Portland observer., May 25, 1983, Page 16, Image 16

Page 4 Section II Portland Observer. May 26, 1983
100 years of labor struggle
This brief history of the 100 years of the modern trade union movement
in the United State* can only touch the high spots o f activity and identify
the principal trends o f a “ century o f achievement." In such a condensation
o f history, episodes of importance and o f great human dram a must neces­
sarily be discussed far too b rie fly , or in some case* relegated to a mere
mention.
W hat is clearly evident, however, is that the working people o f America
have had to unite in struggle to achieve the gains that they have accumulated
during this century. Improvements did not come easily. Organizing unions,
winning the right to representation, using the collective bargaining process
as the core o f their activities, struggling against bias and discrimination, the
working men and women o f America have built a trade uruon movement of
formidable proportion*.
Labor in America has correctly been described a* a stabilizing force in the
national economy and a bulwark o f our democratic society. Furthermore,
the gains that unions have been able to achieve have brought benefits, direct
and indirect, to the public as a whole. It was labor, for example, that spear­
headed the drive for public education for every child. The labor movement,
indeed, has served as a force for American progress.
Amarlcan labor'a second cantury
Now, in the 1980’s, a* the American trade union movement look* toward
its second century, it take* pride in its first "century o f achievement” as it
recognize* a substantial list o f goals yet to be achieved.
In it* first century, A m erican lab or has played a central role in the
elevation o f the Am erican standard o f living. The benefits which unions
have negotiated fo r their member* are, in most cases, widespread in the
economy and enjoyed by millions o f our fellow citizens outside the labor
movement. It is often hard to remember that what we take for granted —
vacations with pay, pensions, health and welfare protection, grievance and
arbitration procedures, holidays — never existed on any meaningful scale
until unions fought and won them for working people.
Through these decades, the labor movement ha* constantly reached out
to group* in the American society striving for their share o f opportunity and
re w a rd s.. .to the blacks, the Hispanics and other m in o ritie s .. .to women
striving for jobs and equal or comparable p a y . . .to those who w ork for
better schools, for the freedom o f speech, press and assembly guaranteed by
the Bill o f Rights. . . to those seeking to make our cities more livable or our
rural recreation areas more a v a ila b le .. .to those seeking better health for
infants and more secure status for the elderly.
Through these decades, in addition, the unions o f Am erica have func­
tioned in an economy and a technology marked by awesome change. When
the Federation o f Organized Trades and Labor Unions gathered in conven­
tion in 1881, Edison had two year* earlier invented the electric light, and the
first telephone conversation had taken place just five year* before.
Yet through this dizzying process o f change, one need remain* constant
— the need fo r in d ivid u al employees to en joy their hum an rights and
dignity, and to have the power to band together to achieve equal collective
status in dealing with multi-m illion and m ulti-billion dollar corporations. In
other words, (here is no substitute for the labor union.
T o w a rd a Fed eration o f Labor
The roots o f our country’s trade union* extend deep into the early history
o f America. Several o f the Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth Rock in 1620 were
working craftsmen. Captain John Smith, who led the ill-fated settlement in
1607 on V irg in ia ’s James River, pleaded w ith his sponsors in London to
send him more craftsmen and working people.
IT TAKES A
LARGE VARIETY
OF TALENT TO
FILL THIS GLASS
The Miller Commitment:
• Quality Products
MALT LIQUOR
• Quality Programs
• Quality People
Employing and promoting equally
today and tomorrow
P rim itiv e unions, or guilds, or carpenters and cordw aincrs, cabinet
m aker* and cobbler* made their appearance, often tem porary, in various
cities along the A tlan tic seaboard o f colonial Am erica. W orkers played a
significant role in the struggle fo r independence; carpenter* disguised a*
M ohaw k Indians were the “ host” group at the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
The Continental Congress met in Carpenters H all in Philadelphia, and there
the Declaration o f Independence was signed in 1776. In "pursuit o f happi­
ness” through shorter hour* and higher pay, printer* were the first to go on
strike, in New York in 1794; cabinet maker* struck in 1796; carpenters in
Philadelphia in 1797; cordwaincrs in 1799. In the early year* o f the 19th
century, recorded effo rts by union* to improve the workers’ conditions,
through either negotiation or strike action, became more frequent.
By (he 1820s, various union* involved in the effort to reduce the working
day from 12 to 10 hours began to show interest in the idea o f federation —
o f joining together in pursuit o f common objective* for working people.
Puny as these first e ffo rt* to organize may have been, they reflected the
need o f working people for economic and legal protection from exploiting
employers. The invention o f the steam engine and the growing use o f water
power to operate m achinery were developing a trend to w ard a factory
system not much different from that in England which produced misery and
slums for decades. Starting in (he 1830’s and accelerating rapidly during the
C iv il W a r, the fac to ry system accounted fo r an ever-grow ing share o f
Am erican production. It also produced great wealth fo r a few , grinding
poverty for many.
W ith workers recognizing the power o f their employers, the number of
local union organizations increased steadily during (he mid-19th century. In
a number o f cities, unions in various trades joined together in city-w ide
federations. The National Trades’ Union, formed in 1834 by workers in five
cities, was an early attempt at countrywide federation — but the financial
panic o f 1837 put an end to its efforts. In 1866 several national associations
o f union* functioning in one trade — printers, machinists, stone cutters, to
name a few — sent delegates to a Baltimore meeting that brought forth the
National Labor Union. Never very strong, it was a casualty o f the sweeping
economic depression o f 1873.
Five years later, the Knights o f Labor captured the public imagination.
The Knights were an all-embracing organization committed to a cooperative
society. M em b e rs h ip was not lim ite d to wage earners; it was open to
farmers and small business people — everybody, that is, except lawyers,
bankers, stockbrokers, professional gamblers and anyone involved in the
sale o f alcoholic beverages. The Knights achieved a membership o f nearly
730,000 during the next few years, but the skilled and unskilled workers
who had joined the Knights in hope o f im provem ent in (heir hours and
wages found themselves frustrated by the Knights’ vague organizational
structure, by its officers' aversion to strikes against employers and by its
leaders' reliance on the promise o f future social gains instead o f the hard
day-to-day work o f building and operating a union organization. So the
stage was set for the creation o f a down-to-earth, practical labor federation
which could combine long range objectives o f a better society w ith the
practical activity o f day-to-day union functions.
Fed eration o f O rg an ize d Trad es b Labor U niona
T h e firs t p ra c tic a l step in response to the need fo r a u nited la b o r
movement was a meeting o f workers’ representatives from a few trades and
industries at Pittsburgh on N ov. 13, 1881. The delegates came from the
carpenters, the cigar markers, the printers, merchant seamen, and the steel
w o rk e rs , as w ell as fro m a few city la b o r bodies and a s p rin k lin g o f
delegates from local units o f the Knights o f Labor.
(Please turn to Section I I Page 5)