6/5/08
June 15, 1908—June 15, 2008
A Century of Service to the Working Men and Women of the Metal Trades
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Looking at the rich history of the birth and development of the Metal Trades Department, we are struck by the similarities between the circumstances that faced the pioneering leaders of our movement a century ago and those we confront today. AFL President Samuel Gompers and the Metal Trades Charter President James O’Connell (also then president of the International Association of Machinists) struggled mightily against the powerful forces of wealthy and greedy employers and their allies who dominated Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. A century ago, the major political parties had already taken on the philosophies that still guide them today. In 1908, Republicans gathered in Chicago to anoint their presidential candidate—Howard Taft—and crafted a platform that was strikingly similar to their present-day preference for profit over people. The Democrats, who, ironically, met in Denver to select William Jennings Bryan acceded to a number of concerns brought to their convention by labor delegates, including:
- A call for an eight-hour work day;
- Establishment of a federal Labor Department;
- Liability for employers who abuse workers;
- Relief for unions from the application of anti-trust rules; and
- Restrictions against the use of injunctions to break strikes.
Cynics might say that we haven’t traveled very far in this struggle for justice. Workers and their unions still confront the mighty forces of wealth, power and greed. Although we enjoy a slim margin of support within Congress today, the prevailing philosophy within the White House and the federal government it controls remains virtually identical to the attitudes embraced by the Republicans of the Taft era.
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I prefer the optimistic approach of Sam Gompers and his crusading spirit, when he wrote: “In our labor movement lies the hope and the power of the future.” That is the underpinning that guides this Department’s mission even today.
In Solidarity, Ron Ault
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The Birth of the Metal Trades
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Theodore Roosevelt was in the waning days of his second presidential term, the Supreme Court had just issued a crippling decision declaring that union boycotts are an illegal restraint of trade, workers had precious few rights. AFL President Samuel Gompers and the rest of the AFL Executive Board attending the Republican National Convention in Chicago were armed with an extensive list of worker grievances. They were infuriated by the party’s indifference to their efforts.
It was June 15, 2008. The Executive Board closed out a busy session—officially chartering four new departments for the Federation, including the Metal Trades, the Building Trades, the Union Label and the Railroad Department.
Workers and their unions had grown restive over the preceding two decades. Sporadic efforts to raise wages, secure an eight-hour day and to gain some semblance of equality with management were frustrated by indifferent lawmakers and aggressive management organizations. Unions had no legal status, and lawmakers were cavalier about responding to the concerns of Sam Gompers and his colleagues.
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Gompers launched the AFL’s first organized foray into politics in 1906, raising a whopping $8,200 in political action funds to research the voting records of lawmakers and to circulate “Labor’s Bill of Grievances” to focus voters on the activities of a handful of anti-union members of Congress—specifically Republican House Speaker Joseph Cannon (IL), and Republican colleagues John Dalzell (PA), James Kennedy (OH), Sydney Mudd (MD) and James Sherman (NY).
Two years later, Gompers circulated “Labor’s Protest to Congress” but narrowed the Federation’s activities to the presidential contest between Democrat William Jennings Bryan and Republican Howard Taft.
When the Metal Trades Charter was officially issued, IAM President James O’Connell was elected its first president. He was joined by Secretary-Treasurer A.J. Berres, Vice Presidents James W. Kline, Joseph A. Franklin, John R. Alpine, J.J. Hynes, Joseph F. Valentine and W.W. Britton.
The Department’s first affiliates were: Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers’ International Alliance;
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International Association of Blacksmiths; Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders of America; International Federation of Draftsmen’s Unions; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; International Union of Steam Engineers, International Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen and Oilers; International Brotherhood of Foundry Employees; International Association of Machinists; Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, Brass and Silver Workers’ International Union; International Moulders’ Union of North America; Pattern Makers’ League of North America; International Union of Stove Mounters; and United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters of the U.S. and Canada.
The Department held its founding convention in Cincinnati, in February 1909. The concept behind it had incubated since the 1890s, largely on the strength of efforts by the IAM to create unity among the many unions representing workers in the metal trades. At the IAM’s urging, a number of interested organizations held a conference in 1894 where the parties elected Lee Johnson president of the
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nascent organization, joined by William Anderson as secretary-treasurer and James O’Connell vice president. The organization was realigned as the Federated Metal Trades on a national basis during the 1900 AFL Convention, under the leadership of President James Cramer and Secretary L.R. Thomas. That forerunner of the MTD operated independent of the AFL for the next eight years until the AFL formally chartered it in June 1908 with an aggregate membership of some 600,000 workers.
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Note: Photos on this page are from the Library of Congress. Metal Trades work—especially in the U.S. shipbuilding industry—was brutal and hazardous. In the early years of the 20th Century, the U.S. shipbuilding industry was a key factor in America's industrial and military strength. The last two photos in this series include two pre-teen workers—a sight that was all too commonplace until the nation recovered from the Great Depression.
