittsburg about the middle of
November. This convention was important as laying the
foundation of the American Federation of Labor. The call
itself was peculiar, for it spoke of a federation as being the
form of organization necessary for trade unions. The
convention was organized with John Jarrett, President of the
Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, as
chairman. One hundred and seven delegates, representing
two hundred and sixty-two thousand workingmen, were as-
sembled, and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor
Unions of the United States and Canada was permanently
organized. Samuel Gompers, now President of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, was a member of the first Congres-
sional Committee. Knights of Labor, as well as delegates
from trade unions, were present, and it was understood that
neither body was to change its form, and that any division
of organized labor was to be discouraged. Among the prin-
ciples adopted at this convention were the following : com-
pulsory education of children, abolition of child labor, uni-
form apprentice laws, enforcement of the eight-hour rule,
1 P. J. McGuire, American Federation — its History and Aims.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 35
restriction of contract prison labor, and the abandonment of
the store order system, a first lien for labor, repeal of the
conspiracy laws against organized labor, the establishment
of a United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the continu-
ance of a protective tariff" for American industry, the enact-
ment of a contract labor law against immigration, restriction
of Chinese immigration, the licensing of stationary engineers,
governmental inspection of factories and workshops, the
sanitary inspection of food and wells, and an employers'
liability law. Several of these reforms have now been
adopted by the federal government and by the legislatures
of the separate states.
The second annual convention of this Federation was
held in Cleveland, November 2ist, 1882, Samuel Gompers
being elected president. The convention issued a manifesto
discountenancing political action, and relating the benefits
of a federation as distinguished from other forms of
national unions. This was aimed at the Knights of Labor,
which organization at this time was a serious rival. The
manifesto is important as showing the right of the Federa-
tion to exist and as a defence of the federation form of labor
organization. It is as follows:
"We favor this Federation because it is the most natural and
assimilative form of bringing the trades and labor unions together.
It preserves the industrial autonomy and distinctive character of
each trade and labor Union, and without doing violence to their
faith or traditions, blends them all in one harmonious whole — a
' Federation of Trades and Labor Unions.' Such a body looks to
the organization of the working classes as workers, and not as
soldiers (in the present deprecatory sense) or politicians. It makes
the qualities of a man as a worker the only test of fitness, and sets
up no political or religious test of membership. It strives for the
unification of all labor, not by straining at an enforced union of
diverse thought and widely separated methods, not by prescribing a
uniform plan of organization, regardless of their experience or
36 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
interests ; not by antagonizing or destroying existing organizations,
but by preserving all that is integral or good in them and by
widening their scope so that each, without destroying their in-
dividual character, may act together in all that concerns them. The
open Trades Unions, national and international, can and ought to
work side by side with the Knights of Labor, and this would be the
case were it not for men over zealous or ambitious, who bury them-
selves in the destruction of existing Unions to serve their own
whims and mad iconoclasm. This should cease and each should
understand its proper place and work in that sphere, and if they
desire to come under one head or affiliate their affairs, then let all
Trades and Labor Societies, secret or public, be represented in the
Federation of Trades and Labor Unions." l
There are, we see, two great ideas in the formation of the
larger unions. The first is that represented by the Knights
of Labor, namely that as all labor is working for a common
object the most unskilled should join hands and work side by
side with the most highly skilled artisan, and that one man
should have as much power as another and no more. The
qualifications for membership are almost as slight as those
for membership in society itself. All here are direct mem-
bers of the national organization.
The second idea is that represented by the American
Federation of Labor. A man is only secondarily a member
of this body through the local trade union to which he
must belong. This is a union of unions and of federa-
tions. The unskilled laborer may find a place here, but he
must belong to a union and that union must be affiliated
with the larger body. Unions of unskilled laborers are
comparatively rare, but there is a place for them in the
composition of the American Federation.
On December 8th, 1886, the Federation Convention was
called to meet at Columbus, Ohio, and trades unions which
were not affiliated were asked to meet in a convention of
1 Quoted by Carroll D. Wright, Evolution of Industry.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 37
their own in the same city. After four days' joint session,
the Federation of Trades and Labor Unions was dissolved
and the American Federation of Labor took its place. It
began with twenty-five national organizations and a member-
ship of three hundred and sixteen thousand four hundred
and sixty-nine laboring men all told. A constitution was
adopted favoring the organization of local unions and the
closer federation of such unions through central unions, with
the further combination of these bodies into state, territorial
and provincial organizations, and the establishment of
national and international trade unions with reference only
to the same trade in one national or international union.
The American Federation of Labor is organized strictly on
trade union lines. The only departure from that principle
is that in places where there are not enough workmen in any
one trade to form a local union, men of several crafts may
combine to form what is known as a federal union. This
is supposed to be only a temporary scheme, the ultimate
plan being the formation of one or more local trade unions.
The objects of the Federation are :
First: To watch legislation, and to arrange, if possible,
that nothing detrimental to the laboring class be enacted, as
well as to initiate such legislation as may benefit this class.
Second: To bring about closer and more complete or-
ganization among workingmen throughout the country. This
is effected by insisting that all local trade unions should
join the national union in that trade, as well as the Central
Labor Union of the district. The membership consists of
four kinds of labor organizations : National Trade Unions,
State Federations, City Central Bodies, and Local Unions.
It is estimated that about five hundred thousand workmen
are affiliated.
Three years after the meeting of the National Congress in
Baltimore, an organization was founded in Philadelphia
38 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
which, although of very unpretentious origin, gave promise
in later years of drawing all laborers of the United States to
its own membership. It was a secret order, and for years
not even its name was known. The trade union principle
was retained in part, but we find men of all crafts members
of the same local assemblies. " At the option of each
Local Assembly any person over the age of sixteen years is
eligible to become a member of the order, except employers
in the manufacture or sale of intoxicating drinks, and no
banker, professional gambler or lawyer can be admitted." '
Founded, then, on the idea of man as a laborer and not
as a worker in any particular craft, this organization, known
later as the Knights of Labor, grew until in 1886 it reached
the height of its power and was said to have enrolled more
than five hundred thousand members. During the years
1885 and 1886 the growth was especially rapid, and con-
sisted for the most part of the more unskilled laborers, who
precipitated many strikes and weakened the order. When
this class of workmen saw that adherence to a principle was
necessary even at a sacrifice, and that all strikes were not to
be crowned with success even when sustained by such a
powerful organization, they rapidly fell away and the order
of the Knights of Labor grew weak as quickly as it had
before grown strong, until now in 1899 it is doubtful if there
are more than fifty thousand members of the order in good
standing.
This, then, in outline is the history of attempts, successful
and unsuccessful, to maintain federations of labor which
have for a basis more than one trade, or trades which are
closely allied.
Our object thus far has been to present a slight survey of
the obstacles against which laborers have had to contend, as
well as the standards and ideals toward which they are work-
Article XVI., Sec. 127, K. of L. Constitution.
LABOR FEDERATIONS 39
ing. All this is intended to serve merely as an introduction
to the real object of the monograph — a study of one kind of
federation, which during the last fifteen years has in-
creasingly made itself felt as a real factor in the closer
organization of laborers as well as in city and state legisla-
tion having for its object the improvement of the conditions
of the laboring class.
CHAPTER II.
ORGANIZATION.
/. Rise of Central Labor Unions.
IN the history of labor in the United States there are three
distinct periods in the development of that form of organiza-
tion known for the most part as the Central Labor Union. We
have already stated what is known of the first period, which
extends from the beginning of the labor movement to the
close of the Civil War. Very few records have been left of
this period, principally because they belonged to no general
organization which would be interested in keeping account
of them. Sometimes we know that they existed by the work
they accomplished, or attempted, either in legislation or in
organization or in assisting strikes and boycotts. In other
cases we hear of them through the daily press on the occa-
sion of a parade or Independence-day celebration. On the
whole, the information which can be obtained is very slight.
Their existence was confined to the largest cities, and here
it was not at all continuous. Delegate bodies would come
together and work with one special object in view. When
this object was attained, or when it was seen that it could not
be attained, the Committee or body of delegates would dis-
band, to be formed again when some glaring wrong in the
city or community showed itself, or when some man or men
more enthusiastic or with more than ordinary ability entered
the labor movement through the local union.
After the war, laborers all over the United States became
imbued with a spirit of organization, local unions by the
(40)
ORGANIZATION 4!
thousand were formed, and the same thing occurred here as
in England at about the same time. Laboring men looked
for something larger and more powerful than the local union,
and at once the idea of a union of unions was suggested. In
almost all large cities in the country there were formed
federations of trade unions, called by various names but
alike in their essential features. They were meetings of dele-
gates from the local unions, bound together by a loose fed-
eral bond for the purpose of further organization, education
and mutual support in all disputes with employers. Dues
were uniformly low. The different constitutions, moreover,
show a great similarity.
Through factious quarrelling, caused for the most part by
politics, through disputes arising from the overlapping of
trades, and through the failure of local unions to send dele-
gates, there was a constant tendency for Central Labor
Unions to go to pieces and then to be re-organized. This
was the rule until after the formation of the Knights of Labor
and the American Federation of Labor. Under the former
society, the Central Labor Union was called a " District
Assembly," and differed in several particulars from the Cen-
tral Labor Union under the latter organization.
The third period begins about 1880. From this year dates
the formation of Central Labor Unions which have been
continuous. Almost without exception, the Central bodies
founded since 1880 are flourishing to-day.
The call for the convention which founded the organiza-
tion that finally developed into the American Federation of
Labor, was indorsed by the six Central Labor Unions of St.
Louis, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Boston, and
Chicago. Eleven such Unions were represented in this con-
vention. In this call, one of the reasons urged was the en-
couragement of the federation of labor unions into trades
assemblies. This has been a prominent feature of the work
42 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
of the National Federation ever since. In 1884, four Central
Unions were represented in the convention; in 1887 ten, in
1888 eight, in 1889 twelve, in 1893 fifteen, in 1894 eleven,
in 1895 fifteen, in 1896 fifteen. In 1888 there were repre-
sented in the General Assembly of the Knights of Labor
two hundred and fifty-three District Assemblies. This does
not necessarily mean that all these assemblies were bodies
similar to the Central Labor Unions; for some of these
District Assemblies were organizations of workmen of the
same craft. They were similar, inasmuch as they were
made up of delegates from local unions, but no Central
Union is composed entirely of men in the same trade.
With this distinction in view, they will be studied as being
in the same class of organizations.
Of the seventy-nine Central Labor Unions affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor at present,1 eight were
chartered during 1895, twenty-three during 1896, thirteen
during 1897, an<^ twelve during 1898. Thus more than half
of the existing Central organizations were chartered in these
four years. As there were eleven represented in the Con-
vention which founded the National Federation, there were
but nineteen founded during the years between 1881 and
1895. It is evident, therefore, that this is quite a recent
movement, or rather a recent extension on a large scale of a
movement begun sixty-six years ago.
The organization of municipal federations of labor is a
strong sign, not only of the power of organized labor, but
also of the growing wisdom of labor leaders. The city is the
natural, proper, and convenient sphere of action of organized
labor. The greatest number of laborers is already found in
cities, large and small, and the tendency is toward a still
greater concentration at these centers. There are practically
no labor unions outside of the cities, as the natural result
1 April, 1899.
OR GANIZA TIOX 43
of the paucity of skilled laborers of any one craft in the
villages, towns or country.
The sympathetic strike and the boycott are the two most
powerful weapons for offense or defense possessed by labor
unions, and neither of these can be used to advantage where
some central organization does not exist. The most suc-
cessful Central labor bodies, as will be seen later, are those
which most frequently use, or threaten to use, these weapons.
A 'close federation in a larger district than the city is im-
practicable. A few have made the county the district of
federation, but only where the cities or towns were small.
These county federations are the smallest and weakest of all
Central bodies. State federations have their own place, and
can never do the work of the City Central. In neither the
county nor the state could meetings occur often enough to
keep all delegates actively in touch with each other, and
really alive to their common interests. Public opinion too.
which has become such an important factor in all labor dis-
putes of late years, can be centered on a difficulty much
more effectively by a central union in a city than by a com-
mittee of a state federation. Of course it is needless to
point out that the local trade union is entirely too weak to
fight its battles by itself. This might be possible if they
were obliged to contend with a single employer or with
employers only, who employed members of that particular
trade union ; but the tendency of employers to act together
makes it absolutely necessary that trade unions should fed-
erate if they would meet employers on anything like an
equal basis. The following, taken from the constitution of
one of the foremost Central Labor Unions of the country,
gives the reasons for founding the Central Labor Union :
PREAMBLE.
WHEREAS, It has been fully demonstrated by experience that
unity of action and organization among working people are impera-
44
HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
tive and essential in order to combat the ever-growing encroach-
ments of organized and consolidated capital, and as there are many
questions affecting the interest of the working classes which cannot
be dealt with in special and separate Trade and Labor Unions, and
as that end can be best attained by a central labor organization
through which all branches of labor may prove allies to any par
ticular one that may be oppressed, and all may form a Brotherhood
for the defense and protection of the laboring masses ; therefore,
be it
Resolved, That we, the delegates of the various Trade and Labor
Unions here represented, do hereby form the Central Labor Union
of . . . , for the purpose of organizing and concentrating the
efforts of the working classes for their own mutual protection,
education and social advancement.
Having shown that federation is considered necessary by
union men and that the particular form of federation em-
bodied in the Central Labor Union is essential, let us look
at this Central Labor Union and see just what its organiza-
tion, functions, objects, and principles are, as well as what it
may have accomplished and is likely to accomplish.
II. OFFICIALS AND COMMITTEES.
The organization and methods of administration of Central
Labor Unions are quite simple and when properly employed
accomplish their purpose admirably. The trade unionist in
general wants as little red tape as possible, and he wants a
voice in whatever is done in his name. The endeavor to
satisfy these wants has wasted much valuable time for
Central Labor Unions ; but to the extent that it keeps the
confidence and good will of the local unions, it is perhaps
worth all that it has cost.
Officers.
The first officer to be considered is the president of the
organization. In some central bodies he is of much more
importance than in others, but in all this office is perhaps of
OR GANIZA TION 4 5
less importance than one would naturally think. His duties
practically end with presiding and signing orders on the
treasurer for money. The important function of appointing
committees, however, falls to his lot, and as the success or
failure of the undertakings often depends on the character of
men he appoints, he has power to do much good or much
harm. In most unions this office is rilled every six months,
and in a few cases the same delegate is not eligible for
election for more than two successive terms. The New
York Central Labor Union elects a president at each meet-
ing, each union in turn having the right of nomination.
This does not mean that the president must be, or often is,
chosen from the union nominating; is is merely an attempt
to secure impartiality. As a matter of fact, the leaders in
the body, those men who have greater force of character,
more intelligence, and more ability to keep order, are elected
over and over again — not indeed consecutively (as this is
forbidden by the constitution), but in such manner that a
very limited number of men hold the office in more or less
regular rotation.1
The reason for the failure on the part of some Central
Unions to elect a permanent president touches a very real
danger with which they have to contend and to which the
delegates are very much alive. That is the abuse of
authority and the consequent reluctance to delegate to any
one man more power or representative authority than is
absolutely necessary. A man known as the president of an
organization is naturally supposed to be acquainted with its
policy and to speak for it. For many societies, perhaps we
might say for most societies, it is fitting that this should be
so. The members are closely bound together, and the
1 Since this was written a consolidation of two central bodies has taken place
in New York, and under the New Constimtion the president is elected for three
months.
46 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
policy can be known definitively, and there are not apt
to be many varying opinions among the members. On
almost every subject the delegates to a Central Labor Union
are content to rely on the judgment of a president of their
own choosing. There is one question, however, on which
officers rightly enough must not claim to speak for the body
and, by imputation, for the union men whom the delegates
represent.
This is the question which has caused more trouble for
labor unions as such than perhaps all other questions com-
bined. It is the question of politics. As this danger to
Central Labor Unions will be discussed later, it is mentioned
here only to show one reason why some central organiza-
tions have no permanent president. Not only presidents,
but all officers of the society are subject to this accusation at
times. To give one example of what is meant: During a
spirited campaign, when it was thought that a certain elec-
tion would probably be very closely contested, a party paper
published an alleged interview with the secretary of one of
the larger Central Labor Unions. The secretary was made
to say in that report that not only all union labor connected
with the Central Labor Union, but also all union labor in
the state was in favor of a certain political party. Of course,
as an individual he had a right to say this if he believed it;
but as secretary of a union, representing perhaps forty or
fifty thousand men, he did not possess that right. It turned
out that the man was not in a condition to know what he was
saying when the reporter interviewed him ; and we believe
he was ultimately forgiven. Sometimes, too, the president
may voluntarily use his office to obtain political preferment;
and most bodies which have a permanent president have a
constitutional provision whereby he must immediately vacate
the office when he becomes a candidate for a political posi-
tion, even though it be by appointment.
ORGANIZATION 47
The effect of this short term for the office of president is,
of course, to avert the possibility of much false representa-
tion, and to prevent the use of the office in behalf of some
individual. On the other hand, the organization suffers be-
cause it has no real representative when it is not in session.
There is, however, one Central Union in the United States
which has such a representative, even though the term of
office of the president is limited to six months. Of the
duties of this representative we shall speak later.
The office of corresponding secretary of the Central Labor
Union is not very different from the same office in other
organizations. He replies to all the correspondence of the
body ; he reads in the meeting all the correspondence
which has been received by him in his official capacity ;
he must furnish each constituent union with a record of the
proceedings of the Central Union ; and he must perform
other duties which the Central Union may direct. His com-
pensation varies from one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars
for each meeting. As a matter of fact, in view of the salary
paid, the work connected with the position is very large.
Frequently he must communicate with the secretaries of all
the constituent unions — an obligation which calls for the
writing of from four or five to two hundred and fifty letters.
Besides this, he is continually called upon to write letters of
information to local unions and to other Central Unions, as
well as to communicate with the daily papers, with employers
and with the city government. His duties often call for
considerable tact, as on the tone of the letter frequently de-
pends the successful accomplishment of what the writer
desires. The corresponding secretary has no representative
capacity whatever outside of the meeting; he is merely a
servant of the union. In some unions he is also the statis-
tician, which, as far as Central Labor Unions are concerned,
is a name and not a reality.
48 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
The office of recording secretary means simply what the
name implies. He is supposed to keep a correct record of
all the proceedings of the meetings and to attest the orders
for money signed by the chairman. In many Central Unions
this work is voluntary. Where there is any compensation,
it varies from fifty cents to two dollars per meeting. About
all that is required of a man for this position is that he be
accurate and painstaking. Very often the offices of record-
ing and corresponding secretary are filled by one man, and
in the smaller unions, he may sometimes fill the position of
treasurer also.
The financial secretary is invested with the duty of receiv-
ing and expending all moneys of the union, of keeping an
accurate account thereof and of making reports of the same.
In some cases these reports are made monthly, quarterly, or
semi-annually ; they are then printed and distributed to the
delegates and sent to the constituent unions. The financial
secretary generally receives something for his labor, but
never more than two dollars per meeting.
There is a treasurer who must give a bond, usually five
hundred or one thousand dollars. This is generally obtained
from one of the companies organized for that purpose, and
the Central Union pays the expense. It is thus simply a
matter of insurance for the union, with the bond as the pol-
icy. The treasurer deposits the money in a bank and hands
the book over to the trustees. He sometimes receives com-
pensation, but never more than two dollars per meeting.
Trustees are generally elected, two, three, or five in num-
ber, and have general supervision of all property of the
union.
There is always a sergeant-at- arms who has various duties,
the most arduous of which, in some unions, is to keep order.
He is door-keeper and usher and has charge of the roll book
after the roll has been called. He also sometimes receives
OR GANIZA TION 49
pay up to two dollars per meeting. Generally there is a
small fine imposed on the corresponding, recording, and
financial secretaries and the sergeant-at-arms for absence
or tardiness without a good excuse.
These, together with a vice-president whose duties are
merely nominal (unless the office of president should happen
to be vacant) constitute, with one exception, all the officers
of the Central Labor Union. This exception has been
referred to, and consists of the office of business agent. It
exists, so far as we know, in only one Central Union, al-
though all local unions, which are strong enough, have the
same officer known by the name of "walking delegate."
The business agent is to the American union what the gen-
eral secretary is to the union of England — the intelligent
paid representative.
The following from the constitution shows the duties of
this officer :
To facilitate the business of the Central Labor Union, there shall
be elected a business agent, whose duties are herein defined. This
official shall be elected by ballot and serve under the merit system,
until the body finds it necessary to dispense with the service of such
agent, or until he shall resign or be deposed for cause.
The business agent shall devote his entire time, consisting of not
more than eight working hours of each twenty-four each day to the
exclusive interest of the Central Labor Union, as may from time to
time be directed. He shall arrange stated business hours where he
may be met. The compensation shall be fifteen dollars per week,
payable weekly.
He shall devote his time to the upbuilding of organizations affili-
ated with this body, and assist and instruct, upon request, new
organizations in routine work of Unions. He shall act as investi-
gator in all matters that may be submitted to him by the various
Committees of the Central Labor Union, and perform such other
duties as the body may direct.
He shall urge upon members of the Unions and others, the neces-
5Q HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
sky of supporting the organ of the Central Labor Union, and the
labor press in general, and he shall be authorized to receive money
therefor to be turned over to the proper representative of the paper.
He shall act as statistician, gather data bearing upon the condition
of the workers, their social environments and wage rate in vogue.
The business agent shall also, whenever possible, gather and ar-
range the names of workers in unorganized trades, and arrange
meetings with them to discuss the advisability of organization.
The business agent shall also secure all data possible pertaining to
industrial and mercantile establishments in the city.
He shall keep a record of his transactions, which shall at all times
be open for the inspection of affiliated Unions, and he shall submit
a review of his labors at each meeting of the Central Labor Union.
Should the business agent fail in the performance of ascribed
duties or neglect the same, or should he be guilty of insobriety or
misrepresentation, or should he maliciously attempt to injure indi-
viduals with whom the Central Labor Union may have business
transactions, he shall be held to appear before the Central Labor
Union to answer for his actions, and when found guilty he shall be
reprimanded, fined or discharged.
Besides the duties enumerated here there are many calls
upon his time by committees and members of the Central
Labor Union. He is, moreover, the real representative of
the Central Labor Union, and since he receives a salary, he
is apt to be a man who will represent the Union well. It is
the opinion of members of this Central Labor Union that he
earns much more than his salary, and that every such organ-
ization should have a like officer.
An example of the weekly reports of the Central Labor
Union business agent is as follows:1
"Visited Malt Houses in interest of malsters, and all will sign
agreement with possible exception of one ; visited Cleveland Theatre
in interest of Window Posters. Tried to organize Shoe Workers,
but failed ; visited New Union of Beer Bottlers and Drivers who will
1 Cleveland Citizen, Oct. 15, 1898.
OR GANIZA TWN 5 I
be chartered by National Brewery Workmen's Union; visited
Grocers on West side in interest of Bakers, found that Ohio Baking
Company offered to supply some of them with bread free of charge ;
visited Iron Workers Helpers, No. 6715 ; called on firm in interest
of Bicycle Workers relative to boycott on Stearns wheel without re-
sult ; visited Lyceum Theatre in interest of Window Posters ; went
to Lorain at request of Iron Workers Helpers' Union to adjust a
grievance, there being a strike of non-unionists in a Vapor Stove
plant, who desire to join the Union. Report received."
Committees.
Aside from the officers, the Central Labor Union is organ-
ized on the lines of the House of Representatives. To the
numerous standing committees almost all business is referred
before it is discussed by the whole body. Such an enormous
amount of work is attempted by the Central body that it
would be impossible for all the delegates together to accom-
plish it. This is attempted by the English Trade Union
Congress, but the results are not at all satisfactory. The
time is too short and the number of delegates is entirely too
large to allow every point to be carefully canvassed in a
public debate. As it is, Central Unions lose much of their
efficiency because the delegates insist on transacting all
business and discussing all matters in the entire body.
These unions are in danger of breaking down by the very
volume of business which they try to accomplish.
The standing committees are either elected by the union
or appointed by the president. The latter custom prevails
in a large majority of cases. The committees uniformly
exist for a period of six months, but there is nothing to pre-
vent their re-election or reappointment. These committees
vary both in number and in size. There seems to be no
particular rule which determines the size of the committee
except convenience. There are generally either three or
five delegates on each committee, but two delegates from the
52 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
same craft are not allowed to serve on the same committee.
The larger unions have the greater number of committees,
although this is not without exception ; while in some smaller
unions all the work is done by the whole body of delegates-
No one union has more than eight standing committees,
but as some unions have committees for purposes entirely
different from those of others, the total number of different
committees is larger.
To show in a way what kind of questions come to the
Central Labor Union, let us examine the various committees
and their duties.
The duties of the Committee on Credentials are sufficiently
explained by its name. The Executive Committee generally
consists of the permanent officers of the union, and it is
their duty to represent the union between meetings of that
body, but only where the business affects an affiliated union
and where it cannot wait for the regular meeting of the Cen-
tral body. It must report at the next meeting any business
done during the interval. We see here the great reluctance
of the union to delegate its authority to any body of men,
even though this committee, as might be presumed from its
composition, is made up of the most trusted men among the
delegates. The Committee on Organization is sometimes
much larger than the others. For example, in the Chicago
Federation of Labor this committee consists of fifteen mem-
bers, while each of the others have three or five members.
This not only shows the relative importance of the com-
mittee, but proves that much more work is required of it.
Their duties are divided naturally into two parts : first, the
organization of new unions ; and second, the strengthening
of the Central Labor Union by inducing locals to affiliate
with it. The necessary expenses, and sometimes a definite
sum per meeting, are paid to the committee by the Central.
Organization is one of the principal objects of all Central
ORGANIZATION 53
Labor Unions, and to accomplish this end much time, labor,
and money are spent. The ideal condition of affairs must
be attained when every laborer is a member of some local
labor union, and when all these unions are affiliated with a
national federation through central labor unions. The
means used to further organization among the unorganized
are three: first, the regular Committee on Organization;
second, the labor press ; and third, the Organizer for the
Central Union. The indirect influence of the results of
organization, when seen in successful resistance to a reduc-
tion in wages or in the attainment of a shorter work day,
has more to do with forming new organizations than any-
thing that central labor unions can do directly. When,
however, the desire for organization is once formed in a
body of men, the organizer and the Committee on Organiza-
tion can easily form a local union which will soon affiliate
with the Central Body.
The work of organization of new unions is a necessary
one to the life of a Central Union. For without such signs
of progress, interest will be lost, and affiliated unions will
soon drop away. Every new union formed and affiliated
means that every boycott will be more effective, every strike
less apt to fail, and every disagreement between employer
and workmen the more likely to be settled by arbitration.
Not only this, but the greater the number of unions repre-
sented in the Central Body, the more it will be respected and
the more weight its resolutions and protests will have. This
silent influence not only of Central Labor Unions, but of all
labor unions is one of its chief benefits to the working man
and to society at large. No one can estimate how many
strikes have been avoided or how many difficulties have
been adjusted simply because this organization exists in the
community.
The duty of the Legislative Committee is commonly stated
54 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
as follows : " to use all honorable means to secure labor
legislation, to prepare petitions and attend public hearings
upon this subject, and to prepare such bills as the Central
Labor Union shall direct. They shall make reports of all
steps taken by them for approval of the body." As a
working rule, every question of legislation or law which
arises, is at once referred to this committee which reports
later for the action of the whole union. Since the establish-
ment of the state branches of the American Federation of
Labor in ten states, and of the state assemblies by working-
men in a few others, organized almost solely for the purpose
of affecting legislation, this committee of the Central Labor
Union has not been so active as formerly in suggesting or
promoting legislation. All questions of law, however, are
turned over to this committee, which is empowered to obtain
legal opinions.
As to the Committee on Grievances and Arbitration we find
it stated that their duty is " to investigate all grievances pre-
sented by affiliated Unions, and upon request attempt to
amicably adjust the existing difficulties between employees
and employers. No strike shall be indorsed by this body
until a full statement has been submitted, and all attempts to
amicably adjust the difficulties have been exhausted or
proved futile. Should any member of this Committee be
directly interested in the affair, the president shall appoint
another member to serve in his place. For their services
they shall be remunerated at the rate of twenty-five cents
per hour." Not only does the Grievance Committee take cog-
nizance of difficulties existing between employers and union
men, but a great part of their work consists in adjusting
difficulties existing between unions affiliated with the Central
body or between individuals and unions. To illustrate the
work of this very important committee, it may be well to
mention a case which recently occurred in one of the larger
Central Labor Unions.
ORGANIZATION 55
The Union of Eccentric Firemen requested the Central
Labor Union to ask a union employer to discharge a certain
man because he was a non-union man or a "scab." The
case was at once referred to the Arbitration Committee,
which after investigation found evidence of persecution ; for
the man had always been, and was willing to be, a union
man, but had refused to pay an unjust fine. The committee
reported that the Central Labor Union should request the
Firemen's Union to receive the man back in their union.
After a good deal of objection the man was received by the
union, but only after he had been charged an initiation fee
more than three times that of the ordinary fee. This action
was justified by the statement that for several years the man
had derived a benefit from union conditions, but had paid
no dues to the union. If the Firemen's Union had not com-
plied with the request of the Central the penalty would have
been expulsion, while if the man had refused to pay the fine,
the penalty would have been the loss of his job. This is but
one example out of scores of cases adjusted by the Grievance
and Arbitration Committee every year, and it is doubtful
whether the adjustment of difficulties between employers and
union men is more important than the settlement of con-
troversies between unions or between unions and individuals.
Without this latter service it would be impossible to keep a
federation of unions intact. Of the causes of these disputes
between unions we shall speak later.
The Label Committee exists for the purpose of securing
recognition and support of all authorized labels and trade-
marks of all unions, and in every way possible advancing
the sale of union-made goods. An agitation has recently
been started for a universal label for all union-made goods,
and the Label Committee has this in charge. Several Central
Unions have a Statistics Committee, while in others this work
is supposed to be performed by one of the regular officers.
$6 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
In the Baltimore Union their duties are defined as follows :
"To provide, whenever possible, data of unorganized crafts
for the use of the organization committee. They shall com-
pile statistics on such legislative measures as may be directed
by the Federation of Labor on behalf of the Legislative Com-
mittee, in performance of its duty, and such other business
as the Federation may direct." The work of this committee
is almost entirely neglected. The Finance or Auditing Com-
mittee has the ordinary duties of such a committee. The
Resolution Committee is peculiar to a few Central Unions
which are more thoroughly organized. It passes on all reso-
lutions before they are submitted to the union. Of course
this does not bind the union to accept recommendations of
the committee, but the effect is to cut off a great deal of
useless debate. The Education Committee is one which ex-
ists in the organization of very few Central Labor Unions.
Its duties consist for the most part in aiding to enforce the
laws relating to compulsory education and child labor.
Sometimes its scope is broader and includes attempts at
education of workmen through lectures, pamphlets, lyceums,
and the public press. Another committee has charge of all
matters pertaining to communications from all sources out-
side of unions affiliated with the Central Union, and all
matters concerning visitors. This committee reports at
every meeting. It practically decides what communications
shall be read and who shall have the privilege of addressing
the union. It is very seldom that the report of this Commit-
tee is not concurred in.
The Committee on Agitation consists of men capable of
presenting the rights and demands of unionists, and ever
ready to do so, as well as to promulgate trade union doc-
trines. The object of this committee is to aid in moulding
public opinion in favor of organized labor. It is found in very
few Central Labor Unions, for each delegate generally con-
ORGANIZATION 57
siders himself a committee for this purpose. Besides these
committees, there is always in small Central Unions a Com-
mittee on Building Trades. Taken altogether, these trades
are the best organized and most aggressive, and work under
better conditions than other trades. They often stand as a
unit on a question of wages or of hours or of recognition of
the union, and really form a class by themselves. In the
larger cities they have Central Unions of their own, which
will be referred to later on. These Building Trades Com-
mittees are composed naturally only of delegates who repre-
sent trades connected with building. They have charge of
disputes which may occur between any one of the Building
Trades and the employer. If they are unable to adjust the
difficulties, the matter is generally referred to the Arbitration
Committee of the Central Labor Union.
As a matter of further organization for the better and
more rapid transaction of business, several Central Unions in
which the number of affiliated unions is very large, or where
the number of delegates from each union is so great as to
make the Central body unwieldy, if all the questions were to
come up before it, we find the union divided into sections,
according to trades. This scheme was carried out to a greater
extent in the New York Central Labor Union, in the height
of its prosperity, than in any other. There were at one
time two hundred and eighty-seven local unions affili-
ated with the Central body, and as the constitution allowed
three delegates for each local, there would have been a con-
vention, if all were present, large enough successfully to
block its own business. This was really the result until the
division into trade sections was brought about. Provision
was made for ten sections, but only four were organized.
These were the Building Trades, the Food-producing, the
Metal, and the Miscellaneous Trades sections. They were
formed under the following clause of the Constitution :
£g HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
11 When there are four or more affiliated Trades or Labor Unions
represented in this body, they may, with sanction of the Central
Body, form a Trade section, which shall have power to do all things
for the good and welfare of such bodies ; but shall in all things be
governed by this constitution and by-laws. There shall also be a
Miscellaneous section, which shall comprise all Trade and Labor
Unions other than those in regular Trades sections."
Some Centrals make provision for the affiliation of Allied
Trades Councils, as the following section of one of the con-
stitutions will show :
" Centra] bodies of distinct trades, consisting of delegates from a
number of Unions, may be represented in this Council by five (5)
delegates, and shall pay the same initiation and dues as a single
Union, except an additional ten cents per month for every Union
they represent, which money shall be used to forward the proceed-
ings of this Council to every Local under their jurisdiction. This
shall not prevent any of the subordinate Unions from securing repre-
sentation in this Council, but when all the Unions of such affiliating
central body are directly represented, it shall not be eligible to
membership." *
The minutes of the different sections are read to the Cen-
tral Union and indorsed by it. The Central Labor Union in
this case is a federation of Trades Councils, and is a real
advance in organization over the ordinary Central Labor
Union. Only two constitutions consulted have provisions
for trade sections.
Delegates and Constituent Unions.
The qualifications necessary for the affiliation of unions
and the admission of delegates are few, but they are of very
great importance to the life and work of the Central body.
In the first place, none but labor unions are eligible, and
the standing of these must be unquestioned. That is, there
must be no doubt whatever that they are what they pretend
1 Amendment to Constitution of Central Labor Council of Cincinnati.
OR GA \IZA TION 5 9
to be — bona fide unions of laborers. This, of course, closes
the doors to all unions of employers and "bosses," whatever
the name, so that the responsibility for good or evil of all
acts of the Central Labor Union rests where it should rest —
on the laborers themselves. They cannot be dominated,
from the inside at least, by organizations composed of men
who, as they think, are directly opposed to them.
In the second place, these labor unions must have been
in existence at least six months before they are eligible to
affiliation. This rule is the result of bitter experience born
of the days, which are not wholly past, when labor unions
of all kinds took political action as unions and often helped
prominent members to some political office. The endorse-
ment of a Central Labor Union, which represented from ten
thousand to fifty thousand workingmen, was a " consumma-
tion devoutly to be wished " by an ambitious local politician,
and it was not a difficult matter for him to form local unions
when all that was necessary was to have a president and
a secretary. These were competent to elect delegates to the
Central, and, as one of the delegates says, "there was no
authority to go behind the returns." With the help of such
" paper unions," almost anything might be endorsed. This
will be shown more clearly when we come to the question
of representation.
The Central Labor Union must not recognize local unions
composed of men who have seceded from other local
unions, unless the parent body agrees to this course. Fac-
tious quarrels and secessions are as prevalent among labor
unions as they are in other societies ; here they destroy the
work of unionism, since such action in itself is disunion.
Employers have no respect for so-called organized labor
when that labor is divided against itself. One of the avowed
objects of Central Labor Unions is closer organization, and
they are simply complying with this principle when they
6O HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
refuse to recognize a secession movement. However, they
should go farther than this, and probably when they are
stronge'r they will go farther, and refuse to recognize more
than one organization in the same trade. Rival organiza-
tions of one craft in the same city cause more jealousy, strife,
and consequent disorganization than perhaps any other one
thing except politics.
As an example of what Central Labor Unions may do
with this difficulty, the following case which occurred in the
New York Central Labor Union may be cited. Two rival
unions of livery and cab drivers with the same name sent
delegates to the Central Labor Union, and this body was
called upon to decide which was the parent body according
to the constitution. After struggling with the question at
almost every meeting for months, the Central finally decided
to recognize neither unless they would join their forces and
send only one set of delegates, which, it is understood, was
done. While these two unions were fighting each other,
however, the employers saw their chance of reimposing the
long hours which the organization, when undivided, had
succeeded in cutting down.
At present no matter how many unions of any given
trade exist in the same city, if it is not represented in the
Central Labor Union, the first union which applies is the
one affiliated. Not until there is more advantage to a local
in joining a Central body, can it be otherwise. When the
time comes when a local cannot stand alone, but must seek
federation with other unions, the Central can dictate
stricter qualifications for affiliation.
As the affiliated unions must be bond fide labor unions,
so the delegate from these locals must be a bond fide
laborer. Not only must he be a wage-earner in the trade
which he represents, but he must have been a member of
the organization of that trade at least six months before he
OR GANIZA TION $ !
can represent it. This is another check to political ambition
and to the use of the Central Labor Union in the further-
ance of such ambition. Moreover, it is to be presumed that
in six months the members of a local union will know the
man well enough to trust him as their delegate ; while he, on
his part, will know the wants of the union and temper of
the members so that he may represent them more
acceptably.
The classes of men excluded by the constitutions of
unions which shut out any individuals, are the following:
public officials, professional politicians, notaries, lawyers,
and in general, any one who is not a wage-worker, even
though he be a member of the local union. As there is
no rule without an exception, we find that probably the
largest Central Labor Union in the United States is virtually
controlled by public officials, using that term in a broad
sense so as to include all employees of the city government.
Where this is true, the Central Labor Union is rapidly
degenerating into a machine, whereby the party which holds
control of the city government can help to continue that
control. This is probably the very danger which the
framers of certain Central Union Constitutions sought to
avoid. We have said enough of the second class, the
professional politician, to show clearly why he is not made
eligible as a delegate. It may be readily seen also why
lawyers are excluded, for they are not laborers and they
represent the class from which politicians most naturally
come. Notaries are excluded probably from an excess of
fear that they too may become politicians and use the
union for their own ends.
The delegate to the Central Labor Union is generally not
a typical labor union man. That is, he is not like the rank
and file of trade unionists. There is a certain natural
selection going on in the trade union world as well as in
62 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
the world of nature. This selection is often made, not be-
cause of any inherent fitness which certain men may have
over others, but because in the trade union meetings he is
the man who speaks the most clearly or most exactly to the
point, and, moreover, is always ready to speak on any sub-
ject. He is the man who makes himself heard and felt
among his fellow craftsmen ; in other words he is the natural
leader. It is no wonder then that when some one is needed
to represent the union, this man who is best known and who
is the readiest speaker, should be elected. He may not be
the hardest worker or the one who gives the best advice, but
he is the one who, when the union is stirred by debate,
always come to the surface. The Central Labor Union is
composed of this kind of men just as a college is generally
composed of boys who have been conspicuous in high
schools and academies. And exactly the same thing hap-
pens in both cases. Each finds in his own environment that
there are others who have been trained in the same sort of a
school as he has been, and that there are many who are his
equals and some his superiors. In the Central Labor Union
there is a repetition of this process, with the result, as has
been stated, that the men of real force come to the front.
It is perfectly natural that the kind of men who have just
been described should not be the most conservative among
trade unionists or the ones least likely to take action on a
great variety of subjects, even though sometimes it is diffi-
cult to see their connection with the interest of labor. The
delegate then is not a typical trade unionist, because he is
more aggressive, more of what he himself would describe as
a " fighter" than are the majority of his fellows in the local
trade union.
The delegate of course is the bond between the local
union and the Central, and has duties to perform for each.
It is his business to report to the Central Union all grievances
ORGANIZATION 63
which the local is not able to adjust for itself. These griev-
ances may be between the union and the employers, between
this union and another, or between the union and the indi-
vidual workman. He must also, so far as he is able to do so,
and so far as it is necessary, persuade the Central Union to
take adequate action upon the grievance thus presented. He
must be present at all meetings of the Central and see that
the dues of his union are paid. So important are his func-
tions deemed by the local that he sometimes receives a small
salary for performing them. His duties toward the Central
Union are not many, but they are essential. He must be in
regular attendance and must serve the society either upon
committees or as an officer whenever elected or appointed.
The following is the pledge he takes on becoming a dele-
gate : " I, , do solemnly and sincerely pledge my word
and honor as a man that I will obey the rules and regulations
of this Central Labor Union, and to the best of my ability,
perform all duties incumbent upon me as a member thereof."
In most unions this is the only pledge required. Under
another head there will be given the pledge required by a
very few Central Unions, which shows these unions to be
essentially different from the majority.
The delegate is, of course, obliged to report back to his
local union everything of interest to it. The independence
of the delegate varies with the different Central Unions and
also with the different locals. Very often he is instructed to
vote or to introduce resolutions against his better judgment.
This occurs altogether too often, and is simply another evi-
dence of the lack of trust which trade unionists show toward
each other. It is frequently a personal matter, depending
upon the popularity and general standing of the delegate
among his fellow unionists.
The delegate to the Central Union from the local union
probably receives more benefit from the organization than
64 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
any one else. He learns here to discuss questions of interest
to workingmen, in their relation not only to his own craft,
but to all others. He is brought into contact, once a week,
with delegates of from five to sixty different local unions of
all trades, and his views of the industrial situation are neces-
sarily broadened. Here is a lyceum, in which only real
questions of vital interest can arise.
Representation, Dues, and Revenues.
The bases of representation in Central Labor Unions are
almost as numerous as the unions themselves. In fact
hardly any two federations of labor have, or have had, the
same basis. This is one of the questions which have caused
not a little trouble to labor leaders everywhere, and it
really constitutes a troublesome problem. There are three
principles of representation adopted by different labor feder-
ations : proportional, progressive, and arbitrary representa-
tion. Each has its advantages and its disadvantages.
Perhaps the most nearly ideal system is the application of
the simple proportional principle ; that is, one delegate for
a certain number of members in the local union. This
gives an equal representation to all trade unionists. We
find, however, two grave objections. In the first place, the
same difficulty arises as that which was raised by the small
states when the Federal Constitution was about to be framed.
It was feared that the larger unions with their many dele-
gates would completely overshadow the few delegates of the
smaller unions, and that their interests would, therefore, not
receive the attention they deserve. They might even be
forced out of the federation entirely. Of course it is mani-
festly impossible for labor unions to adopt the compromise
which was adopted by the constitutional convention. Some
other remedy must therefore be found. Another serious ob-
jection to the proportional system is the great number of dele-
OR GANIZA TION (5 5
gates which would attend the Central meetings if the num-
ber of constituents for each member were made too small.
With this system, however, we have the most rational basis
for collecting revenue for the Central Union, for taxation and
representation could then be made proportional. This is not
true of either of the other systems in use. The Chicago
Central Labor Union allows one delegate for each one hun-
dred members. The London Trades Council, perhaps the
most successful Central Labor Union in the world, still holds
to this principle. It is not difficult there, because the num-
ber of constituents is put at five hundred, and the delegates
meet but once a month, while almost all business of import-
ance is transacted by an Executive Committee.
American federations of all kinds are divided between the
progressive and the arbitrary systems of representation, while
almost all have the same system of revenues, although the
latter often differ in amount. The progressive system is one
frequently adopted by Central Labor Unions. In this sys-
tem there is a minimum number of constituents, for which
the local union is entitled to a certain number of delegates.
If the union has more than this minimum number of mem-
bers, it is entitled to one delegate for each certain additional
number. For a good example of this system of representa-
tion we will take the Baltimore Central Labor Union : Any
organization which has one hundred and fifty members or
fewer is entitled to five delegates ; organizations having over
one hundred and fifty and fewer than two hundred and fifty
members may have six delegates ; organizations with over
two hundred and fifty members are entitled to seven delegates.
Some Central Unions do not limit the number of delegates,
but provide one delegate for each additional one hundred
members. This system is capable of great variation, and in
fact is varied to suit local conditions. If the number of
unions affiliating is liable to be small, a comparatively large
66 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
number of delegates from each union is desirable ; but where
the number of unions is large, it is necessary to limit the
number of delegates from each. Again, where the constitu-
ent unions are large, it is necessary that the number of
members entitled to one delegate should be large also. The
size of the Central body must be kept in mind. It must
have a sufficient number of delegates properly to represent
the trade unions ; but it must not have so many that the
wheels of business become clogged.
This system of representation does not readily lend itself
justly to the prevailing method of collecting revenue from
the trade unions ; for wherever it is used we see taxation
without representation. For example, under the Baltimore
plan all members over three hundred and fifty would have
no representation at all, while each member would pay the
same dues to the Central Union. Thus, since each delegate
has one vote, the smaller societies are much better repre-
sented than the larger ones. The American Federation of
Labor overcomes the difficulty nicely, by limiting the num-
ber of delegates to its conventions, but proportioning the
number of votes possessed by each to the number of trade
union members he represents. The number of votes in these
conventions varies from one to seventy-three for each dele-
gate. The revenue is strictly proportionate in this case.
The difficulty first spoken of, however, again arises, namely,
that the smaller trade unions may be lost sight of.
The third system of representation used by Central Labor
Unions fixes arbitrarily the number of delegates from each
society. Generally five delegates are allowed, no matter how
many members the local union may have enrolled. This
is a most unjust system, for a union of forty or fifty members
has exactly the same representation as a strong union of five
hundred or six hundred members. In at least one Central
Union this system was adopted as a remedy for the abuses
OR GANIZA TION 6 7
of a better system. The second system here described was
in vogue, but there was no method of determining how many
members a union really had enrolled. Any number could
be sent, and if the credentials were all right, the delegates
must be seated. The constitution was revised, and the arbi-
trary system of representation was substituted. The very
obvious means of controlling the number of delegates by the
per capita tax was overlooked, and the dues were also arbi-
trarily fixed. This is, of course, one of the means used to
offset the injustice of the representation. As each union
had the same number of delegates as every other union, it
should pay the same dues. Moreover, in most Central
Unions where this system obtains, no legislation affecting
the locals may be enacted without first referring it to the
constituent unions for action. This must be a popular vote,
so that each trade unionist may record his individual opinion.
It is in the Central Unions which use the arbitrary system of
representation together with the per capita tax, and without
the referendum vote, that the greatest injustice occurs.
The delegates to the Central body are commonly elected
for six months or a year. In one case, where three
delegates are elected from each local union, one is elected
for eighteen months, one for twelve months, and one for six
months. This is a refinement which is not as yet appre-
ciated nor indeed necessary.
The quorum necessary to transact business varies from at
least fifteen delegates, representing fifteen organizations, to
five delegates, irrespective of the number of organizations
represented. Some of the smaller Central Unions specify
that one-quarter or one-third of the organizations must be
represented. Each Central makes its own rules for the
government of the delegates and punishes non-attendance
by declaring the seat vacant.
The dues from the local unions to the Central are in
68 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
general very low and are just about sufficient to pay the
necessary expenses. There are practically two methods in
use of assessing these dues. One is the per capita tax —
generally one cent or one and one-quarter cents per
month. This is by far the best system, as it not only does
justice to all, but generally insures a larger income. The
second system is the assessment of an arbitrary amount
upon each organization affiliated. This varies from fifty
cents to two dollars per month, more frequently the latter.
If it were possible to know accurately the number of
members in each local, this system would probably never be
resorted to. The membership could, in a measure, be
determined by making the representation and vote in the
Central depend upon the number of constituents paid for.
This plan is carried out in the Trades Union Congress of
England, as well as in the London Trades Council. But in
these cases the dues are very much smaller — in the London
Trades Council only four cents yearly per member.
Besides the one cent per capita tax or the arbitrary
monthly fee in the Central Labor Union, each local union
must usually pay an initiation fee of from two dollars to five
dollars. When trades councils are affiliated with the
Central, they must pay in addition to the same initiation fee
and the same dues of the single union, a tax of ten cents for
each subordinate union. When more money is necessary,
the Central cannot levy an assessment, but is driven to
expedients of doubtful advantage, like the picnic or the
entertainment or the sale of the right to publish a Labor-
day souvenir, which is a thinly veiled blackmailing scheme.
It is a blackmailing scheme, because the one who buys the
right either intimidates merchants and employers into giving
money for advertising, or promises them protection against
strikes and boycotts. Both intimidations and promises are
made in the name of the Central Labor Union, but generally
without warrant.
OR GANIZA TION 69
Very rarely is any provision made to carry on a strike or
to assist unions when striking ; there is no permanent fund
upon which the union may draw in times of peculiar dis-
tress. The dues at present are too low to admit of this, and
as a consequence, begging for funds to assist men on a
strike and appeals to affiliated unions and to the public are
phenomena most noticeable in the meetings and the minutes
of the Central Labor Union. This not only demoralizes the
men and the unions but guarantees no support to strikers
even in a most just cause.
CHAPTER III.
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS.
I. OBJECTS.
EVERY Central Labor Union publishes along with its
constitution and by-laws certain objects for which it exists.
These are ideals, rarely fulfilled completely, serving as an
outline which the active, healthy union is always trying to
fill out.
It is impossible to determine to what extent these objects
are accomplished. There are no statistics of Central Labor
Unions, even though it be the duty of an officer or a com-
mittee in each union to gather and preserve such statistics,
and the minutes of the Centrals do not furnish the material
necessary to determine how much has been done. In fact
most of the work done in the furtherance of many of the
avowed objects of the Central Unions would not appear in
the minutes at all. Often, however, by results in legislation,
in education, and in organization can we see the work
accomplished by the Central.
The following " objects " have not been taken from any
one constitution, but include practically all those found in
the constitutions of Central Labor Unions in the United
States. There is variation in the " objects," as published
but there is little, if any, variation in the real end or aim of
Central Labor Unions. The principal difference is that some
constitutions are more complete than others. Certain
clauses are incorporated which, though not found in other
constitutions, are as much a part of the work of one as of
(70)
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES ji
another. All Central Unions are alike in the objects for
which they were founded. The principles and methods of
these bodies are often widely different, and will be treated
later.
These " objects " may then be treated as if they were all
adopted by a single Central Labor Union, and in general, as
far as this point is concerned, what is true of any one is true
of all.
The objects may be conveniently grouped under the three
following heads :
ist. Organization.
2d. Education.
3d. Industry, or means of offense and defense.
I. Organization.
In speaking of the committee on organization, we have
already referred at length to the importance of the function
of organization in Central Unions. Too much stress can
scarcely be laid upon this part of the work, for it represents
the foundation of all influence or value which the acts of the
Central body may have. Next to internal trade union dis-
putes and political quarrels, the neglect of the work of
organization is the most frequent cause of loss of influence
and of the value of a Central Labor Union. Small locals need
constant attention, for if they begin to lapse and withdraw
from the Central, the evil effect is cumulative. The loss of
each active local union means so much loss of power in any-
thing the Central may undertake to do. This loss of power
in its turn may be the cause of the withdrawal of other
locals, as they would reason that they would not get value
received for what they contribute.
The very first object in almost all constitutions of Central
Labor Unions is that the body was founded for the more
complete organization of all labor in the city or district, and
72 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
11 the better to enable all organized labor in the city to act
promptly in emergencies, and thus mutually help each other
in labor difficulties by bringing to bear at once the com-
bined influence of all labor organizations to effect a settle-
ment." We see from this that the organization which is the
object of Central Labor Unions is of two kinds : First, The
complete organization of all laborers in local unions ;
Second, the uniting of these local unions into a federation.
Nowhere has this program been entirely carried out. The
most complete organization occurs, of course, in the smaller
cities and towns. A few Central Labor Unions have
reported that all local unions are affiliated with the Central
Union ; but there are always non-union workingmen to be
found even in these towns. In the larger cities by no means
all of the local unions are affiliated with the Central Labor
Union or with the similar organization, the District Assembly
of the Knights of Labor. Sometimes only a mere fraction
of the local unions are thus federated. For instance, it is
estimated that in New York City there are about five
hundred labor unions, while not more than two hundred are
affiliated with the four or five Central organizations. There
are several reasons for this state of affairs. One of them is
found in the fact that there are several Central organizations.
In other words, as long as the federations of labor unions are
at war with each other and cannot agree upon objects and
methods, the local union will not affiliate with either.
The following is the testimony of an officer of a Central
Labor Union on the question of Central organizations :
" After years of experience with several central organizations of
the city almost constantly at variance, generally caused by some
officer or individual member dragging his organization into his own
petty squabbles, I have come to the conclusion that if organized
labor is ever going to be united in Cleveland, it must be through
lThe two largest bodies have since combined.
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 73
one central organization, in which every subject necessary to the
welfare of the workers can be fully discussed and the wishes of the
majority carried out ; and whilst I have always believed a building
trades council to be a necessity, I realize that kindred trades must
remain in closest touch with, and be allied to the other craft organi-
zations bound together in one grand central body, wherein the
workers' interests are ever more preached and practiced. Such a
body is the Central Labor Union of this city." 1
Moreover, there are often several different organizations
in the same trade and the Central Union will recognize only
one of them. Oftentimes local unions which feel that they
have not been treated justly by the Central withdraw and
remain unaffiliated unless they affiliate directly with the
American Federation of Labor.
This organization does not require that all locals should
affiliate with Central Unions, but simply urges them to do so.
This is because the Central Labor Union has no definite
place in the organization of the larger federation, which is
primarily a federation of national trade unions. To be sure,
each Central Union pays its tax and sends its delegates to
the convention, but no matter how large the Central may be
it has but the one vote, while the number of votes of the
national trade unions is based upon membership. More-
over, to show the very loose form of the Federation, and the
way in which it looks upon the Central, it may be stated
that each Central Labor Union even though it has not
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor may send
delegates and have a vote. It is also true in the General
Assembly of the Knights of Labor, if the " Knights " are
represented in the Central.
In the present state of organization of labor in America
the Central Labor Union holds a pecular position. It seems
to be a federation outside of the regular lines of organiza-
1 Cleveland Citizen, Sept. 24, 1898.
74 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
tion, almost unrecognized because its constituent unions
have already been recognized through other representatives.
Yet, as far as the city or district is concerned, this federa-
tion is capable of wielding a greater power and of yielding
a far greater direct benefit than any national trade organi-
zation.
A national or state federation cannot have for its com-
ponent parts both national trade unions and small federa-
tions of miscellaneous local unions upon the same basis.
One or the other must be subordinate, and the time has not
come when we can have a successful federation of Central
Labor Unions. Indeed, the reason for any representation of
the Central in the conventions of national federations is not
at all clear. It is for the most part merely duplication. The
work of the Central Labor Union is in any event local, and
its connection with central unions of other cities is more fan-
cied than real. As far as organization is concerned, its efforts
should be confined to seeing that every workman in the city
is a union man, and that every local union is affiliated with
a Central Union — and that Central Union the only one in
the city.
Long before this has been completely accomplished, or-
ganized labor will find itself in a position to enforce any just
demand which is not directly contrary to economic laws.
2. Education.
The second group of objects is not considered by the
Central Union of so much importance as the others, and less
time and energy are spent in their accomplishment. Very
often they are entirely neglected. The only importance these
educational objects have for the present trade unionist is as
a means of accomplishing the objects aimed at in the other
groups. They aim to educate the laborer or the public, not
in a general way, but only along those lines in which they
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 75
hope to accomplish amelioration in the conditions of labor
or to effect certain reforms.
What they have to say in regard to general education,
which is for children, is not properly a direct "object" of
the Central Labor Union, but rather a principle for which it
stands in the name of all labor, whether organized or not.
This must be considered later on. The direct educational
objects are as follows :
1st. To educate all classes in the true object of the trade
union movement by means of lectures, pamphlets, public
debates, distribution of industrial literature generally.
2d. To give reliable information concerning all trade dis-
putes.
3th. To establish and maintain a labor press.
4th. To mould public opinion in favor of trade unions.
5th. To collect and preserve trade and labor statistics.
6th. To provide a congress of labor.
/th. " To find if possible the causes of the unequal distribu-
tion of the products of labor created from the natural boun-
ties in and on the earth."
Some of these laudable objects are attained in a measure,
and some are impossible of attainment by a Central Labor
Union. The first is generally lost sight of except when some
special object necessitates this sort of education, as in the
case of a great strike or boycott, or a political movement by
the Central Union. The funds of the union, as well as the
time of the members, are too limited to do any such work
on a large scale. A keen interest, however, is taken in all
matters of general education undertaken by the public or by
societies, where it is certain that it is not carried on in the
interest of a political party. A noted labor leader, giving an
address in a city where there is a Central Labor Union may
be sure of great enthusiasm among its members and conse-
quently may expect a good audience.
76 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
The information on labor disputes furnished by a Central
Labor Union, while it may be reliable, must necessarily be
looked upon as coming from a source which is bound to be
biased. Such information is accepted as trustworthy only
by those whose interests are the same as those of the mem-
bers of the Central. Of course, the same thing is true of
information obtained from the other side in the dispute.
Thus, while the Central Union might really accomplish the
object in this case, it is not of so much importance as if it
were accomplished by a disinterested party.
Only about twenty per cent, of the Central Labor Unions
of the United States own or control a labor paper ; but many
more, if not all, have official organs. It is of much greater
benefit to a Central Union that there should be at least one
large daily paper in the city, which is in sympathy with the
labor movement, than that it should have a weekly paper of
its own. More men are reached, and especially more men
whom it is desirable to reach. The labor paper goes in the
main only to those who already believe the doctrines
preached ; and little is gained in this way. Moreover, the
spirit breathed by labor papers generally is so intolerant, so
one-sided, and so radical that but little is accomplished aside
from making the rank and file ever more radical and more
bitter toward all capitalists. The present industrial system
is the favorite theme of editors and contributors : a scientific
discussion of an economic question rarely appears in their
columns. As far as facts and news of the labor world are
given, the labor press is careful and painstaking and fills a
real want of the workingmen, but when the realm of theory
is entered, the reader gets only a partisan view. The litera-
ture disseminated by means of the union is better, but it is
written for the most part in the spirit of the advocate rather
than in that of the impartial seeker after truth. The fore-
going is true not only of the organs of Central Labor Unions
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES jj
but, in large measure, of all strictly labor publications. Some
of these, however, are of course much more conservative
than others.
The moulding of public opinion is accomplished more by
the regular work of the Central Labor Union than by any
special effort it may make for this avowed object. This
need, therefore, not be considered. Favorable public opinion
is a necessity to labor unions in any dispute with employers,
if they are to be successful ; but this favorable opinion can
come only after consistent and conservative action on the
part of the union.
We have already spoken of the matter of collecting statis-
tics and its almost entire neglect. This is one of the " ob-
jects" of the Central Labor Union whose importance does
not seem to warrant the outlay of any energy. It is in fact
quite doubtful if it is really within the province of the labor
union to undertake this work at all. Training, time, and
money with which to make a success of it are all lacking,
while the frequent changes of committees and officers would
render it very difficult. Moreover, we have state, and in a
few cases municipal, bureaus of labor statistics which are
more reliable and which can do the work very much better.
As an auxiliary to statistical bureaus, however, they may
prove of great value.
The Central Labor Union provides a congress of labor
where representatives may meet to " discuss and examine all
questions affecting the general interest of the workers." Here
the delegates may be lifted out of the narrow sphere of their
own craft and be led to look at questions which are vital to
trade unionism and labor generally, from different points of
view. Here they may see how a trade dispute in any one
craft may affect other workers, and how the trade unions
may be mutually helpful. Thus in numerous ways are the
ideas of the delegate broadened in industrial matters, and as
78 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
he is an influential member in his local union, the local union
receives the benefit, the effect of which is to be observed in
its more rational action.
The final educational object of Central Labor Unions is
the most ambitious of all and is least likely to be accom-
plished. It is absolutely impossible for such a body of
laborers to deal with such a question, however desirable and
necessary its solution may be.
3 . Offensive and Defensive.
The real objects of the foundation of Central Labor Unions
and those for which the foregoing are simply as means to an
end, are what we have put under the head of " Industry or
means of offense and defense." They are :
ist: To protect the rights and to defend the interests of
the laboring classes.
2d : To render assistance to locals in securing concessions
to all just demands.
3d : To guard against, and to use only as a last resort, the
strike and the boycott.
4th: To aid in the adoption of the union label.
5th : To further by every possible means the settlement of
industrial disputes by arbitration.
Many Central Labor Unions content themselves with the
first of these objects without specifying further. Indeed, this
probably states the whole question for Central Unions, for
they have no system of insurance or of benefits, and practic-
ally no social functions, such as are the foundations of the
local. Under such a clause as this, almost anything may be
discussed or attempted unless other parts of the constitution
forbid. It is best, however, as many unions do, to show
along what lines and in what manner these rights are to be
protected and these interests defended.
In following out this program, one of the first benefits
OBJECTS AKD PRINCIPLES 79
which local unions expect and receivre at the hands of the
Central Union is aid in the adoption and use of the trade
union label. The union label affixed to a product asserts
that that product has been manufactured under what the
unionist calls "fair" conditions. These "fair" conditions
include the payment of the rate of wage demanded by the
union, the working of a certain number of hours, also fixed
by the union, and all sanitary conditions favorable to the
health and well being of the worker as well as cleanliness in
the manufacture of the product. These latter conditions are
supposed to be determined by the union working through
the legislature and the Board of Health. The union label is
granted to an employer only after he has complied with all
the conditions which the union imposes. The reimburse-
ment to the manufacturer for any added inconvenience or
expense incident to such compliance is supposed to come
from the extra patronage he may get from the consumers
who buy only union-made goods when possible, together
with the satisfaction which comes from knowing that he is
treating his employees fairly. There is, of course, the added
benefit, which is often very considerable, of keeping the good
will of his employees and of being exempt from strikes in
his factory and from boycotts on his goods.
There are at present thirty such labels (including the gen-
eral union label) which are endorsed by the American Fed-
eration of Labor. There are also in some cities other local
labels, indorsed by the Central Labor Union.
The assistance which the Central can give to unions in
the consumption of union goods through recognition of the
union label, is necessarily local, and consists for the most
part of agitation, of education in conditions under which
non-union goods are made, contrasted with the fair condi-
tions of union-made goods, and of insistence on union con-
ditions wherever, as a union, it comes into contact with
gO HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
dealers. Local unions often fine their members if detected
in the use of a non-union or "scab" product; but the Cen-
tral Union has not yet reached a point where it can force the
locals to conform to such rules. There is at least one excep-
tion to this rule. One Central Labor Union has a resolution
on its minutes to the effect that all unions affiliated shall
employ no musicians except those belonging to unions
affiliated with the Central Body. It is not a part of the con-
stitution, and no penalty is attached ; and the enforcement
depends upon the circumstances of the individual case.
The musicians' union complained that it was treated un-
justly, when the Central voted that another local need not
break a contract already entered into with non-union
musicians, as it would cost the latter local one hundred and
twenty-five dollars. Unions or union men are inconsistent
when they employ non-unionists or non-union goods, but
when a Central Labor Union attempts to force the com-
ponent unions to such consistent action, it must be stronger
as a federation, and offer more advantages than it does at
present, or it will soon disintegrate. As yet, the trades
unionist has not arrived at the point where he can be forced
to give up his personal independence even for the good of
the principles in which he firmly believes.
The real aggressive work of the Central Union is divided
into three parts :
ist: Efforts at conciliation or arbitration.
2d : Sanctioning or ordering a strike or boycott.
3d : Support of the strike or boycott.
Let us suppose that a local union has some difficulty with
an employer, and is unable to settle it alone. As a final
resort the facts are laid before the Central Union and are at
once referred to the arbitration committee or to a special
committee. The committee visits the employer and tries to
adjust the dispute, and in doing so has, of course, the whole
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES gl
potential force of the Central Union behind it. This con-
ference very often has the desired effect for two reasons :
first, the committee will not be quite so prejudiced, and will
be inclined to look at the question in a broader light and
perhaps to make concessions which the local would not
make ; or perhaps the local committee could not gain access
to the employer at all, while the committee from the larger
organization can. In the second place, a federation of
unions has more influence and power than any single union,
and this fact is generally recognized by the employer. But
if the committee is not able to adjust the difficulty, it makes
this report to the Central, with or without recommendations.
Then if the case is considered of sufficient importance, the
Central Union may sanction a strike.
Central Labor Unions, without exception, in the United
States have declared, without reservation, in favor of arbitra-
tion as a means of settling all industrial difficulties. This
statement is found in the constitution of every such body,
and is acted upon whenever opportunity occurs. It offers
its services either as a court of arbitration, or to aid in any
manner the state or local boards of arbitration in order that
difficulties may be adjusted in the only sensible way.
As a necessary result of this endorsement of arbitration,
the strike is discouraged in every possible way, and is never
resorted to, in theory at least, and so far as the Central
Union is concerned, in practice, until all other means have
failed. Many more strikes would occur among disaffected
workmen, were it not for the temporizing influence of the
Central body, and for its refusal to support them, either
morally or financially. This is one of the real blessings of
the Central Labor Union, not only for the laborer but for
the employer and the public. No strike receives the sup-
port of the Central body unless there is a well defined
principle at stake, and often not then, unless there is a
reasonable chance of success.
82 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
If there is fancied wrong or oppression among a certain
class of workmen, the matter is brought up in the local
union first, and is rarely settled without the intervention of
the Central body. The regular delegates of that craft are
there as well as the general organizer to give information,
and the combined wisdom and experience of all the dele-
gates are brought to bear on the difficulty. Thus direct
knowledge is brought weekly to a body, large and powerful,
and wise enough to hold the respect, not only of the
employer, but of the general public as well. If the trouble
cannot be settled peaceably at first, arbitration is resorted
to, generally through the influence of a Central Union. If
this fails entirely and if a strike or boycott is ordered, it is
not for the trade union most interested to fight the battle
alone, but both moral and financial support is given by the
central and by all affiliated unions. This positive help is
worth much, but much more good is accomplished by the
fact of the simple existence of such a force in the city.
Employers are more careful of the treatment of their men
and fewer strikes and boycotts result. Much is therefore
saved to both employers and workmen.
The weapon of offense and defense most feared by some
classes of employers, and most frequently used by laborers,
is the boycott. This is, indeed, now prohibited by statute in
twenty-three states, two of these prohibiting boycotting in
terms, and twenty-one having laws which may be fairly con-
strued to the same effect. These laws, however, like the
laws against blacklisting, are easily evaded, especially where
the difficulty is local, as a boycott on retail merchants,
newspapers, and manufacturers for a local trade.
Numbers count for more in carrying on a boycott than
in any other work of the union. Practically only union
men refrain from patronizing a boycotted establishment, and
the merchant fears only when he loses numbers of customers.
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 83
The general public do not enter into a boycott. They
regard it as a quarrel in which they are not interested, and
have no time to look into the merits of the case.
Without the Central Labor Union, an effective boycott
could not be carried on in the city. If it could, it would
soon be abused. Without a restraining power, petty
grievances, real or imagined, would result in a boycott, and
this, too, possibly when only a small local union was
affected. The Central Labor Union endorses a boycott only
when every other means has failed, and then only when the
Committee on Grievances recommend and the delegates
vote it by a large majority — usually two-thirds or three-
fourths. When a boycott is declared, every affiliated union
is required to support it. If they do not, they forfeit the
right to such support when they are in a similar difficulty.
If any affiliated union should declare a boycott without the
sanction of the Central body, other affiliated unions are not
required to support it. Such a boycott would be so
ineffective that it is quite unlikely to be declared. The
official organ of every Central Union publishes a list of firms
" we don't patronize." This list contains not only the local
firms, but reaches to the products of manufacturers from
Maine to California. The Cleveland Citizen of August 27,
1898, has a list of eighty-five such firms, and the Federa-
tionist, the official publication of the American Federation
of Labor, published in December, 1898, a list of ninety so-
called " unfair firms." Not all boycotts of one Central Union
are endorsed by others or by the American Federation, but
each one rests on the merits of the case. Thus proper
checks are put upon wholesale boycotting, and a resort to
arbitration and other peaceful means of settling the diffi-
culty is assured. The boycott is more often used than a
strike, for not only can union men in this way reach classes
which would be quite safe from a strike, but the method is
at once more convenient and less expensive.
84 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
In but one constitution have we been able to find that a
strike or boycott may be ordered by a Central Union. This
order, however, carries with it no more guarantee of assist-
ance than a mere sanction. It is not binding on the local,
and practically means only a sanction. Where a strike is
considered, the local union must reckon not only with the
Central Union, but with the National Union to which it be-
longs, and the decision of the Central Union may be over-
ruled. Since, however, this is only a sanction and not a
binding order, no clash of authority occurs. Finally, if after
every means of settling the difficulty peaceably has been
tried and has proven futile, and if a strike or boycott, or both,
have been declared, the resources of the Central may be
strained to the utmost to carry the war to a successful con-
clusion. If, however, the local union has declared a strike
or boycott without first consulting the Central, the latter
considers itself absolved from responsibility and may refuse
any assistance. But if the strike has been regularly declared,
the Central, since it has no fund for carrying on strikes, must
devise ways and means of raising money. All affiliated
unions are requested to contribute. This is not compulsory,
but if a local refuses to aid in supporting a strike sanctioned
by the Central, it loses all right to be helped in a like emer-
gency, unless when the call came it was itself engaged in a
strike. This refers simply to financial or moral assistance
and does not include the necessity of striking in sympathy to
aid the striking union. The general Central Labor Union
has no power to order a sympathetic strike, although if a
fair-minded committee from a conservative Central should
recommend this action, most affiliated locals would feel
bound to accede to the request. A special form of Central
Labor Union, which we shall consider later, has power to
order a sympathetic strike, and is accordingly more feared
by the employers.
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 85
In only one case have we been able to find that the
assessment for financial assistance has not been left to the
local unions ; this is in the Central Labor Council of Cin-
cinnati. The constitution provides : x " If a majority of the
aggregate membership of the organizations represented in this
council vote in favor [of an appeal for financial assistance],
a per capita assessment shall be levied upon all such organ-
izations for the assistance of the one in distress." This is a
very notable departure from the ultra-democratic theories of
trade unionism held in the United States. Generally the
Central performs merely the duties of an agent, and collects
the voluntary contributions from the local unions and dis-
tributes the same to the strikers. This is very important,
especially to the local union in a craft which has no national
organization to which it can appeal. Without such aid from
the Central Union the weak local must almost inevitably lose
its fight, however just the cause may be.
Various schemes for raising money are resorted to by the
Central ; lotteries, dances, picnics, and the subscription books
are favorite methods. Men are also sent out over the coun-
try to visit the unions of the different cities in order to extend
the boycott and collect funds. By these men the Central
Labor Unions are found most convenient, for in addition to
generally obtaining a donation from them, they can meet the
representatives of the different locals, find the time and place
of meeting, and enlist the sympathy of the delegates in the
cause they represent. Public opinion is also strongly ap-
pealed to through the press controlled by the Central Labor
Union, and through numerous pamphlets and speakers.
If the strike is of importance, as standing for a great
principle, a sympathetic strike may be determined upon,
although this is very far from probable for two reasons.
First, every additional man who leaves his work reduces the
1 Article 7, Section 4.
86 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
possible resources with which to support the original strikers ;
and, second, the public is bound to be seriously inconveni-
enced and likely to transfer its sympathy to the other side in
the controversy. Very rarely indeed, then, will a Central
Labor Union recommend a general strike in sympathy with
the original strikers.
II. PRINCIPLES.
The principles of Central Labor Unions represent not the
direct and immediate aim of organization, but rather the
foundations of labor organization. They represent the atti-
tude of the Central Labor Union in regard to public ques-
tions. If the Central were a political party, the list of
principles would be called its platform ; in fact, it is so called
by several Central Unions, particularly those which have
decidedly socialistic tendencies, even when they do not, as a
very few do, ally themselves with a socialistic party.
These principles are divided, according as they affect the
laborers, into the following five classes :
1st: Industrial.
2d : Organization.
3d : Legislative.
4th: Political.
5th: Socialistic.
By industrial principles are meant those which directly
affect the worker as such, and have to deal with his imme-
diate environment, health, wages, or working time. They
may be summed up as follows:
ist: Abolition of child-labor under fourteen, fifteen, or six-
teen years.1
2d : Sanitary inspection of mines, factories, and dwellings.
3d : Abolition of the truck system.
4th : Abolition of convict labor.
1 The age-limit varies in different unions.
OBJECTS AND- PRINCIPLES 87
5th : Establishment of a general eight-hour work-day.
6th : Equal pay to men and women for the same service.
7th : Abolition of the tenement-house and sweat-shop
systems.
8th : Weekly payment of wages.
Organization principles are those which have to do with
qualifications of men and unions, as well as with results
aimed at through organization. These might as well have
been grouped under the objects of Central Unions, as under
this head. They include the following demands :
1st : Color, nationality, or denomination should not debar a
laboring man from the rights of unionists.
2d : All proposed labor legislation should be discussed and
altered, if necessary, by the labor unions.
3d : The conditions of the laborer should be ameliorated
and "fair" concerns supported.
4th: The Central Labor Union claims a right to public
recognition along with the various commercial organizations,
as it wishes to co-operate in all movements looking to the
public welfare. In other words, according to this declaration
the Central Labor Union desires to be considered as the
same kind of an organization as a Board of Trade, for in-
stance, because both are working for the business prosperity
of the community. As a matter of fact, they are very rarely,
if ever, looked upon with the same degree of respect.
The legislative principles of Central Labor Unions are
numerous, for legislation is regarded as one of the best and
easiest methods of accomplishing the objects of labor unions.
The American Federation of Labor has a lobby in Washing-
ton, and each State Federation has a lobby at the state
capitol. The Central Labor Union has no lobby in a legis-
lative body, but the course of the city and state legislation is
carefully scrutinized, and when necessary the Law and Legis-
lation Committee looks after labor's interests in the city
88 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
council, or even in the state legislature. As an example of
the active interest taken by Central Labor Unions in such
matters it may be stated that on April, 1896, in New
York State, eighty delegates appeared before the committee
of the American Federation of Labor state branch in the in-
terests of a bill calculated to benefit the bakers.
It may be pertinent to print herewith a resolution found on
the minutes of a large and flourishing Central Labor Union :
" Resolved, That the Central Labor Union subscribe for the
[the official paper of the city], and that the law and legisla-
tion committee review the same and report on all matters affecting
their interests, and that the attitude of the municipal members [city
council] be noted and a report made . . . , in order that at the
succeeding election intelligent voting could follow."
The following are the declarations of the different Central
Labor Unions in regard to legislation :
1st : There shall be free and compulsory education of chil-
dren up to the age of fourteen years.
2d : Gambling in stocks and in necessaries of life shall be
prohibited.
3d : The fee system in payment of public officers shall be
abolished.
4th : The system of initiative and referendum shall be
adopted for all laws.
5th : An employers' liability act shall be passed which shall
not interfere with the common-law right of recovery.
6th : The Australian ballot system of voting shall be intro-
duced in caucuses.
7th : There shall be a state apprentice law.
8th : All municipal laws shall be revised and simplified.
9th : Capital punishment shall be abolished.
loth: Ownership of land by aliens shall be prohibited.
I ith : All indirect taxes shall be abolished.
1 2th: All beneficial labor laws shall be enforced.
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 89
1 3th: Pauper immigration shall be prohibited.
I4th: The workman shall have a first lien for wages.
1 5th: All conspiracy laws shall be abolished.
1 6th: The employment of armed forces by private cor-
porations shall be prohibited.
1 7th: A reform of the judiciary is necessary.
The political declarations are not many, but they are the
most active principles, for there is always some one to see
that, as far as possible, they are not violated. They are as
follows :
1st: No support shall be given to a political organization.
2d : Delegates or officers, as such, shall not enter politics.
3d : There shall be no politics in the municipal service.
4th : All delegates shall become citizens.
5th: The President, the Vice-President and the United
States Senators shall be elected by direct vote of the people.
6th : The Central Labor Union is not a political body, but it
claims the right of expressing and exercising its views, rights
and principles on all issues affecting the right of labor and
the brotherhood of man, and of carrying the same into effect
in such legislative manner as the body deems beneficial to
the wage-earners of the community.
There seems to be among laboring men a growing tend-
ency, which is reflected in Central Labor Unions, to indulge
in a belief in socialism. This is a frequent cause of quar-
rels and of consequent splits in what would otherwise be
strong bodies. Some of them are dominated by socialists
but keep clear of the party, while others enter actively as an
organization into political campaigns. The active outward
growth of the socialistic Central Labor Union, however, is
retarded by the attitude of the American Federation of
Labor toward socialism as embodied in a political party.
The position of the federation in regard to political action
has often been defined by successive conventions in the fol-
go HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
lowing words : " The American Federation of Labor most
firmly and unequivocally favors the independent use of the
ballot by the trade unionists and workingmen, united regard-
less of party'' The American Federation of Labor will not
grant a charter to a Central Union if the name of a branch
of a socialist party appears on the roll of affiiliated unions.
This was thoroughly discussed at the convention of the
American Federation of Labor in 1890 at Detroit; and the
discussion was published as one of the American Federation
of Labor documents. Many of the strongest unions, how-
ever, are socialistic without being connected as organizations
with the socialist party. They may accordingly be chartered
by the Federation.
The socialistic declarations of the Central Unions are
found in the following demands :
ist. Government ownership of all means of communica-
tion and transportation.
2d. Municipal ownership of gas, electric lighting, water,
telephone, and street railroad plants.
3d. Abolition of contract labor on public works.
4th. Collective ownership by the people of all means of
production and distribution.
5th. Taxation of land values irrespective of improvements.
6th. Abolition of national banks and the substitution of
treasury notes for bank bills. All notes and money to be
issued directly by the government.
7th. Establishment of postal deposit and savings banks.
8th. Public maintenance of a public hall for every assem-
bly district.
III. ALLIED TRADES COUNCILS.
A special kind of Central Labor Union which yields a
more direct benefit to constituent unions than any other is
that which is known as the Allied Trades Council. The
name itself is perhaps as much of a description as is neces-
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES gi
sary. It suggests at least something of the composition of
the Union. It is, as the name implies, a council or delegate
body composed of representatives of a group of trades which
are closely allied in calling. There are but two such groups at
present: the Building Trades and the Printing Trades.
Craftsmen who would naturally belong to these may be
found in every large city in sufficient numbers to be joined
into local unions and federated into a Council or Central
Union. In many of the larger cities, and indeed, in some of
the smaller ones, where special industries are localized, men
of other allied trades are numerous enough to form similar
organizations, but nowhere are there such unions of the tex-
tile trades, or of the iron trades, or the boot and shoe trades.
The explanation of this is, of course, that the different
laborers in these trades work simply on various parts of the
same product, as in the case of boot and shoe workers, and
that there is consequently not enough differentiation in the
work. All interests are more nearly identical, and there-
fore a national union embracing all parts is the best form of
organization. In the building or printing trades, while the
workers may work on different parts of the same product,
that product is not such as always needs the combined work
of all crafts, nor are all the parts considered equally neces-
sary. For example, a building may be complete without
the work of electrical workers, or tile layers, or cornice and
skylight makers. There is not, in other words, among the
craftsmen in the building or printing trades the unity of in-
terest which would lead to an all-embracnig national organ-
ization. There is, however, enough of an identity of inter-
est to permit a strong federation to be formed in smaller
districts for mutual protection ; and there is enough of in-
terdependence among such trades seriously to embarass all
the others if one trade were in difficulty with the employer.
One of the principal duties of allied printing trades councils
92 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
as outlined by the Conference of Delegates from Allied
Printing Trades Councils of the United States is " to make
grievances of employes in one department of the establish-
ment the grievances of those in all other departments." In
addition to this, the unionist in these interdependent trades
sees an opportunity to wield a powerful weapon in what he
is pleased to call " industrial warfare," and materially to bet-
ter his condition through its use. This weapon is the sym-
pathetic strike, which has come to be much feared, espe-
cially by the building contractors. Ninety per cent, of the
sympathetic strikes as summarized in the eighth annual re-
port of Bureau of Labor Statistics of New York J were either
inaugurated by building trades, or started to assist building
trades. In this same report the following definition of a
sympathetic strike is given : " The sympathetic strike is
one in which the strikers, having no grievance of their own,
take action out of belief that another body of workers is not
treated fairly, and so take up their cause."
As almost all the Building Trades Councils are alike, it
will suffice to describe the workings of the Board of Dele-
gates of the Building Trades of New York and vicinity, for
two reasons. First, it is one of the oldest; and second, it is
one of the strongest in organization, in administration, and in
the results obtained. It is not true, however, that all such
councils are like this one. The New York Council may be
taken as the most extreme case.
This organization was founded in 1884, and has had a con-
tinuous and successful existence to the present. The direct
cause of the formation of the Board was to resist the com-
bined action of the contractors, who formed unions among
themselves to keep down wages, and to resist the efforts of
the workmen to lessen the number of hours in a day's work.
The object, as printed, is short and comprehensive : " To
1 Eighth Report, 1890, page 935.
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 93
aid, by mutual support, each of the organizations represented
in this body." The membership is limited to bona fide
trades organizations in the building line, and representatives
must be elected to serve not less than three months. Un-
like most allied trades councils, this Board of Delegates is
composed of " walking delegates," or, according to the new
nomenclature, " business agents " of the local unions. Al-
though nothing is said in the constitution on this point, these
delegates are supposed to be paid representatives of the
locals.
The obligations and rules governing delegates are much
stricter than in the case of representatives to the ordinary
Central Labor Union. The following is the pledge taken :
" I, , do solemnly and sincerely pledge my word and honor
as a man that I will obey the rules and regulations of this Board,
and faithfully conform to all usages thereof : that I will be punctual
in my attendance at all regular meetings and all Committees of the
Board \ that I will render all the assistance in my power to all other
delegates when ordered by this Board to do so ; that I will convey
and deliver all property which may be intrusted to me as a member
whenever ordered by resolution of the Board, and that I will
promptly pay my monthly dues to the Secretary of the Board."
The rules further provide that :
"Any delegate or organization having been affiliated with this
body, connecting themselves with an antagonistic body, shall be re-
fused assistance by any organization affiliated with this Board. Should
such organization again seek admission to this Board, they shall be
subject to a reinstatement fee of not less than fifty dollars."
There is also a system of heavy fines and penalties for
non-attendance at Board and Committee meetings.
In spite of strict rules, fines and penalties, we find that al-
most without exception the building trades of the city which
support " walking delegates" were affiliated with this Board
until recently, when certain unions were disciplined, with-
94 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
drew, and formed the Building Trades Council. The same
thing in general is true of the Allied Trades Councils of
other cities, while, as has been pointed out, only a small part
of the local unions of a city are affiliated with the general
Central Labor Union. We need not seek far for the reason
for this state of things. It is found in the difference which
exists between the authority of the Central Labor Union
and that of the Allied Trades Council, in the independence of
action, and in the responsibility of the delegates.
To consider the last point first : The paid representative
of the local union must continually show reason why his
office should not be abolished. To do this, he must ever be
on the alert to take account of every grievance which occurs
among the members of his organization, and to use the most
effective means in his power to adjust the difficulty to the
satisfaction of the union. There is undoubtedly a tendency
for a walking delegate to take account of petty grievances
when real ones do not exist, but the amount of this has been
grossly exaggerated. He generally has enough to do to
take care of grievances which he cannot overlook. In his
efforts to settle the dispute in a way with which his union will
agree, he induces the union to affiliate with the federation or
council whose interests are similar, and whose power is
greatest. Then every grievance which is brought before the
Council or Board of Delegates and is satisfactorily settled
adds so much to the prestige of the Board, both on the side
of the unions and on the side of the employers.
This body, as far as local disputes are concerned, is abso-
lutely independent. The delegates take what action they
please without the necessity of referring, in any case, to the
different unions represented. The delegates are responsible
only for results ; they are not restricted by the unions as to
means or methods. The organization is not affiliated with
any other, and so is not hampered on either side. The only
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES 95
restrictions come from the national trade organizations to
which the locals belong, and if these are not called upon to
support the locals when on strike, such restrictions amount
to very little.
However, the centralized power vested in this body is
very much greater than in an ordinary Central Labor Union.
It has what the Central Labor Union has not, that is, the
authority to order a strike. In fact, as a means to an end,
this is its most important function. Not only may it order
a strike, but it may punish those affiliated unions which do
not support the strike when ordered. The strike ordered
by the Board of Delegates is not like an ordinary strike, but
in almost every case assumes the sympathetic form. This is
exactly what gives such an organization its power. The
following is the most important section of the constitution, as
it involves this sympathetic strike :
" When a grievance is brought before this Board by any member,
it shall become the property of the Board, and a Committee of all
delegates having men on the job shall be ordered to investigate the
grievance, and if deemed necessary, it shall have power to order a
strike, providing two-thirds of the Committee favor such action. If
said committee fail to agree, the delegate having the grievance
shall bring the matter before the Board at the next meeting, when a
majority vote of all delegates, having men on said job, may order a
strike. In case the delegates refuse to order said strike, the dele-
gate having the grievance, if he believes he has been unjustly treated,
shall have the right to select one delegate having men on the job,
and the delegates refusing to strike shall select another. These two,
in conjunction with the president of the Board, shall further investi-
gate such grievance, their decision to be final and binding on all
delegates having men on the job, and any delegate failing to com-
ply with the orders of either of the Committees mentioned in this
section, shall stand suspended, subject to section three1 of this arti-
1 Section three referred to above makes six months' suspension the penalty for
refusing to comply with the recommendations of the Committee.
96 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
cle. No grievance shall be received from non-affiliated unions, un-
less the members unanimously resolve to grant the request."
Several points, not to be found elsewhere, are contained in
this article :
First, a grievance brought before the Board becomes the
property of the Board. It is too late for the delegate who
brings the grievance to settle the difficulty unless allowed to
do so by the Board. Every delegate having men on the job
is supposed to be as much interested as he is, and these del-
egates by a two-thirds vote may order a strike. If they fail
to agree, the next step is an interesting one. The case is
brought before the Board and the same Committee, /. e.
those interested, may by a simple majority vote order a
strike. This is a step toward centralization, but not so great
as the next one. If the delegates should refuse to order a
strike, the delegate with the grievance may select one dele-
gate having men on the job, and the delegates who refuse to
strike may also select one. These two, who, of course, will
vote directly against each other, together with the President
of the Board, shall decide after investigation whether the
strike shall be made compulsory or not. This throws the
whole burden of the decision on one man, the President of
the Board. The decision is taken not only out of the hands
of the workmen themselves, i. e., the local unions, but out of
the hands of their paid representatives, and put upon an
official who may or may not represent men that are working
on the job. This is an example of centralization of power
of labor unions which probably does not occur again in the
United States. In addition to disputes about wages and
hours of labor, the hiring of a non-union man or the refusal
to recognize the Badge of the Board of Delegates constitutes
a grievance on the strength of which a sympathetic strike
may be declared.
The result that is really accomplished by the Board of
OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES gy
Delegates is that the employers see that for once at least
labor is really united. Oftentimes the mere interference or in-
vestigation by the Board is'sufficient to adjust the difficulty.
Although the Board has one or more grievances to consider
at every meeting, and although a strike is taking place some-
where almost constantly, yet there are very few strikes of
long duration.
The employers' associations have several times threatened
a general lockout in order to break up the Board by defec-
tions from membership. The allied trades, however, can
stand it better than the employers can, and there is little
danger that this is more than a threat.
The Allied Trades Councils spend very little time in discuss-
ing or passing resolutions which have only a remote connec-
tion with the interests of labor and which are practically
without effect when they are passed. The work the Councils
do is directly to the point. They can therefore, more directly
benefit labor than the general Central Labor Unions, which
waste much valuable time in discussing questions of political
action, socialism, trade union labels, legislation, apprentices,
or a thousand and one other matters. Few of the questions
which the Central Labor Unions discuss are ever brought
into the Allied Trades Councils or the Board of Delegates
meetings. These discussions are unnecessary from the point
of view of the councils, for they have a very definite work to
perform.
The real points of difference then between the ordinary
Central Labor Union and the Allied Trades Councils are
three. The first is identical with the essential element of
weakness in the former, i. e., the lack of a definite program
consistently carried out. The Allied Trades Councils have
such a program and adhere to it. It consists in the demand
that wages of the men represented in the council should be
increased rather than lowered, and that the number of hours
98 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
of labor should be lowered rather than increased. Thus a
definite work is cut out for the organization, and any question
which does not directly affect this program is ruled out. The
second point of difference is that the composition of one
body is thoroughly heterogeneous and the delegates are
voluntary workers, while in the other the delegates have
much more in common and are paid representatives. The
third point of difference is that power is centralized in the
Allied Trades Council, while the Central Labor Union is
thoroughly democratic.
CHAPTER IV.
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM.
EVER since trade unions have existed in the United States,
a favorite method of accomplishing reforms of all kinds has
been through legislation. Of course the trade unionist is
not alone in this, for ea"ch separate class in the community
attempts to benefit itself through the enactment of laws.
Hence we have all degrees of " class" legislation upon city,
state, or national statute books. This desire for legislative
enactment in behalf of trade unions is seen most clearly in
the continued agitation for a shorter work day, from the
beginning of the century when the hours of labor were
virtually without limit, through the adoption of the ten-hour
law to the passage of a special eight-hour law, down to the
agitation for a general eight-hour law which cannot be
evaded.
Hand in hand with this desire for legislative action goes the
method of collective bargaining. One method is not neces-
sarily antagonistic to the other, but often supplementary.
Collective bargaining is more costly to the laborer even when
it is more effective, and therefore, whenever the result can be
accomplished by legislation, the tendency is to adopt that
method. This method is almost wholly resorted to in
Germany through the independent political action of the
workingmen under the name of the Social Democratic Party.
This is due partly to the fact that much less liberty of all
kinds is given to the German than to the English or the
American workman ; the demands of the labor party in Ger-
(99)
IOQ HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
many have almost all been granted in England and in the
United States. The method of collective bargaining which
prevails to such a great extent in other countries is rarely
resorted to in Germany.
In England, while legislative enactment has always been a
favorite method, it has grown in importance more and more
during the last thirty-five years until, as Webb points out,
" there exist great national trade unions in cotton and coal
industries which are really political organizations whose end
and aim is to procure reforms for their particular crafts
through act of parliament." x Besides these two organiza-
tions there is in England an active political machinery which,
though not as effective as it might be, still accomplishes
much more than is accomplished in the United States. The
"Parliamentary Committee," as noted before, must " watch
all legislative measures directly affecting the question of
labor, initiate such legislative action as the [Trades Union]
congress may direct and prepare the program for the parlia-
ment." There is no machinery by which the Parliamentary
Committee may at all times work harmoniously and effect-
ively with the great national unions. The Trades Union
Congress has, to a large extent, barred the way to mutual
understanding and effective co-operation between the Com-
mittee and the other class of organizations, which are neces-
sary to any effective political organization, by refusing ad-
mission to the congress to delegates from the Trades Coun-
cils.
As far as legislative action itself is concerned, the Trades
Council is of little importance when compared to the gigantic
national trade unions. In the way of suggesting and formu-
lating legislation, little is therefore lost by this break. The
importance of this side of legislation, however, depends
upon the attitude assumed by organized labor toward its
1 Industrial Democracy, vol. I., page 258.
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM IOI
own political action. If trade unionists are content to work
and to vote for candidates of the old parties, depending on
pledges for fulfillment of promises, the Trades Council has
practically no political work to perform.
The machinery is furnished by the political parties and a
trade unionist votes simply as any other citizen, for the
candidate who best represents his views. When, however, as
in Germany, and as is becoming more and more true in
England, the trade unionist wishes to becomes an independ-
ent political factor and to nominate candidates of his own,
the Trades Council becomes of the utmost value. It can
now be used as the sub-committee of what corresponds to
the national committee, viz., the Parliamentary Committee
of the Trades Union Congress. It is a ready-made nomi-
nating convention and an executive committee for the dis-
trict. It can concentrate the efforts of the trades unions of
the district upon the labor candidate and elect him. The
success of this kind of action depends upon certain condi-
tions which do not at present exist. In the first place, it is
necessary to have a platform, and in the second place, the
candidate, if elected to parliament, must be supported dur-
ing his term of office. At present, the latter condition de-
pends on the former. There are, at present, six members
of Parliament representing trades unions. The Miners send
five, and the Union of Seamen and Firemen, one.1 These
are supported out of the funds of the trade unions which
they represent, and their first duty is to the special class
which elected and which supports them. The platform upon
which they stand is the narrow one of a particular trade
union.
The Trades Council might undertake to elect a candidate
or candidates, but under the prevailing sentiment in favor of
low dues, it could not possibly undertake to support them.
1 Fabian Tract, no. 49, page 20, note.
102 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
A very much closer city federation is necessary before this
can be accomplished. This essential step will be taken
when trades unions find a general platform of principles
upon which all can stand, so that a labor candidate will
represent trade unionism rather than a trade union. The
great difficulty in England is the strength of party affiliations
and the corruption of labor leaders. There can be no inde-
pendent political action so long as the former exists, and no
effective party action for labor so long as the latter obtains.
Strict party affiliation will cease or will at least be trans-
ferred as soon as the unionist discovers that he has some-
thing real and definite to work for along labor lines, and —
what is more to the point — when he discovers that he can
be on the winning side and vote for a labor candidate at the
same time. The very same c'auses will break up the system
of corruption and bribery, for there will be no possibility of
the labor leader delivering the labor vote to one of the old
parties ; as a consequence his influence will not be worth
buying.
It is not our purpose to discuss what this unifying doctrine
or platform will be, but simply to show the possible use of
the Trades Council under such a regime. A straw, however,
which seems to show which way the wind is blowing in Eng-
land, is to be found in the resolution passed by the last
Trades Union Congress by a vote of nearly two to one, seven
hundred and eight thousand against four hundred and ten
thousand :
" Inasmuch as this Congress believes that the labor problem can
only be solved when the land and the means of production, distri-
bution and exchange are made collective property, and as the opin-
ion prevails that political action is the best method to accomplish
this object, it is recommended that trade unionists render their
moral and financial support to the socialist labor parties."
In the United States conditions are much the same as in
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM
England in regard to political action. Organization in out-
line is the same, but there is no such general patronage or
affiliation with one body as is enjoyed by the Trade Union
Congress and its executive. Not only is there a national
rival to the American Federation of Labor, which is through
its executive somewhat analogous to the Trades Union Cong-
ress, but several great federations, which are not rivals, are
not affiliated. With this difference the lines of organization
are identical. With the local union as a basis both countries
have the national trade unions, national trade federations,
central labor unions and allied trades councils. Thus the
machinery is at hand for political purposes in one country as
in the other.
English trades unions, however, and more particularly
federations of unions, enter actively into political affairs. It
is as much a part of their work to see that the right men are
elected, and that the proper legislation is enacted, as to see
that labor is properly organized. That labor organizations
should enter into politics, nobody seems to question. It is
simply a question as to methods and platforms.
In the United States all this is different. It is still some-
thing of an open question whether trade unions should un-
dertake political action at all, although it is becoming more
and more of a struggle to keep politics out of the local, and
almost impossible to prevent the central unions and the
larger federations from entering the fray. If it had not been
for the disastrous experiences with politics and politicians,
the labor unions of the United States would stand for politi-
cal action quite as much as their prototypes in England.
A writer on trades organizations gives the following as a
cause of the rise of Central Labor Unions :
" The laws of all national trade organizations are strictly against
permitting the discussion of subjects of a political nature. So strict
was this rule, that when efforts were made by the legislatures of the
104
HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
various states to pass laws making trades unions conspiracies, the
unions themselves could not consider in their meetings any plans
looking to the defeat of such laws. The plan adopted to get over
the difficulty was to organize trades assemblies, composed of dele-
gates from trade unions. These assemblies made their own laws and
prescribed their own duties, the principal duty being to watch legis-
lation."1
We saw how, in 1872, the National Labor Union was dis-
rupted and destroyed by its action in nominating a presi-
dential ticket. Ever since then, national federations have
kept their hands off. Central Labor Unions, however, have
entered the field of independent politics spasmodically, but
never as a settled policy. The only exception has been in
the case of a certain small class of Central Unions which have
declared for socialism.
The question of political action by trade unions divides the
members into three classes. The first class contains the ex-
treme conservative element, which the socialists call the " pure
and simple." They believe that trade union ends should be
gained by trade union action, and that politics should not
even be discussed in a trade union meeting, still more that
political action should not be taken. This is a class of
theorists who often succeed in having their views adopted in
constitutions and by-laws, only to see them ruthlessly set
aside by vote of the union or by an arbitrary decision of a
president interested in political affairs, while the members
speak for one party or another as they please. This party,
also, has control of the American Federation of Labor,
although at the convention of 1894 held in Chicago, the
platform of the British Trades Union Congress was " sub-
mitted for the consideration of the labor organizations of
America with the request that their delegates to the next
annual convention of the American Federation of Labor be
1 E. A. Allen, Labor and Capital, page 374.
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM IO5
instructed on this most important subject." The vote at the
convention the next year stood one thousand two hundred
and seventeen to nine hundred and thirteen against the prop-
osition. The section of the platform which caused most
discussion was the endorsement of the sentiment: " The col-
lective ownership by the people of all means of production
and distribution." The vote, therefore, must be interpreted
to be not so much a refusal to endorse independent political
action as a refusal to endorse such a socialistic plank. The
latter action, however, necessarily carries with it the former,
for it is almost needless to say that neither one of the old
parties will ever be endorsed by the Federation. It is equally
true that an independent political labor party which did not
endorse socialism would hardly be worth bringing into the
field.
The second class of trade unionists is that faction which
desires that no discussions of the platform or policy of a po-
litical party should take place in the meetings, but that the
body as a whole should support those candidates or that
party which will pledge themselves, or at least may be
deemed most favorable, to the demands of labor. This prop-
osition is contradictory in itself, for a resolution in a Central
Labor Union meeting to endorse a certain political party
because it is most favorable to labor would at once precipitate
the most violent partisan discussion. It is only the man who
is pleased to call himself a " class-conscious " trade unionist
who will stand back and smile at the war of words. And he
is right. There is a sort of intermittent interest in the parties
toward the laborer, and one is as vacillating as the other in
promises and in the fulfillment of promises. However mis-
taken in principles and methods the socialist may be, he has
the advantage over the other parties in the appeal for the
labor vote, because he at least is consistent in theory, and,
as far as he has an opportunity, in practice also.
1O6 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
The great argument of this class of trade unionists is that
the laboring class may hold the balance of power between
the parties and thereby obtain all that can be done by legis-
lation. If this contention is true, it can be carried out only
by accepting pledges from candidates and political parties
and trusting to their honor and hope of a return to power,
to fulfill the pledges made. It is entirely unnecessary to call
attention to the almost innumerable cases where the candi-
date or party has remembered the pledges only as a means
of victory at the polls.
This has become so common, so much a matter of course,
that by the time a new election comes the voters are ready
to believe in a new set of pledges from the same candidates
or parties. If, however, the trade unionists could stand as a
unit, the candidates and parties would find it to their advan-
tage not only to make pledges, but to keep them. It would
be something of an ideal condition, in which the trade union
element could put either party in power, according as its
wishes were carried out. But this presupposes an intelli-
gence and a stability hardly found in any class of voters,
much less in that of the trade unionist, whose opportunities
for information and for education in general have been pre-
scribed by the narrow limits of his craft. More than this,
if the trade unionists were able to stand as a unit they might
better undertake independent political action and run the
risk of electing a sufficient number of legislators to carry out
their own program.
This second class is the one which really dominates the
trade unions at present, although the first class does so
theoretically. Whatever of political agitation and work is
accomplished in Central Labor Unions is along these lines and
in two ways: First, before the election, lists of questions re-
lating to legislation in which laboring men are vitally inter-
ested, are sent to the different candidates, and the candidates
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM IO/
are supposed to answer them. These replies will show
which candidates are more favorable to organized labor and
therefore worthy of support. Silence is, of course, con-
sidered a negative reply. The following, the work of the
Baltimore Federation of Labor, serve as good examples :
OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE -\
OF THE FEDERATION OF LABOR.
BALTIMORE, MD., October — , 1896. J
MR.
Candidate for First Branch, City Council:
Dear Sir: Please signify your approval or disapproval of ques-
tions asked by filling out the accompanying circular and return same
not later than October 25th.
1. Do you favor organized labor?
2. Do you favor all work done by the city (where practical) be-
ing performed by day laborers?
3. Do you favor the abolition of any labor performed in the city
jail that comes in conflict with honest labor?
4. Do you favor inserting in any contract, where contract labor is
necessary, a clause forbidding the sub-contracting of same in whole
or in part — unless to the sub-contractors named in the original con-
tractor's bid when opened?
Yours respectfully, SECRETARY.
OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE -j
OF THE FEDERATION OF LABOR.
BALTIMORE, MD., October 26, 1895. J
Please signify your approval or disapproval of the questions asked
in the accompanying circular by filling out the following and return-
ing same not later than the date already stated :
1. I in favor of free school books.
2. I in favor of compulsory education of all children under
fourteen years of age.
3- I in favor of day labor as against contract labor, and
in favor of all city and state work being done by day
labor.
I08 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
4. I believe in the employment of Union men on all City
and State work.
5. I approve the appropriation of any money to penal in-
stitutions where work is performed that comes in contact with hon-
est labor.
6. I refuse to approve any charter of any corporation that
will not guarantee to employ Union Labor.
7. I in favor of reassessment as offered by State Senator
Thomas G. Hayes.
Candidate for
The second method of determining what candidates should
be supported by laboring men is more certain, for it does
not lead the voter to depend on promises or pledges. This
is an opportunity to see clearly what kind of record the
man has made as a legislator. This is naturally possible
only when he has served at least one term, and comes up
for reelection. The State Federation or State Branch of the
American Federation of Labor, less frequently the Central
Labor Union, publishes a complete list of the legislators,
together with their record or votes on bills in which orga-
nized labor is particularly interested. For example, the
Workingmen's Federation of the State of New York pub-
lished in 1898 a list of bills which it had endorsed, and
whose passage it had attempted to secure. A record of the
vote on these bills was kept and the legislators were classi-
fied according to their votes, into five classes : i. Special
Roll of Honor; 2. Roll of Honor; 3. Favorable mention;
4. Lukewarm; 5. Blacklist. These circulars were sent to
trade unions throughout the State, and furnished a self-made
record for each legislator, whereby the voting trade union-
ist might judge of his probable action in the future in re-
gard to proposed labor legislation. This publication, to be
of value, must be compiled without any suspicion of politi-
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM iOg
cal bias ; for it would otherwise not only furnish no true
basis of judgment, but work positive injustice.
The influence which such attempts exert on the vote of an
average trade unionist is rather doubtful. Generally he is
not different from other men, and the partisan spirit is
stronger than his loyalty to trade union principle. Thus, the
legislator whose name appears on the " Blacklist" is too often
returned to his seat in the legislature, ready to defy organized
labor and to vote against its interests.
The program of this class of trade unionists who want
organized labor to hold the balance of power, lends itself
readily to one of the most baneful influences in American
politics. The labor leader to-day who is at all active in
politics, must be a remarkably careful and honest man if he
escapes the charge of selling out to the " boss." The time
has come when a man cannot be a trusted labor leader and
a politician at the same time. If, however, the leaders of
the parties were not so ignorant of trade unions, the occupa-
tion of the labor leader who is a politician for " what there is
in it" would be gone. There is no class of men so critical
in their judgments of each other, or so reckless and free in
bringing charges against each other in the union meetings,
as the trade unionists. Moreover, organized labor is too in-
telligent and democratic for the leader to deliver the votes
as per contract, while the Australian ballot has made proof
of the fulfillment of the contract impossible.
As long as organized labor holds to the principle of polit-
ical action in connection with the existing parties, there is a
chance that its demands and petitions will be heard. Under
any other system of trade union politics, the union men must
fight for a place by the side of the older parties, but can ex-
pect no help from them in passing strictly labor bills.
This brings us to the third class of trade unionists, — those
who believe in strictly independent political action.
IIO HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
What is said in regard to political action, applies for the
most part to the Central Labor Unions ; for this body and
the National Federations are the only organizations which
ever have taken such action. It is not likely that national
trade unions whose foundations and policy are benefits, in-
surance, and social recreation will ever attempt to elect
candidates of their own choice. The Central Labor Union,
having no such functions, may undertake to unite the inter-
ests of the trade unionists of the city in such a way that they
may elect their own candidates on their own platform. As
it is formed here on the same lines as in England, all that
was said of the English Trades Council will apply to the
Central Labor Union of the United States.
The latter organization, however, has an immense advant-
age over the former in the fact that its candidate, if elected,
need not be supported, nor is he under the necessity of sup-
porting himself. This, however, is two edged ; for while the
labor organization is relieved of an almost insurmountable
difficulty, there is still trouble on account of the number of
candidates and consequent factions. In other words, the
Labor Union takes upon itself all the troubles of a political
organization which has spoils to offer when victory has been
won.
This third group of trade unionists is the one to which
has been applied the term " class-conscious." They are
distinguished from the other groups principally by the fact
that they have no faith that present conditions can be much
altered for the better through the efforts of trade union organ-
ization alone. They insist that the laborers constitute a
distinct class, and as such they must work out their own sal-
vation through political organization, using the trade union
only as a step in the final emancipation from the present in-
dustrial system. Trade Unions are good as far as they go,
but it is impossible for them to accomplish the result aimed at.
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM 1 1 1
This result is the abolition of the wage system and its re-
placement by " the collective ownership by the people of all
the means of production and distribution." This is the es-
sential plank in the platform of that class which wishes to see
trade unions enter politics as an independent party. It means
then nothing more nor less than that there is a strong minor-
ity of trade unionists who are socialists.
The following letter, written by the recently elected Soc-
ialist Mayor of Haverhill, Massachusetts, sets forth clearly
the real difference between a " pure and simple" trade
unionist and a " class-conscious " socialist.
CITY OF HAVERHILL, EXECUTIVE DEPT., |
CITY HALL,/0#. 17, 1899. j
JOHN J. PALLAS, Scc'y C. L. U., N. Y. City.
Your kind letter extending to me the commendation of the C. L.
U. of N. Y. City, gave me much pleasure. My words uttered in
labor's cause were but the words that every socialist who understands
the historic struggle of labor to emancipate itself, would have uttered.
I recognize the fact that the Trade Union movement is one of the
factors in the grand process of evolution that must go on until we
reach the goal for which we are all striving (industrial as well as
political equality). The Trades Unions play their part m the uni-
versal drama, but only their part. It is incomplete without the
political movement. I can see but one end for which to strive, and
that is a co-operative commonwealth, where society in its col-
lectivity will organize its machinery of production and allow every
man the privilege to apply his labor power whenever he desires, and
that the product of his labor shall belong to him and that no man
shall take it from him. Every man has the right to work, and the
product of labor belongs to those who create it. Under private
ownership of the machinery by which this labor is performed, labor
is robbed of a large portion of such product, and will continue to be
robbed until such time when the machinery is owned by all and
operated for the benefit of all. As I have said, the trade-union plays
its part, but it is not able to accomplish this end on the old lines ;
they must demand the full product of their labor with their ballots
H2 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
as well, for by this method they will array all of their force against
injustice. In conclusion let me say that any Socialist party that
does not recognize the part that Trade Unions play, does not de-
serve support. On the other hand, any Trade Union that will not
support the Socialist Party that does recognize this part, should not
complain of their condition.
Let us then work hand in hand, each doing its part for the estab-
lishment of economic equality, and the cooperative commonwealth
will come.
Yours for humanity,
J. C. CHASE,
Mayor of Haverhill.
A Socialist is generally a man who has done more or less
thinking for himself and arrived at certain definite conclu-
sions. These conclusions he is apt to force on people
whenever he gets a chance. On this account he often be-
comes prominent and secures his election to the Central
Labor Union where he has a somewhat larger field for his
socialistic activities. Through the efforts of such men,
many of whom are quite properly leaders, a few Central
Labor Unions have endorsed the plan of independent action
in politics which, as noted above, carries with it a socialistic
platform., No Central Labor Union, so far as is known, has
worked actively in connection with the Socialist Labor Party
which represents the political side of socialism in the United
States. Several have, however, gone the full length and
accepted its platform.
The most notable example of independent political action
on the part of a Central Labor Union occurred in 1886,
when the New York central body circulated a petition ask-
ing Mr. Henry George to be an independent candidate for
mayor and secured more than thirty thousand signatures.
Mr. George was then nominated by the Central Labor
Union, and sixty-eight thousand votes were counted for him.
New York trade unionists insist that he was elected but was
POLITICAL ACTION AND SOCIALISM n$
counted out. For this campaign the name of " United
Labor Party " was adopted, and the party was organized by
the Central Labor Union in every district in the city ; a
campaign committee was established and all the machinery
of a political party was created. This movement was spas-
modic, and depended for its phenomenal success more on
the character and the reputation of the candidate, than upon
the platform or the work of the Union.
The question of independent political action is the great
problem before the trade unionist to-day. There is practi-
cal unanimity on questions of organization, strikes, boycotts,
shorter working day, and all those controversies which di-
rectly affect capital and labor. But this question remains
totally unsettled.
CHAPTER V.
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS.
WHAT was said in the last chapter leads directly to the
question, what is to be the future of the Central Labor
Union? From the beginning to the present, the real end of
all its work has been to place labor on something of an
equal footing with capital in the matter of bargaining. This
is true, not alone of the central bodies, but as far as aggress-
ive work is concerned, it is the mainspring of all action in
the case of large and small trade unions alike.
Even the subject of insurance, which takes up a large part
of the time of the great national trade unions, and the mat-
ter of influencing legislation, with which the federations con-
cern themselves, have this object in view, viz., To put the
laborer in a position where he may bargain for the sale of
his labor with a combination of capital which is no stronger
than the combination of labor which he represents.
The former, or what Webb calls the " method of mutual
insurance," does not touch the question of competition by
those men outside the unions, but is simply a method of
evening up the wages of different men in the unions. If in-
dividual bargaining were the rule in all unions, certain men
who by reason of a large family or other necessities would
be forced to accept a lower wage, would then help to sup-
port those who are out of work because they would not
accept the same rate. The non-union man, however, as-
sumes none of the burdens and shares none of the advantages.
All this naturally helps to put the trade unionist in a posi-
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS n$
tion of greater independence and thus assists his organiza-
tion in bargaining with the employer.
In the same way the " method of legal enactment," which
keeps the workman in better health as a result of sanitary
inspection and of laws regulating employers' liability for
accident, and which relieves the unions to a certain extent
from responsibility in regard to the labor of women and chil-
dren, leaves them in a much better position to insist on bar-
gains with employers which will not be so one-sided as
individual bargains tend to be.
What are the evidences that the Central Labor Unions will
continue in this direction ? For we must first find these before
we can determine what will be the probable line of devel-
opment.
In the first place, the work of organization is gradually
progressing, locals are becoming more numerous and the
central bodies are becoming stronger in membership as well
as increasing in number.1 There are more real trade union-
ists in the United States to-day than ever before. As a method
of collective bargaining is useless and foredoomed to failure
unless a respectable percentage of the members of a particu-
lar craft belongs in the organization, the growth in numbers
among trade unionists is encouraging. Since about 1886 it
has very seldom happened that a central labor body has
lapsed after having once really started, and almost every
such union is stronger now than it has ever been.
A movement toward a closer centralization of trades is be-
ginning to manifest itself. It first appeared in the trade
sections of the Central Unions. There were soon formed
special city federations called Allied Trades Councils. The
cause of this centralization is to be found in the struggle for
a better basis for collective bargaining. No part of the
trade union organization is so well fitted to uphold this essen-
1 See above, chapter ii, page 40.
1 1 6 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
tial principle as these councils composed of delegates of the
allied trades. These are also increasing in number and effi-
ciency, and are even forming national federations of trades
councils.1
Complete organization and a further development of this
form of federation will go far toward putting labor unions on
an equal looting with employers or with combinations of em-
ployers when it comes to the question of buying and selling
labor. Even now, as we have noticed before, the Board of
Walking Delegates of the Building Trades of New York City
has placed the building trades of that city in a position where
they do not fear any combination of employers. They can
make bargains now which are not favorable to one side only.
The building trades have been the pioneers in this move-
ment, but have been closely followed by the printing trades.
There is no particular reason why other trades which are
more or less closely allied should not follow the examples
thus set. The iron and metal trades and the textile trades,
especially in certain cities, should lend themselves particu-
larly well to such combinations. The beginning of these
may also be seen in trade sections of some of the larger
central unions.
Centralization of trade unions is also shown in the election
of a salaried agent by the Central Union. Up to a very
short time ago all the business of the Union was done either
by a committee or by the whole body, and, in all but one
Central Union, this is still the case. The experiment of a
paid business agent, however, has been such a splendid
success in the Cleveland Union that without doubt other
centrals will follow its example. The members of this union
are very enthusiastic over this plan, saying that " a business
agent can earn his salary twice over every week for every
lrThe National Building Trades, formed in 1898, has now two national, one
local and eleven building trades councils affiliated.
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS nj
Central Labor Union large enough to employ him." In the
words of the only man who occupies such a position in the
United States, " a business agent must be lawyer, doctor,
arbitrator, dictator, leader, and driver for the Union. He
must have an ear and eye to all things, keep his own counsel
and other people's secrets." In other words, this Union is
so centralized that the one man does all the real business,
while the Union itself dictates the policy and passes res-
olutions.
Here we would have conditions ripe for collective bargain-
ing if in addition there were somewhat stronger ties binding
the locals to the central body. The central, however, is
composed of such diverse elements that a stronger bond is
scarcely possible. The Local, the National Trade Union,
the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor,
the Allied Trades Council, and in some cases the Socialist
Labor Party all have some sort of a claim on the delegates,
and some of them often have a claim prior to that of the
Central Labor Union.
The acme of efficiency for the purpose of collective
bargaining is to be found in a combination of the Allied
Trades Council and the salaried business agent, and this is
what is really to be found in the Board of Walking Delegates
of New York City. When the Central Labor Union has
reached the point where the delegates put the common bus-
iness into the hands of a trusted paid agent, and are bound
together as closely as their allegiance to their own autono-
mous unions will permit, it has gone about as far as possi-
ble on the road to collective bargaining.
The importance of this method of securing the aims of
labor organizations is second to none in the whole range of
trade union activity. It is the very last right that employ-
ers will concede, and it is conceded only when compulsion
is used. It can never be just that an employer, representing
HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
as he does a great accumulation of capital, should insist on
making bargains with each individual laborer. The latter is
necessarily at a disadvantage from the very fact that the co-
ordinate factor of production, capital, is represented as a whole,
while of the other factor, labor, he is only a part. Labor
must combine, and in all bargains for the sale of the common
commodity it must be represented by one who has authority
to act for it. The most equitable rule is that the labor rep-
resentative should bargain with the representative of so much
capital as is used in the employment of the laborers repre-
sented. This is the very essence and life of trade union or-
ganization, and can be abandoned only when the trade
unionist is ready to forsake trade unionism itself.
As has been stated above, the Central Labor Unions are
not organized on a plan which will enable them to do
this. At best, they are only loose federations with no
really binding laws to hold them together. The sole penalty
attaching to a failure of a local to abide by the decision of
the majority in the Central is that it loses its standing in the
federation, as well as its advantages. The business agent,
or the body itself, cannot force any local to abide by a de-
cision or contract. There is thus little use in making a
mere declaration to this effect. In fact, as employers under-
stand this quite as well as the trade unionist, it is impossible
for a general Central Labor Union to do any collective bargain-
ing. Unless a radical change should take place in the organi-
zation of Central bodies, there is little hope that they will be
able directly to undertake this most fundamental function of
trade unionism. Autonomous locals through their National
Trade Unions use this method of collective bargaining con-
tinually. x Indirectly, in organizing and helping to keep
1 A notable example of this is the contract which the Chicago Typographical
Union entered into in 1897 with ^e Chicago Daily Newspaper Association.
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS i ig
alive such locals, the Central Unions can do, and are doing,
a great deal to further the idea of collective bargaining.
One very potent reason why not only Central Unions, but
all labor organizations cannot do more in this direction is
that they are not incorporated, and hence cannot be forced
to keep their contracts, nor force their members to do so.
There is probably not one trade unionist in a hundred, who
thinks about this matter, that is in favor of incorporating
the Unions. The reasons are very apparent. Legal action
could then be taken against the Union for a breach of any
contract, and the Union could enforce its rules on its own
members, a thing which it is impossible at present to do.
Trade unionists in general are not willing to give up their
immunity for the sake of the probability of driving a better
bargain with the employers. In addition, as long as trade
unions in the United States uphold the principle of collective
bargaining, the Central Labor Union will be only a second-
ary and auxiliary body, and can assist in the work only
through organization, agitation, and such legislation as it
may be able to bring about through the political influence
it can exert on legislators.
The movement for what is called in England " The New
Unionism" has taken hold of the Central bodies in the
United States to a greater extent than it has of any other
labor organization, with the exception of those which are
primarily socialistic and only incidentally labor bodies.
This is due partly to the fact that socialistic tendencies are
growing among all except the wealthy classes ; but it is
perhaps more largely to be explained by the fact that the
machinery of Trade Unions in cities is particularly well
fitted to organize and to carry on the work of a political
party. Many trade unionists can discern more to be gained
by adopting a "method of legal enactment" rather than a
system of collective bargaining.
12Q HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS.
Let the trade unionists of a city be convinced that their
ends can be more effectively advanced by independent
political organization, and nothing could suit the purpose
better than the system of local unions throughout the city,
responsible as they soon would be to the central executive
committee, for this is the form which the Central Labor
Union would assume. Should Central Labor Unions or
labor unions generally take upon themselves the functions of
independent political parties, they must necessarily stand or
fall, as other political parties do, by their platform and ac-
cording to the voters whom they can persuade to vote for it.
They could have no hold whatever upon other parties to
influence legislation. This is one great obstacle to an open
declaration for socialism and for an independent socialistic
party. The conservative leaders of to-day, seeing no imme-
diate advantage to be gained by giving up the hold which
the trade unionists have upon the old parties, stand firmly
against all efforts of the " class-conscious " party to force the
whole trade union movement into an independent political
organization. It is only a question of time, however, when
this party will dominate and when trade-unionism in the
United States will be upon a socialistic basis. It is not our
purpose to enter upon this subject, except so far as it is
indicated by men and measures in Central Labor Unions.
But the considerations just advanced show that here, to a
greater extent than in any other trade union bodies (except
the local unions, which are too small and too much bound
by the environments of a particular craft to be of much value
as indicating tendencies) is to be found an index of the drift
of trade union sentiment. The Central Labor Union is
more of a popular body than the national union, and what
it does is not so carefully studied out in reference to all
possible effects on different classes and parties. Moreover,
unlike the similar bodies in England, the national leaders
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS I2I
either are at present, or have been, intimately connected
with the City Central and have aided in the formation of the
official utterances, while on the other hand they have been
more or less influenced by what they have found in these
bodies.
There are very few, if any, constitutions of Central Labor
Unions in the United States which do not contain declarations
in the preambles or planks in the platform of a decidedly
socialistic character ; three, at least, go so far as to declare for
the " collective ownership by the people of all the means of
production and distribution," which is of course the essence
of socialistic doctrine. As an evidence of the progress which
the socialists are making, we may notice the prominence
which was given to the discussion of the socialistic resolu-
tions at the 1898 convention of the American Federation of
Labor at Kansas City. It is true that the resolutions were
voted down by the decisive vote of about eighteen hundred to
five hundred, yet for the first time in the history of these
conventions there was real debate on the merits of the ques-
tion ; and this gives the socialist faction hope. That a great
majority of trade unionists in the United States are to-day
opposed to state socialism is undoubtedly true; but it is no
less true that the signs of the times point toward independ-
ent political action by trade unionists, and we have shown
above that such action must necessarily be upon a socialistic
basis. Nothing, however, would be further from the truth
than that, in spite of the tendencies noted above, there is
any danger to be feared from the socialistic action of trade
unions for a long time to come, if ever. It will be necessary
to overcome first a party allegiance stronger than in any
other country of the world ; and second, an aversion to so-
cialism which dominates most of the intelligent American
workingmen. The great strength of the socialists lies in the
number of foreign-born members of trade unions who have
developed no love for party or for American institutions.
122 HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
There is nothing incompatible in the two ideas which
share the field of Trade Union sentiment and activity, viz.:
the method of collective bargaining and the method of legal
enactment brought about by independent political action.
The two will go hand in hand, one for the practical present,
and the other worked for as an ideal for the future.
There are certain well-defined dangers and faults peculiar
to Central Labor Unions, which, minimized or eradicated,
would increase the value of the work many-fold. Their
officers would become more efficient, the public would re-
pose more confidence in them and legislators would treat
their petitions and resolutions with greater consideration.
These dangers are two-fold : First, those which can be con-
trolled from the inside, those with which members them-
selves have to do. Second, those which originate without
the union and which can be overcome only by the combined
strength of the whole body.
In the former class should be placed first of all that per-
sonal envy and jealousy which are sure to be found in any
organization that has places of honor and of trust to be
filled. A man is found in the union with a little more in-
telligence or a little more executive ability than others, and
it is but natural and proper that there should be assigned to
him the work for which he is especially fitted. If there be
honor connected with it, so much the better for him, and so
much the better for the whole body ; for without it he prob-
ably could not be induced to undertake the work at all.
But no sooner is he raised to this position than some mem-
ber conceives the idea that he himself, or some friend of his,
could do the work better, and immediately begins to create
discord. Friction is thus increased, even if he is not suc-
cessful in displacing the object of his envy. Referring to
this matter, a lay member of a strong central union, himself
a keen observer, writes : " Jealousy, or a desire to pull a
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
man down as soon as he seems to be getting a little higher
than the common herd, is one of the things which prevents
the Central Union from doing better work." A struggle for
some petty office will take up the time and attention of the
whole Union for hours, to the utter disregard of important
matters of business, while charges of all kinds are bandied
back and forth from one faction to another, the result being
of no real benefit to anybody.
Second, there is a general lack of confidence in the
officers and leaders selected. This lack of confidence is a
natural result of the experience of labor unions. Too many
men have abused the trust placed in them, tempted by the
opportunity for embezzlement, and by offers from employers
or political parties. Too great care cannot be taken by
those who have in charge funds belonging to labor unions ;
for charges of dishonesty are often recklessly made, and the
least mistake is magnified into a mountain by an envious rival.
A remedy is attempted in the shape of large committees and
supervising boards. This is at best clumsy machinery, and
is not capable of accomplishing the best results. The fact
is that almost every officer of a Central Labor Union as soon
as he is elected becomes an object of suspicion and distrust.
Much of his time is necessarily expended in combating this
feeling, and the men best fitted to lead often resign merely
because they have not the confidence of their fellows.
Make constitutions and by-laws as you will, place as
many checks and balances as possible in the government of
a body, it will still be necessary or expedient to place arbi-
trary power or authority in a small committee or in a single
individual. In order that the best results may be obtained,
this committee or this individual should be made to feel that
he has an undivided constituency at his back. This is one
reason why the agents of corporations are so powerful and
attain so often the ends sought. They know that what they
HISTORY OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
do will be approved, or at least that it will not be undone at
once by those for whom they act.
Third, the Central Labor Union has no definite policy in
regard to questions which it may discuss, except the very
general idea that " everything concerning labor" has a place
in its deliberations. This term and this conception are so
large that there is nothing in art, literature, science, or poli-
tics which would not be a proper subject for discussion
and resolution. As a matter of fact the topics discussed are
taken from a field not much narrower. Naturally enough,
the public and the legislators to whom the resolutions are
addressed can hardly see the connection between a labor or-
ganization and many of the subjects of petitions and resolu-
tions which they receive. There is field for reform sufficiently
large if the union never went outside of its own peculiar ter-
ritory. In undertaking a variety of burdens the energies of
the organization are dissipated, and its influence with those
whose good will it needs is weakened. The time for discus-
sion of legitimate questions is all too short at most, and
when it is wasted by factious quarreling, the opportunity
for doing the necessary things is lost. What is true of all
popular bodies is especially true of this one. Its action is
impulsive and spasmodic. Whatever appeals to the dele-
gates at the time is acted upon, and in many cases is at
once forgotten. Promises are forced from candidates or
public officials, and it is often not known whether the prom-
ises have been kept or not. As has been shown before, res-
olutions of successive meetings may be exactly opposite in
sentiment, and are passed in utter forgetfulness of what was
done in the preceding session. A little more consistency
and definiteness of aim will lend much to the dignity and
weight of the conclusions.
Of one of the dangers which threaten the Union from
outside we have already spoken. On the whole, trade unions
THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS I25
are sufficiently on their guard against it. That is, the danger
from men who are party politicians first, and trade unionists
only "for what there is in it" for themselves. In the present
state of party allegiance on the part of trade unionists, a dis-
cussion of party politics, if persisted in, will wreck the
strongest union.
The second danger is that the union will, in its enthusiasm
to right real wrongs, perform acts which will make it amen-
able to courts of law. The laws against conspiracy have
been invoked over and over again on the part of the
employers, and in the United States the acts of labor orga-
nizations still come under these laws, although in England
they do not. It is wiser to recognize the fact that certain
acts constitute conspiracy, and to refrain from committing
the acts, rather than to suffer the penalty and to inveigh
against the unjust laws. There is no reason why, with the
right kind of work and with a judicious use of the ballot,
labor organizations may not to a certain extent be rendered
exempt from the operation of the laws against conspiracy to
injure trade.
The same advice might be given in regard to what has
been termed " government by injunction," or decrees of
courts of equity, which have caused so much trouble for
labor organizations. If the power of these courts is as dan-
gerous as the labor leaders would have us believe, even that
might be curtailed by a combined effort of unionists and
of others whom they may be able to persuade to work in
harmony with them. Thanks to our democratic institutions,
there is little that cannot be done if it is desired by a
majority large enough.
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