Key Takeaways
1. Craft Autonomy Defined Early Labor Power
What is evident, therefore, is that both the management of the production process and the craft union of the workers rested on the same social basis.
Self-directed production. In the late 19th century, skilled craftsmen like iron rollers, puddlers, and machinists possessed invaluable technical knowledge and judgment. They often subcontracted entire jobs, hired and trained their own helpers, and collectively determined work processes and pay distribution. This functional autonomy made their "initiative" indispensable to employers.
Union-legislated rules. This inherent control allowed craft unions to "legislate" work rules, such as the "stint" (a collectively defined reasonable day's work), and enforce ethical codes of conduct. These rules were not negotiated but unilaterally adopted, reflecting a powerful sense of self-discipline and collective decision-making. For example, the Columbus iron rollers union set daily work limits and allocated overtime by group vote.
Clash with management. This worker-led management often clashed with employers' desires for unlimited output and lower costs. Disputes over "administration of the works" were common, with workers resisting attempts to undermine their authority or introduce practices like individual subcontracting that prioritized personal gain over collective standards.
2. Ethical Codes Forged Worker Solidarity
That mutualism was the ethical seedbed for both the efforts of some workers to reform capitalism and the proposals of others to overthrow it.
Mutualism over individualism. Workers' ethical codes emphasized "mutualism" over "individualism," fostering loyalty among members and defining acceptable behavior. This included supporting grievances, aiding disabled or widowed members, and condemning "hogs" or "blacklegs" who exceeded output limits or undermined fellow workers.
Beyond wages. These codes extended beyond mere wage demands, encompassing dignity, respect, and a shared sense of purpose. Strikes often erupted over issues like unfair discharges, arbitrary foreman behavior, or violations of established work norms, demonstrating that workers valued their collective control and moral standing as much as, if not more than, immediate financial gains.
Community reinforcement. Solidarity was reinforced through social activities like union meetings, dances, picnics, and even funeral processions, which served to instruct the young and reaffirm shared values. These events cultivated a movement culture strong enough to counter corporate power and internal divisions, making collective action a deeply ingrained social practice.
3. Industrial Transformation Challenged Craft Hegemony
Steel mills were a 'Curse to the cause' for three reasons: They were significantly larger than iron-rolling mills, they were characterized from the outset by a different style of organizing work, and their competition stimulated animosities among the older iron crafts by affecting different crafts in different ways.
New production scale. The rise of large-scale industries, particularly Bessemer steel production, introduced massive factories and new organizational challenges. These mills, far larger than traditional ironworks, employed thousands, making individual craft control difficult to maintain and fostering a more centralized management structure.
Deskilling and specialization. New technologies in steel and other industries led to a more detailed division of labor, reducing the need for all-around craftsmen. Tasks became specialized and repetitive, performed by "operatives" who mastered only a small part of the production process, rather than the entire craft. This undermined the traditional knowledge base of skilled workers.
Internal craft divisions. The uneven impact of these changes created animosities among different crafts. While some (like rollers in steel) saw their earnings soar due to increased output, others (like puddlers) faced obsolescence and wage cuts. This internal fragmentation weakened the collective power of craft unions and made amalgamation efforts more difficult.
4. Laborers and Operatives Reshaped the Workforce
The hoe and the shovel... What does this lack of a suitable name tell us about the place of such laborers in America? It reminds us that wherever they worked, they were strangers.
Growing unskilled ranks. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a dramatic increase in the number of common laborers and specialized machine operatives. These workers, often new immigrants or women, performed tasks requiring physical exertion or repetitive motions, rather than broad craft knowledge.
Transient, marginalized lives. Laborers were typically transient, moving between seasonal jobs in construction, railroads, or agriculture, and were often marginalized as "strangers" in American society. Their work was physically demanding, poorly paid, and subject to arbitrary gang bosses, with little opportunity for advancement.
Operatives' specialized toil. Operatives, predominantly young, unmarried women, were bound to repetitive tasks in factories, paid by the piece, and subject to strict foreman authority. Despite the monotony, their work often required judgment and dexterity, but offered limited long-term prospects or wage growth, leading to high turnover.
5. Racism and Division Undermined Worker Unity
The craftsmen's definition of who could live up to their code of 'manly' behavior was usually cast in ethnic and racial terms.
Ethnic and racial exclusion. Prejudices against new immigrant groups (Southern/Eastern Europeans, Asians) and African Americans were pervasive, often defining them as "lesser breeds" incapable of "manly" union behavior. This racism was exploited by employers to divide the workforce and by some craft unions to maintain exclusivity.
"Old" vs. "New" immigrants. While earlier immigrant groups (Irish, Germans) had integrated into the craft union movement, newer arrivals were often scorned and excluded. This created deep divisions, as seen in the Amalgamated Association's initial reluctance to admit African Americans and the explicit anti-Asian stance of many Western unions.
Impact on organizing. Racism severely hampered efforts to build broad working-class solidarity. Employers leveraged these divisions, bringing in black or Asian workers as strikebreakers, while some white unions actively campaigned for immigration restrictions, prioritizing racial purity over class unity.
6. Scientific Management Expropriated Worker Knowledge
The very essence of scientific management, he wrote, was 'the deliberate gathering in on the part of those on management's side of all of the great mass of traditional knowledge, which in the past has been in the heads of the workmen, and in the physical skill and knack of the workman, which he has acquired through years of experience.'
Centralized control. Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management aimed to systematically transfer knowledge and control from skilled workers to management. This involved centralized planning, detailed analysis of each operation (time and motion studies), and precise instructions for workers, effectively separating the "thinking" from the "doing."
Deskilling and standardization. The goal was to standardize tasks, making them simple enough for "smaller calibre and attainments" workers (i.e., less skilled, cheaper labor) to perform. This eliminated reliance on craftsmen's "initiative" and traditional knowledge, which Taylor dismissed as "rule-of-thumb" and "soldiering."
Incentive pay and supervision. To ensure compliance, scientific management introduced complex incentive pay schemes (e.g., differential piece rates, task-and-bonus plans) and elaborate supervisory structures (e.g., functional foremanship). These systems aimed to make workers drive themselves and to replace collective worker control with individual, management-directed effort.
7. Employer Offensives Crushed Union Gains
The open-shop drive effectively checked the growth of unionism in the metal trades.
Aggressive anti-unionism. In response to rising union power, particularly after the 1890s depression, employers launched aggressive "open-shop" campaigns. Organizations like the National Metal Trades Association (NMTA) provided financial aid, private detectives, legal assistance (leading to injunctions), and strikebreakers to combat unions.
Weakening collective bargaining. Employers sought to dismantle union influence by refusing to negotiate with "outside" organizations, promoting individual contracts, and using legal means to suppress boycotts and sympathy strikes. This aimed to reassert management's "full discretion" over work conditions and hiring.
Political and social mobilization. The open-shop drive extended beyond the workplace, mobilizing local business communities, civic groups, and politicians against "union tyranny." This broader social and political offensive, often cloaked in rhetoric of "law and order" and "Americanism," significantly weakened labor's ability to organize and sustain gains.
8. Wartime Mobilization Fueled Labor's Ambitions
War is the health of the state.
Government-labor collaboration. World War I created an unprecedented demand for labor and prompted the federal government to intervene in industrial relations. Agencies like the National War Labor Board (NWLB) promoted union standards, encouraged collective bargaining, and established shop committees, offering unions a new, influential position within state machinery.
Union growth and militancy. This wartime context led to a massive surge in union membership, particularly among previously marginalized groups like new immigrants and women. Workers, emboldened by full employment and patriotic rhetoric, engaged in widespread strikes for higher wages, shorter hours, and greater control over their work.
Aspirations for industrial democracy. The war's rhetoric of "making the world safe for democracy" fueled aspirations for industrial democracy at home. Workers, from coal miners to railwaymen, began demanding nationalization of industries, democratic management, and a greater voice in economic decision-making, often blending immediate economic demands with revolutionary social goals.
9. Post-War Repression Silenced Radical Aspirations
Injustice has dulled our patriotism, Mans equality before the law will make us patriots instead of paupers.
Government-corporate counter-offensive. Following WWI, a powerful alliance of government and corporate leaders moved to suppress labor militancy and radical aspirations. The government dismantled wartime labor agencies, used injunctions and troops to break strikes, and launched campaigns against "alien agitators" and "Bolshevism."
Economic downturn and union decline. The severe depression of 1920-22 further weakened unions, as mass unemployment made workers desperate for any job. Employers seized the opportunity to slash wages, abrogate contracts, and implement "company union" plans, effectively rolling back many wartime union gains.
Ideological conformity enforced. The "Red Scare" and anti-radical campaigns enforced ideological conformity within the labor movement. Progressive and socialist leaders were purged from unions, and the AFL itself adopted a more conservative, anti-radical stance, prioritizing organizational "orthodoxy" over internal dissent or ambitious social reform.
10. Political Alliances Shaped Labor's Fate
Labor has never participated in a political campaign with such favorable results. There never was such a complete and satisfying vindication of the wisdom of labor's non-partisan political policy.
Shifting political strategies. Labor's political engagement evolved from early legislative reform efforts (e.g., 8-hour day, child labor laws) to complex alliances. The Knights of Labor initially sought broad social change, while the AFL under Gompers pursued a "non-partisan" strategy of rewarding political friends and punishing enemies, regardless of party.
Democratic Party alignment. The Democratic Party, particularly under Woodrow Wilson, became a key ally for the AFL, offering legislative support and administrative positions. This alliance, rooted in historical loyalties of Irish and German Catholics, aimed to secure union influence within the existing political system.
Socialist and progressive challenges. Socialist and progressive factions within unions advocated for a labor party and more radical structural changes, often clashing with conservative leadership. While they achieved some electoral successes and pushed for nationalization and industrial democracy, internal divisions and external repression ultimately limited their long-term political impact in the 1920s.
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