Foreword
One hundred years is a long time in the affairs of men. This is particularly true of the past century. More changes in technology, in living and working patterns, in science and education occurred in the past 100 years than in all of recorded history prior to 1800. The United States and Canada have achieved a standard of living that even the most advanced dreamer could not visualize in the 19th Century. And the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America was part and parcel of the growth and development of the North American odyssey that culminated in today’s freedom from exploitation, hunger, and privation. More than any other single institution, the labor movement was responsible for the failure of Communism to gain a significant foothold in the United States and Canada over the past century. More than any other single institution, it was also responsible for the standard of living we enjoy today. By constantly chipping away at the age-old and undemocratic concept that property rights are everything and human rights nothing, the labor movement established the principle that the worker is entitled to a say in the wages and conditions under which he will provide his labor. Through this process, North America grew strong and prosperous to a degree unimaginable to the founding fathers. We are prosperous not because the automobile industry can provide 12 million cars a year; we are prosperous because 12 million workers have income enough to be able to afford a car. To a very large extent that affluence stems from the fact that unions have elevated wages to the point where workers can buy a fair share of the goods they produce. Through its determined efforts to obtain protection for workers under the law, it has achieved a measure of economic security for all workers. And the United Brotherhood has been a large and vital component of that North American labor movement.
Precursors of New Struggles to Come
As the United Brotherhood crosses over the threshold into the second century of its existence, it becomes increasingly clear that the struggles of the past 100 years are only the precursors of new struggles yet to come. In spite of the fact that the United Brotherhood and the United States and Canada grew up together, prospered together, built together, the right of unions to exist still rests on fragile foundations in both countries. There are forces still dedicated to the achievement of a union-free environment. There are attorneys and public relations experts who are getting rich by teaching employers how to frustrate union organizing efforts and how to bog down negotiations once a union has won an election. There are employer groups organized for the sole purpose of encouraging each other to harness their purchasing power to the purchase of non-union goods and services. And, the most threatening of all, there are many well-financed business lobbies at work in both Washington and Ottawa pressuring legislators to fight for legislation that can undercut the effectiveness of organized labor.
Clever and Ruthless Opponents
Fortunately, the United Brotherhood has a hundred years of experience in dealing with clever and often ruthless opponents. Our organization was born in an era when the 12-hour day still prevailed in much of American industry. There were no laws on the statute books giving workers any right to organize. In fact, there was a concept held over from previous time that any efforts by working people to organize for the purpose of winning better wages was an illegal conspiracy. In that kind of climate, workers joined a union at great peril to their future, because the blacklist was a devastating weapon in the hands of ruthless employers. It could bar a man or woman from ever again finding work in his or her chosen industry. That is why the use of secret passwords originated in many unions - a practice that still prevails in many labor organizations. Therefore, the courage and dedication of the men who brought the United Brotherhood into existence in 1881 deserve to be forever remembered by those of us who are beneficiaries of their selfless efforts. They, indeed, planned wisely and carried on boldly without regard to dire consequences that might accrue to them personally.
A History of Courage and Sacrifice
The whole history of our Brotherhood is replete with examples of the same kind of courage and sacrifice that was displayed by our founders. Untold thousands walked picket lines, saw their women and children go hungry for months on end, saw their meager possessions repossessed as they fought for shorter hours, better wages, safer working conditions, and a better life for those who must do the work of the world. The United Brotherhood is really the one visible monument that commemorates their deeds and sacrifices. Their real and imperishable achievements are better fed and healthier children and grandchildren, the limitless opportunities that are opened to them, the pensions and health and welfare plans that enable today’s retired workers to live with at least a modicum of comfort and dignity. None of these came easily. They were paid for, as Churchill once summed up during England’s hour of peril, by blood, sweat, and tears. Now the banner has passed into our hands as the second century of our history begins. The external circumstances have changed - the workday is no longer from sun-up to sun-down - but the determination of many corporate heads to hamstring or completely destroy unions has not changed a particle in a century. The blacklist and lockout may no longer be the powerful weapons they once were, but they have been replaced by the slick anti-union lawyer, the public relations expert whose whole training is in ways of frustrating union organizing efforts and undercutting meaningful collective bargaining efforts. The scenery has changed but the struggle continues as basic as it was in 1881. Just as it took determination and courage for our founders to organize and preserve our Brotherhood 100 years ago, our own situation today calls for equal dedication. And probably 100 years from now our children and grandchildren will face the same challenges in a different form. Our task is to pass on to them a bigger, better, and more effective Brotherhood.
Two Shillings a Day and a Place in History
In 1630, the law of the Massachusetts Bay Colony put it this way: “Carpenters, Joiners, etc., shall not take above two shillings a day nor any man shall give more under pain of a fairly heavy fine.” There were no unions in those days. It was nearly a century later before craft guilds began to appear. Even then, many were not labor unions in the modern sense. One of the first unions in the new world was the “Ship Carpenters and Caulkers Club” of Boston, commonly called the “Caulkers Club.” Its purpose: mainly political. In fact, tradition has it that the word “caucus,” derived from this club. Legend also has it that the Boston Tea Party was carried out largely by members of the Caulkers Club, dressed as Indians. It is not known when the Club was organized, but it existed in 1724. Samuel Adams, John Hancock and other New England leaders of the Revolution were closely associated with the Carpenters and Caulkers, and met frequently at their hall.
The Beginnings of Trade Unionism
Philadelphia is apparently where trade unionism had its real beginning on this Continent. There, in 1724, the “Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia” was organized. Members were both master and journeymen carpenters. A basic objective: “To adopt such a system of measurement and prices that everyone concerned in building may have the value of his money and every working man the worth of his labor.” The Company’s “Book of Prices” became and remained the standard in the building industry until about 1860. Members were not allowed to accept less than the established scale or to work with non-members under pain of expulsion. Blazing the trail for modern unions, the Company provided sickness and death benefits, and assistance to unemployed members.
Carpenters’ Hall: Birthplace of the Nation
When the Carpenters’ Company erected its own building in 1770, they were unwittingly setting the stage for history. Four years later, in September 1774, delegates elected by the several colonies came to Philadelphia to decide what to do about their problems with England. When they couldn’t get permission to meet at the Capitol, the Carpenters promptly placed their hall at their disposal. On September 5, 1774, the first meeting of the Continental Congress convened in Carpenters’ Hall. There, they began the deliberations that resulted in the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. During the Revolutionary period, Carpenters’ Hall became the rallying point for patriots - except for eight months when it was occupied by the British. The building still stands - a landmark of American history.
When a 12-Hour Day Was a Victory
In 1791, Philadelphia again became the scene of history-making, and again it was the carpenters - in the first successful strike for shorter hours. This was 90 years before the United Brotherhood came into being - 99 years before the Brotherhood was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to spearhead the fight for the 8-hour day. The 1791 situation: Philadelphia carpenters were working from sunrise to sunset in summer for five shillings a day and in winter they were put on piecework. The union’s demand: a uniform work day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. the year through, and one hour for lunch. A Philadelphia newspaper reported the union’s strategy. When employers refused to meet with them: “The journeymen house carpenters desire to announce that … they propose to work for the public direct for 25% below the rates formerly charged.” The employers finally yielded.
Years of Doldrums - Climate for Action
Generally speaking, the first 80 years of the 1800’s were treadmill years for organized labor. Although worker organizations came into existence all over the country and in cities of Canada, as industry expanded, few of them had strength of permanence. In the years following the Civil War, carpenters experienced complete disruption of their traditional pattern of craft work. At the beginning of the century, the carpenter had been for the most part a wanderer, moving from place to place in quest of work. Carrying his skills and his bag of tools, he was his own salesman, architect and journeyman. Often, he cut his own timber and made his own boards. Other times, the customer supplied materials, along with food and lodging, until the job was done. As towns developed, he settled down, set up shop, trained apprentices. But, swift changes were underway. There were new techniques and new cities coming into being almost overnight. And, the appearance of the middleman - and of mechanized tools. The middleman’s aim, as contractor, was the biggest day’s work possible for the smallest wage possible. His weapons were the new machines. With them, he was able to split the craft of carpentry into simple chores, and teach green hands to do them at cut-rate wages. Piecework began taking the place of day-work. Cheapness became the mark of the times, and both carpenters and the public suffered. At the start of the ‘80’s, carpenters’ wages were 20 to 30˘ an hour - lower in most cities than those of other trades which required no more skill or manual effort - and far fewer tools. The workday in most places remained from sunrise to sunset, although a few cities with unions had earned a 10-hour day. There was no apprenticeship system. There were no safety regulations. These were, to say the least, discouraging years.
Out of St. Louis: A Call for Unity
In St. Louis, Mo., however, things were happening - because of a man named Peter J. McGuire, dynamo of the carpenters’ unions in that city and a leader in the St. Louis Trades and Labor Alliance. McGuire had been born in a tenement in New York’s lower East Side. He had known the misery of poverty. He had had his initiation into labor organization - and violent resistance - in New York and New England; had been a traveling advocate of unionism; and had moved to St. Louis in 1878. Through McGuire’s leadership, wages and working conditions for carpenters in St. Louis had become the nation’s best. His accomplishments began attracting wide attention. Letters began coming from other cities, urging him to initiate a national union. So. . . in April, 1881, the St. Louis carpenters’ unions formed a “Provisional Committee of the Carpenters and Joiners National Union.” McGuire was elected secretary. A few days later, he came out with a little 4-page publication that he called The Carpenter. Copies were mailed to carpenters’ unions in the two dozen cities where they then existed, mostly in the East and Midwest.
THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED…THE YEAR: 1881
“In the present age there is no hope for working-men outside of organization. Without a trades union, the workman meets the employer at a great disadvantage. The capitalist has the advantage of past accumulations; the laborer, unassisted by combination, has not. Knowing this, the capitalist can wait, while his men, without funds, have no other alternative but to submit. But with organization the case is altered; and the more widespread the organization, the better. Then the workman is able to meet the employer on equal terms…If the strong combine, why should not the weak?”
Peter McGuire Founder of the Brotherhood Founder of Labor Day Co-founder of the A.F.of L 1st Editor of The Carpenter
The front page carried Brother McGuire’s appeal to “Help us organize a National Union of Carpenters and Joiners.” The two Chicago unions not only hailed the idea but quickly made a proposition. In essence: “Meet here. We can get a hall without charge.” Then they added a clincher. Knowing that everybody was short of money, they offered: “We’ll put you up at our own homes.”
THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED…THE YEAR 1885
The multiplication and use of labor-saving machines make it our first duty to shorten the hours of labor, if we would share in the benefits of their introduction, otherwise they must result in driving out of existence free labor, the boast of an enlightened age and civilization.
Gabriel Edmonston 1st President of the Brotherhood
Millwrights are highly skilled members of the United Brotherhood. Today, they install heavy machinery, conveyor systems, generators, etc., but in the early days of North America they designed and constructed the mills where flour and grist was ground by water power. Water was directed over hand-constructed wooden mill wheels to turn big wooden gears and generate power. Millwrights executed every type of engineering operation in the construction of these mills. Shortly after the Brotherhood was established in the 1880s, millwrights were admitted to Brotherhood membership.
Thirty-six Determined Delegates - And a United Brotherhood
At 3 p.m. on August 8, 1881, 36 delegates from 14 local unions in 11 cities were called to order at Trades Assembly Hall in Chicago. They represented 2,042 craftsmen from many cities of North America. They were in session for four days. Out of their deliberations came the decision to establish an international union to be known as “the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.” Gabriel Edmonston of Washington, D.C., was elected as General President and McGuire as General Secretary. Even before the convention had convened, charter applications had been received from the two Chicago unions, and from others in Buffalo, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Detroit. During the convention, applications were made by a New York union and by McGuire’s in St. Louis. After adjournment, charters were applied for by the two other St. Louis unions, and by unions in Brooklyn, New Orleans and Hamilton, Ontario. On January 13, 1882, the Washington union received the first charter (subsequently re-issued to the Chicago carpenters in recognition of their initiative in arranging for the first convention). The Brotherhood was on its way…
Moving Ahead - A Little at a Time
In its early years, the Brotherhood concentrated upon upholding wages and struggling to advance them, while setting its sights on shorter hours - not so much to lessen their toil as to spread the work among more members. At its second convention - Philadelphia in 1882 - it set the 9-hour day as its goal, believing this to be more realistic at the time than the 8-hour day. The following year, Pacific Coast locals adopted the 9-hour rule in San Francisco. Before the dawn of the ‘90’s, they had established this rule on the coast wherever there was a Carpenters’ local - and not only for carpenters, but for all branches of the building trades. Elsewhere in the nation, seven locals attained the 8-hour day, 17 gained the 9-hour plan, and 21 others won shorter hours. In most cities, carpenters won wage increases averaging 50˘ a day. Meanwhile, locals of the Brotherhood were succeeding in curbing or completely getting rid of the piecework plan, and bringing back the day-work system. That’s how the gains had to be won - a little at a time. After these early victories, the carpenters generally were getting less than one-third as much for a long day’s work as today’s carpenters get in an hour. And, that’s one measure of how far the Brotherhood has come - through the struggles and sacrifice of those who led the way.
THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED . . . THE YEAR: 1886
“The objects of our Brotherhood are namely: to rescue our trade from the low level to which it has fallen, and by mutual effort to place ourselves on a foundation sufficiently strong to prevent further encroachments. We propose: to discourage piecework, to re-establish an Apprentice system, to encourage a higher standard of skill, to cultivate feelings of friendship among the men of the craft, to assist each other to secure employment, to reduce the hours of daily labor, to secure adequate pay for our work, to furnish aid in cases of death or permanent disability, and by legal proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual and social condition of all our members.”
Constitution of the Brotherhood
In fact, the Brotherhood had just come into being when McGuire joined others in drafting a call to all national and international unions for a trades congress at Pittsburgh, Pa. in November, 1881. The meeting convened with 117 delegates. They agreed that their unions would federate They adopted the name: Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada. The idea was a good one, but there were organizational flaws, and for five years, the new amalgamation drifted. Then, at its 1886 convention, officers of the United Brotherhood led a successful effort to reorganize and strengthen the Federation. The delegates gave the reorganized body the name of the American Federation of Labor. A young cigarmaker named Samuel Gompers was elected president - the first of his 37 terms. Gabriel Edmonston was chosen as treasurer; Peter McGuire as secretary. The United Brotherhood was, in fact, the prime mover and most stabilizing influence in the entire Federation - architect of the American labor movement as we know it today. The AFL, too, was on its way . . .
THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED. . . THE YEAR: 1890
“Permit me, dear sir, on behalf of the American Federation of Labor, to congratulate your grand Brotherhood upon the proud distinction. . . in being chosen as the best disciplined, appropriate and determined to lead the movement for a reduction in the hours of labor to eight per day. There is no doubt in my mind that few of the historians of the great events in the history of the development of our people will accord a higher place of honor and distinction than to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.”
Samuel Gompers 1st President of the American Federation of Labor
For the 8-Hour Day: Years of Valiant Struggle
Even before the Civil War, there had been occasional efforts to achieve the 8-hour day; and these efforts were resumed after the war on a broad geographical scale. At first, the efforts were unsuccessful. But, at the 1884 convention of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (soon to become the AFL), Carpenters’ President Gabriel Edmonston proposed the 8-hour day as the new target. He set May 1, 1886, as the date for making it effective. The convention adopted the proposal. Edmonston, as treasurer, notified all affiliated unions; urged them to join the fight. UB General Secretary McGuire conducted a mail referendum among the Carpenters’ locals. They voted 7-to-1 to do battle, although some - while favorable - were hesitant: they thought that the 9-hour rule should first be more generally established. The 1885 convention of the Federation decided that all affiliated organizations should report to the Secretary by March 8, 1886, whether or not they would enforce the 8-hour rule on May 1. Those who did not plan to do so were urged to give their financial and moral support to those who did. Came May 1, 1886. The only organization to make a determined effort was the Brotherhood of Carpenters. By the end of a month of determined effort General Secretary McGuire was able to report:
1. Twelve cities with a membership of 2,750 were working the 8-hour day.
2. Twenty-five cities with a membership of 6,000 were working the 9-hour day.
3. Eleven cities with a membership of 1,500 were working shorter hours on Saturday.
Thus, 48 cities with a total membership of 10,250 were working shorter hours than formerly. Considering the Federation as a whole, the first big battle for an 8-hour day was not generally successful, but: The principle of the 8-hour day emerged as a rallying point for all labor, and the Carpenters became known as THE 8-hour organization.
Second Wind - and a New Battle
The early victories of the Carpenters brought stiffening of employers’ resistance all over the country. The situation was worsened by the fact that the business prosperity that had marked the early 1880’s had given way to an economic downturn. The press was almost universally hostile. So, to a large extent, was the public. Despite all these factors - or perhaps because of them - labor union membership was growing in the United States and Canada. And, with the reorganization of the old Federation as the AFL in 1886, practical business unionism was beginning to characterize the labor movement. At the AFL convention in Boston in December, 1889, the delegates decided to launch a new and stronger attack - concentrating on one trade at a time. It was decided:
1. That the 8-hour day go into effect May 1, 1890.
2. That the Executive Council of the Federation select the best prepared trade to spearhead the move.
And what organization was selected? The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners - described in a letter from AFL President Gompers to UB Secretary McGuire as the best-equipped, disciplined and determined organization to lead the movement.
Hour of Victory - and Time of Panic
The conflict that the Carpenters got into was a rough one. Employers fought back stubbornly. As usual, McGuire was in the forefront. His leadership brought one of the greatest victories that trade unionism had won up to that time. More than 23,000 carpenters in 36 cities gained the 8-hour day and some 32,000 more in 234 cities gained the 9-hour day. The movement cost the Brotherhood $35,000 - not much in today’s terms, but important money in the 1890’s. It was well worth the sacrifice. The efforts of other trades gained momentum from the Carpenters’ success - and the Carpenters gained momentum too. It was momentum that was to be sorely needed. The nation was about to be rocked by one of the worst depressions it had ever known: the Panic of 1893. Businesses failed right and left. Unemployment came with cruel suddenness all over the land. Within a year, six million people were out of work. Making things worse, immigrant labor was pouring in, ready to work for starvation wages. These were times of deprivation and want - times of discouragement that, for millions of Americans, became despair. As it turned out, then, the first great 8-hour victory was to be only a beginning. It was to be 17 years - 1907 - before the Carpenters had gotten the 8-hour day established on a comprehensive basis. Even then, there were a few pockets where longer hours were still worked, principally in planing mills, but these were corrected. The point is this: The Brotherhood’s strong position of today hasn’t come as a gift, and it couldn’t have come through a flabby or indifferent membership. It has come through struggle, persistence, patience - and courage.
The Shaping of a Leader: William Levi Hutcheson
From the very beginning, circumstances seemed to combine to shape William Levi Hutcheson for a career devoted to the interests of men who must work for a living. When he was born, his father was making $2 a day for 12 hours of work as a ship caulker at Bay City, Michigan, port of outlet for the Saginaw Valley lumbering industry. At age 14, William was apprenticed as a carpenter. He worked in the shipyards and sawmills. He was still a youngster when he saw 20 companies of militia and 250 Pinkerton “detectives” rout striking lumberjacks and mill-workers. His marriage at age 19 took place in 1893 - the year of the business panic. He had to work at whatever marginal jobs he could get: as farm laborer, drilling water wells, occasional barn-building - hunting work from Michigan to the Dakota wheatfields to the Idaho forests. Wherever he went, he saw the suffering of the aimlessly wandering jobless. Their plight made an indelible impression upon young Bill Hutcheson - shaping his thoughts for the career that lay ahead. As he declared later, in the midst of the 1896 election campaign: “It is not radical to demand that the rights of man should go hand in hand with the rights of property. This is Americanism as I understand it.”
Baptism in Unionism; Rise to Leadership
By 1904, Hutcheson was working for a chemical company at Midland, Michigan. The wage scale there: 17 1/2˘ an hour for semi-skilled workers, 20˘ for artisans, 12 1/2˘ for common laborers, including boys and girls. Hutcheson and a couple of co-workers decided to see what could be done about it. They ventured one day to have a talk with the superintendent. Result? Two days later, all three were jobless - and blacklisted. Before long, he had another job: business agent for Carpenters’ Local 334 at Saginaw at $16.80 a week - his first venture into unionism. For a year, he covered his territory by bicycle, then moved up in life - to a horse and buggy. Within a couple of years, he had boosted the local’s membership from less than 100 to more than 300; had won the 8-hour day at 40˘ an hour, plus four holidays a year with pay. He had also become a delegate to the Brotherhood’s conventions. . . began working his way up in the international organization. . . and, in 1915, became its General President - the beginning of 36 years of distinguished service.
THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED. . . THE YEAR: 1950
“By the very nature of our economy, seven out of ten youngsters now entering the world will have to gravitate toward more or less skilled labor. Manual skills are considerably more rewarding than office work, both from the monetary standpoint and from the satisfaction standpoint. . . we ought to make our education as realistic as possible.”
William Hutcheson President of the Brotherhood 1915-1951
Stronger Opposition - Stronger Brotherhood
From the start of the 20th Century until William Hutcheson’s elevation to the Brotherhood presidency, the Carpenters had grown spectacularly in numerical strength: from 679 locals with 69,000 members to 2,015 locals with 261,000 members. But, these gains had been counterbalanced by other circumstances. The labor supply was running ahead of demand. The growth of corporations and the concentration of economic power had weakened the bargaining position of labor unions. In many cases, bargaining was impossible. There was obvious need for stronger national organization - a need that was brought into sharp focus early in 1916. . .
Out of Controversy, Greater Unity
The New York District Council of 73 Carpenters’ locals asked the Brotherhood’s Executive Board for authorization to strike on May 1, 1916, for a 50˘-per-day wage increase. Knowing that the New York organization was weak and ineffective, the Board replied: “Our members must not be called out on strike until the General President has an opportunity to bring about a settlement.” The Council defied the order; called the strike. Smaller contractors yielded to Council demands; the powerful Building Trades Employers Associated responded with contempt. Now, the Council leaders admitted they were stumped. It was only after General President Hutcheson had personally confronted the employers in a series of angry meetings that they yielded completely - agreeing to the 50˘ raise. The best offer the Council had been able to get had been 30˘. Yet, when Hutcheson urged the strikers to accept, Council leaders called a mass meeting; challenged the General President’s right to make terms; persuaded 63 locals to reject the offer. The 63 locals were suspended. They got a temporary court injunction. At the 1916 convention, a trial committee recommended that they be re-chartered, but consolidated into no more than 25 locals, to be affiliated with a new District Council, formed by the Executive Board or the General President. The fight had been a nasty one, but necessary. And, both the locals and the Brotherhood gained greatly from it. When it started, New York carpenters were in a sad state of disunity. Here hadn’t been a wage increase for nine years, and no new members had been recruited for two years - although there were 8,000 unorganized carpenters in the New York area, serving as a wage depressant. Today, the New York District Council is one of the Brotherhood’s strongest units.
Meeting the Need for Central Authority
The difficulties in New York City underscored the need for authority in the General Office, and delegates to the 1916 convention clearly showed their sentiments in this respect. The convention enacted constitutional changes to increase the authority of the principal officers and the General Executive Board. The General President was given authority, with the consent of the Board, to intervene in the affairs of local unions and district councils; to suspend those who violated the Brotherhood’s constitution or laws; to merge two or more local unions; and to try members for offenses against union laws. It also provided that no strike was to become effective “until such time as the General President has been notified and given an opportunity. . . to bring about an adjustment of the controversy.” The wisdom of these changes is evident in the fact that the membership has supported them consistently through the ensuing decades.
THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED. . . THE YEAR: 1916
“If working conditions are to be regulated by law, then goodbye to freedom of contract between employer and employee. We shall have no say in our hours of labor, nor the wages we receive, nor the conditions under which we work, nor the people with whom we work. There will be no such thing as refusal to work with non-union men, as there will be no need of labor organizations whatever. If such existed they could only be looked upon as mutual admiration societies without backbone.”
Frank Duffy, Brotherhood General Secretary, 1901-1948