Denver labor bulletin., 1917-07-28
$4,000 LEATHER
WORKERS MERGE
NLABOR BRANCH
DENVER MAN ON EXECU-
TIVE BOARD.
Trades Other Than Shoe and Glove
Workers Included in New Amer
lean Federation of Labor Body.

Fifty thousand leather workers of
the United States, other than those of
the Boot and Shoe Workers Union and
the International Glove Workers of
America, recently merged into the
United Leather Workers International
Union as result of series of meet
ings held at the Majestic hotel in st.
Louis. w. E. Bryan of Kansas City,
who has been president of the lnterna-
tional United Brotherhood of Leather
Workers on Horse Goods, because of
his efforts to bring about the amalga-
nation of the trades, was elected pres
ident of the new organization for
term of three years.
The new organization will be affiliat-
ed with the American Federation of
Labor under a charter which Will be
issued in a few days. The active
amalgamation of the various trades in
the new organization, according to
President Bryan, will be effective by
October l. In applying for charter
under the American Federation of La
Dor, the merger was sanctioned for all
leather trades except those in the shoe
and glove trades, which already have
charters from the Federation.
Three large organizations are di-
rectly affected by the merger. They
are the Harness and Saddlery Work
ers, the Travellers Goods and Leather
Novelty Workers and the Tannery
Workers. In addition, there are
large number of smaller organizations
working independently under the
American Federation that will be in
corporated into the new organization.
Gompers Sends Representative
l.
ber stated by the union officials, all of
them are not now members Of organi-
cations under the Federation, but
rather the number from the total num-
Der in the United States and Canada
that the officials of the new organiZa-
ton expect to bring under their body
thru an intensified campaign.
In addition to the election Of Bryan
as president, the following additional
officers were elected: General vice
president. E. E. Shilling, Chicago;
general secretary-treasurer, John l.
Pfeiffer, Kansas City; general eXecu-
tive board, John Doran, Boston, F. P.
Maloney, New York. W. F. Alderman,
Dallas, r. f. Ladwig, Denver; J. w.
Trapp. Los Angeles.
In the conference President Samuel
Gompers of the American Federation
of Labor, who was unable to attend
because of other matters, was repre-
sented by Hugh Frayne of New York,
general organizer of the Federation,
and Frank Duffy Of Indianapolis,
sixth vice president of the Federation.
General Secretary of the Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners Frayne pre-
sided at the meetings until the organ
ization was formed.
1,20O Affected in St Louis.
Application for the charter of the
new body was made to the American
a meeting in January the preliminary
steps were taken toward perfection
of the plan and Bryan, representing
the different leather trades, was au-
thorized to proceed with the work of
co-ordinating the unions under one
body.
The work was taken up and ad-
vanced at meeting in Indianapolis in
April The meeting in St. Louis was
the third and final one in the process
of organization.
President Bryan stated there are
approximately 1900 members of the
different leather trades in St. Louis
alone who will be subject to member
ship, altho nothing like all of them
are now organized.
He declared an intensified campaign
will be made to enlarge the member
ship and perfect organizations thru
out the country where there are suffi-
cient numbers to form trade unions.
New York has the largest possible
membership, with approximately TO-
600 members, while the same number
are credited to Boston and the terri
tory within one hundred miles.