A History of Trade Unionism in the United States | Page 2

through strikes in the years 1795, 1805, and
1807, but their endeavors were recurrent, not permanent. Even more
ephemeral were several riotous sailors' strikes as well as a ship builders'
strike in 1817 at Medford, Massachusetts. Doubtless many other such
outbreaks occurred during the period to 1820, but left no record of their
existence.
A strike undoubtedly is a symptom of discontent. However, one can
hardly speak of a beginning of trade unionism until such discontent has
become expressed in an organization that keeps alive after a strike, or
between strikes. Such permanent organizations existed prior to the
twenties only in two trades, namely, shoemaking and printing.

The first continuous organization of wage earners was that of the
Philadelphia shoemakers, organized in 1792. This society, however,
existed for less than a year and did not even leave us its name. The
shoemakers of Philadelphia again organized in 1794 under the name of
the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers and maintained their
existence as such at least until 1806. In 1799 the society conducted the
first organized strike, which lasted nine or ten weeks. Prior to 1799, the
only recorded strikes of any workmen were "unorganized" and, indeed,
such were the majority of the strikes that occurred prior to the decade
of the thirties in the nineteenth century.
The printers organized their first society in 1794 in New York under
the name of The Typographical Society and it continued in existence
for ten years and six months. The printers of Philadelphia, who had
struck in 1786, neglected to keep up an organization after winning their
demands. Between the years 1800 and 1805, the shoemakers and the
printers had continuous organizations in Philadelphia, New York, and
Baltimore. In 1809 the shoemakers of Pittsburgh and the Boston
printers were added to the list, and somewhat later the Albany and
Washington printers. In 1810 the printers organized in New Orleans.
The separation of the journeymen from the masters, first shown in the
formation of these organizations, was emphasized in the attitude toward
employer members. The question arose over the continuation in
membership of those who became employers. The shoemakers
excluded such members from the organization. The printers, on the
other hand, were more liberal. But in 1817 the New York society put
them out on the ground that "the interests of the journeymen are
separate and in some respects opposite to those of the employers."
The strike was the chief weapon of these early societies. Generally a
committee was chosen by the society to present a price list or scale of
wages to the masters individually. The first complete wage scale
presented in this country was drawn up by the organized printers of
New York in 1800. The strikes were mainly over wages and were
generally conducted in an orderly and comparatively peaceful manner.
In only one instance, that of the Philadelphia shoemakers of 1806, is

there evidence of violence and intimidation. In that case "scabs" were
beaten and employers intimidated by demonstrations in front of the
shop or by breaking shop windows. During a strike the duties of
"picketing" were discharged by tramping committees. The Philadelphia
shoemakers, however, as early as 1799, employed for this purpose a
paid officer. This strike was for higher wages for workers on boots.
Although those who worked on shoes made no demands of their own,
they were obliged to strike, much against their will. We thus meet with
the first sympathetic strike on record. In 1809 the New York
shoemakers, starting with a strike against one firm, ordered a general
strike when they discovered that that firm was getting its work done in
other shops. The payment of strike benefits dates from the first
authenticated strike, namely in 1786. The method of payment varied
from society to society, but the constitution of the New York
shoemakers, as early as 1805, provided for a permanent strike fund.
The aggressive trade unionism of these early trade societies forced the
masters to combine against them. Associations of masters in their
capacity as merchants had usually preceded the journeymen's societies.
Their function was to counteract destructive competition from
"advertisers" and sellers in the "public market" at low prices. As soon,
however, as the wage question became serious, the masters'
associations proceeded to take on the function of dealing with
labor--mostly aiming to break up the trade societies. Generally they
sought to create an available force of non-union labor by means of
advertising, but often they turned to the courts and brought action
against the journeymen's societies on the ground of conspiracy.
The bitterness of the masters' associations against the the journeymen's
societies perhaps was caused not so much by their resistance to
reductions in wages as by their imposition of working rules, such as the
limitation of the number of apprentices, the minimum