The Connecticut labor news., 1921-09-09
Growth Ot Labor Organ iZatiOn in U nit c d States Remarkable Since Formation in Eighteenth Century.
By Stanley Gibson.

1 have often wondered how many mem- bers of organized labor know as to where | or when trade unionism first started, and believing same would be of interest to them, 1 have collated the following data The beginning of American trade l unionsm Is not known with definite ac- curacy. The first organization along the l lines of wage earners of which we have any definite record is that of the journey men printers in New York in 1776, when they made a demand for an increase of wages, and this being refused, a strike was called. The strike proved success l ful and the association ceased. In Phila- | delphla i'll 1706 an attempt made by the | employers to reduce wages was made the occasion for calling the trade together l IWenty-six printers signed a document l pledg1ng themselves to mutual support in | case Ot being thrown out of employment 1 1 he next we hear of was the cOrdWainers of Philadelphia, who as early as 1792 had or organization.
 i Prior to 1927 most of the organizations i'll the several trades were secret Ill char aCter, but the period of 1927-37 marks | their emergenCe into open organizations based upon the principle of quitting work l under aCqu1esCenCe to demands. The period is, therefore, the real beginning of trades unionisrl. Viewed from this
 standpoint, while England is considered the home of trades unionis1r, the distinc- tion belongs to Philadelphia.
 | Modern trade unionism, as an indus trial force, began with the coming to-
 gether of previously existing societies 1 for the several trades to form a central l hOH hn f0t1 ~ro1a l Working by themselves, these isolated
 societies could accomplish but little in
 the face of the hostile government and
 employers. Consequently, they inclined
 to secrecy or to cloak their movements
 when they formed representative body,
 they came out in the open, they encour- 1 aged each other in the spirit of aggres-
 siveness, they greatly increased their
 membership, they organized the workmen
 in trades previously unorganized.
 This was the real beginning, not only
 of trades unionism, but even of the term
 trades union.' For the term indicated
 originally not a union in trade, but a
 union trade "societies" The latter was
 the usual name of the isolated organiza.
 tion At he present time what original
 ly trade union is now known under
 the names of Central Labor Union
 Trades Councils and Federation of La
 bor.
 The first trade union in America was
 the Mechanics Union of Trade Associa-
 tions organized in Philadelphia in 1927
 It, however, did not last long, and the
 union metamorphosed into politics. Ii
 was through this union that the first la
 bor paper was ever published. The Me
 chanics' Free Press was inaugurated two
 years later, in 1855, this time with res
 olution learned from experience to "keel out of politics" New York took the
 lead and organized the "eGneral Trades Union"
 Baltimore and Philadelphia quickly
 followed. and in the next four years
 there were trade unions in a dozen cities from Boston to Washington. In 1834 , these local unions formed a national as. sociation, which they called the Nationa Trades Union, with a constitution ano
 officers. The National Trades Union he1c
 its conventions with increased influence in 1884, 1855 and 1886. Although tht daily papers of this time abound witt news of strikes and with editorials O
 advice to restless mechanics, yet the re
 1narkable thing of this occasion was tha , the National Labor Organization tha backed these strikes was barely mention ed, as the lost tribes of Israel
 The Mechanics Union of Philadelp
 phia sprang from an unsuccessful strik
 of the carpenters for a ten-hour day t There the labor party held the balanc t of power in two elections, and all tn |. candidates were elected. Even the con 2 gressiona1 candidates of the older part = flung out their banners as the 'tru t. workingmens party" and appropriate 5 the slogan of "6 to G." which the work ing men had used to indicate their de : mand for the ten-hour day. The labo party disappeared entirely in 1850, an the American politician had learned fo :, the first time to split the labor vote. z The several periods of growth on trad union lines did not reach marked devel
 op1nent until about 1844, after seve>
 years of depression had attention to tn
 suffering of the wage earner, A nea
 approach to industrial organization ap l peared in 1845, when the National Re l form Convention was held in New York . This, however, was preliminary to tn l National Industrial Congress, which be l gan it's sessions in 1846 and continue 3 until 1854
 It was in this period that the frs national organization of a trade wa effected, which continued organization o labor was that of the National Typo | graphical Union, organized in 1851. Tn next national organization of labor wa l that of matters in 1854, followed by tn I iron mo1ders in 1858, and the machinist V and blacksmiths in 1859. They were tn | only national organizations of labor prlo
 tc the Civil War. During this period na = tional organizations were formed by tn a locomotive engineers in 1863, the ciga { makers in 1864( the bricklayers and ma sons in 1865.
 T In the 1860 period tsate federation were organized. A combination C Il these locals, state and national organ . cations was formed in the National Ls ? bor Union, which held its first conver f ton in 1866 The National Labor Un1o
 held annual conventions, in 1872, when s went into politics with the farmers or : ganization and nominated presldent1s g candidates This resulted in the wreck a ing of the organization and the repet
 tion of the experiences of forty years be . fore.