The Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor

I)                 Union building period – in the years following the Great Upheaval, working people sought out organizations that they felt could help them cope with the developing capitalist system

A)    Origins of the Knights of Labor – founded in Philadelphia in 1869 as a union of tailors, the organization remained small and secretive until the former mayor of Scranton, PA was elected to the position of Grand Master Workman by the name of Terrence V. Powderly.

1) Uriah Stephens--became the 1st Grand Master Workman, and it was his vision that largely shaped the organization. Stephens, who had to abandon his studies to become a minister after the Panic of 1837, and instead became an apprentice tailor. Stephens' religious background informed his vision about the universality of labor--and this influenced the vision of the organization from its inception to its demise.

2) Secrecy and Ritual--during the early years of the organization, membership was a tightly kept secret. Part of the reason for this secrecy was due to the hostility of employers to any labor organization during this time period. But this secrecy also added to the allure of the organizations, as well, with its secret handshake, mystical ceremonies, and special symbols. This secrecy inhibited enlarging the organization greatly, however; it wasn't until 1872 (3 years after its founding in 1869) that a second chapter was founded, and not until 1874 that the organization was established outside of the greater Philadelphia area.

3) Goals and Program--the ultimate goal of the Knights of Labor was to reform--or, better yet, transcend--the emerging capitalist economic system. To accomplish this, the Oder welcomed all "producers"; meaning everyone but doctors, lawyers, bankers, gamblers, and liquor dealers.

4)      Organization by location – rather than organize workers by craft, the K of L organized workers by location, by city and/or neighborhood. Eventually they succumbed to demands by skilled workers, however, and in addition also organized workers by job skill.

a) General Assembly--the ultimate authority in the K of L, the General Assembly met once a year, and was made up of representatives from the various District Assemblies.
b) District Assemblies--made up from a number of local assemblies.
c) Local Assemblies--local assemblies generally were made up of two different kinds of organizations: mixed assemblies, which consisted of workers from a variety of different trades; and trade assemblies, where all members belonged to a specific trade

5)      Bi-racial organization – the K of L avoided being trapped by the conundrum of racial differences between black and whites, and organized black workers (and often integrated them within District Assemblies, which was the base level in the organization).

(a)    This bit of racial understanding did not extend to the Chinese workers, however, who were excluded from membership along with liquor dealers, cardsharps, lawyers, and other such scum.

B) Terence Powderly--When Uriah Stephens retired from the Order in 1879, Terence V. Powderly was chosen to be his successor in the position of Grand Master Workman.

1) Early life--Powderly was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania in 1849, the son of Irish Catholic parents who emigrated to the United States in the 1820s. Powderly worked as a young boy as a switch tender in a local rail yard, but at the age of 17 he left to become an apprentice machinst.

2) Working life--after serving his apprenticeship, Powderly became a member of the International Union of Machinists and Blacksmiths, and by 1874 he had also become a member of the Knights of Labor.

3) Political life--at the same time Powderly was rising through the ranks of the Knights of Labor, he was also becoming active in local politics; participating first in the activities of the Greenback-Labor Party, and then being elected mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1878. Powderly held that office until 1884, serving simultaneously as mayor and Grand Master Workman until 1884.

4) Personal life--Powderly was of a slender build, and of less than average height. A convinced teetotaler, he had little patience for those who enjoyed drinking.

5) Contribution to the Knights of Labor--although Powderly presided over the great expansion in membership of the K of L, Powderly was not dedicated to the movement in the same way as, say, William Sylvis, but he nevertheless worked very hard to build the organization.

6) Influence with the Roman Catholic Church--Powderly was himself a devout Roman Catholic. The Church was very wary of secret organizations--particularly those that modeled themselves after the Masonic Order, and generally forbid members from joining these types of organizations on pain of excommunication. Powderly's handling of the situation helped persuade Cardinal Gibbon to intercede with the Pope on the Knight's behalf, and permitted the Knights to make inroads with Roman Catholic workers.

7) Cooperation--Powderly's core belief that cooperation between management and labor would permit the two sides to transcend their differences, and also to set up consumer and producer cooperatives, were all producers would receive a fair price for the fruits of their labor.

a) One of the 135 cooperatives established nationwide was started in Toledo by local reed workers.

C) The Rise of the Knights of Labor--both the rise and ultimately the decline of the K of L was in part a result of economic and social circumstances beyond its control

1)      Organizing success – although the official position of the organization opposed strikes, the K of L had great success organizing workers as a result of successful strikes that the union became involved with. As the economic recovery of the late 1870s and early 1880s began to lose steam, employers began to attempt to impose wage cuts on workers as they had in the wake of the 1873 Depression. Workers, again, attempted to resist these wage cuts, and many walked out on strike. While most of these strike were defeated, workers organized by the Knights of Labor were largely successful in forcing employers to rescind these wage cuts.

(a)    Southwestern System strike (1884) – workers of Jay Gould’s Southwestern System went on strike in response to Gould’s insistence that they take a pay cut; the success of the strike almost double the membership of the organization, to approximately 110,000 members, by 1886.
(b) Southwestern System strike (1886)--workers in the Southwestern System, feeling (perhaps over)confident because of past success, went out on strike against Gould's rail system again in 1886. This time, Gould was better prepared, and successfully prevailed upon state governments to use the militia to break the strike in a variety of states. As a result, the strike was defeated, and discouraged rail workers began falling away from the organization

2) Organizing failure--the failure of the 1886 Southwestern System strike (in the workers' view, caused by Powderly's failure to support them in their efforts), coupled with the defeat of Knights-organized packinghouse workers that same year in Chicago, led to a precipitous decline in membership, as members left as quickly in 1886 has they had joined in 1885. The Knights of Labor lost most of its influence as a result, and it became little more than a paper organization.

D)     Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Union (FOTLU) – founded in 1881 as an umbrella organization of craft unions, one of whose leaders was the young president of the Cigar Makers International Union, an English immigrant Jew named Samuel Gompers (who transforms this organization into the American Federation of Labor—AFL—in 1886, because of his interpretation of events after Haymarket).

1)      The Eight-hour Day – FOTLU in its early years was but a pale shadow of the Knights of Labor, and by 1884 had become a stagnant organization of about 25,000 members. In late 1884, through 1885 and into 1886 the organization agitated for the establishment of the eight-hour workday (the current “norm” was at that time was ten hours, although many workers worked longer days at the command of manufacturers), after a resolution submitted by Carpenters' Union leader P.J. McGuire was passed. FOTLU proposed a general strike after May 1, 1886 if a law were not passed limiting workers to an 8 hour work day. Workers around the country were greatly enthused by this prospect--particularly a group of anarchists in Chicago.

(a)    May 1 – FOTLU called for a general strike of all workers who had not been granted an eight-hour workday on May 1 of 1886

(b)   200,000 workers heeded the call around the country, and went out on strike.

E)  Haymarket

1)    Strike at McCormick Reaper – workers had been on strike at McCormick for several weeks before May 1 in a wage dispute

a)      Police violence – on May 3, the McCormick strikers were joined by other workers from around the city, in a show of support. The Chicago police (not for the last time) reacted by firing on the crowd, killing four workers and wounding many more. In response, an anarchist group called for a mass meeting the next evening in a working-class neighborhood near the old Haymarket.

b)      International Working People’s Association – this was an organization of anarchist, mostly philosophical anarchist who used means of agitation to persuade workers to join their cause.

c)      Events at Haymarket

(i)    Only 1,500 people show up in dismal weather, perhaps only 300 or so remain near the end of the meeting.

(ii)   Chicago police march in, read “crowd” the riot act, and order them to disperse.

(iii)    A bomb is thrown (probably by Louis Lingg); some in the crowd, which had been forced to the sidewalks with the arrival of the police, begin firing into the police as well, who return the fire.

d)      Reaction of ruling elite – the indiscriminate arrest of Germans (and German-Americans), labor union leaders, socialist, and anarchists.

e)      The trial – the Haymarket Eight were indicted for conspiracy (none for direct involvement in the battle). The trial lasted six weeks

(i)    Albert Parsons – charismatic speakers, Confederate veteran, married to Lucy

(ii)   August Spies – editor of the anarchist newspaper, who printed a circular announcing the meeting that encouraged workers to come armed

(iii)    Louis Lingg – the likely bomb-maker (and possibly the thrower), who hung himself (possibly so as not to implicate the others.

f)      The sentence – all eight were found guilty of conspiracy after a trial of six weeks, and sentenced to hang; four swiftly were (Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer, and George Engel. Three survivors were eventually pardoned by Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld (also important during the Pullman strike) in 1893.

F)  American Federation of Labor – established in 1886, in the aftermath of the Haymarket Square incident; provided an outlet for craft unions to distance themselves from the radicals arrested because of Haymarket.

1.      Pure and Simple Unionism – emphasis upon so-called bread and butter issues—wages, working conditions.  Accepted the capitalist system (which other working class movements did not do, including the Knights of  Labor).

a.       Need to control hiring practices – to maintain enough control to maintain wages and working conditions, workers had to maintain solidarity (by refusing to work at job sites that used non-union labor), and control the number of people who gained access to the trade.

b.      The “Walking Boss” – craft unions developed system to police members and the companies that hired them—the business agent, or “walking boss.”  BA’s job was to make sure that all of the craft people employed within a certain craft were union members; this left BA’s susceptible to bribes and “sweetheart” deals with firms.

2.      Running a Labor Union like a business – AFL unions were often run on the business model, with up-to-date accounting practices, etc. AFL unions charged an initiation fee, and relatively high dues, in order to build-up funds that could be used for a strike fund, and to pay benefits to members in case of death or serious injury.