This document provides a history of labor unions in the United States from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. It discusses how the earliest unions formed and struggled against employer and legal opposition. It then outlines the growth of large national unions like the Knights of Labor in the late 19th century, followed by the American Federation of Labor in 1886. It also describes the rise of industrial unions through organizations like the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the 1930s and the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955. Finally, it provides details on the founding and growth of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry in the late 19th century.

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Your Collective Voice

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History of Labor
Movement
• Employers liked slave type
work force
• Political tradition denied
rights to everyone except
property owners
• Judicial system regarded
unions as anti-society
• In 1794 shoemakers
organized into union
• During Civil War unions
were scattered and weak

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Labor Movement Post-War
• Industrial Expansion
• Arrival of large,
impersonal
corporations
• Industrial unrest
increased

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First National Labor Group
• Grand Order of the Knights
of Labor
• One Big Union covering
unskilled and minorities as
well as craft groups
• First to call for
– 8 hr. day,
– abolition of child labor,
– direct election of US
Senators and
– graduated income tax
• Grew to 700,000 in its 15
year life
• Faded after series of strikes

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First Lasting Labor
Organization
• American Federation of
Labor (AFL) founded in
1886
• Emphasized trade
unionism rather than
political action
• Lead until 1924 by
Samuel Gompers

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Strikes in 1890’s
• 1890’s featured big
strikes pitting unionists
against employers, court
system, and sometimes
federal and state troops
– Carnegie Steel (1892)
– Pullman (1894)
– Northern Railway (1894)
– Anthracite mine field
(1902)

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Wobblies
• Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW)
• Wanted abolition of
capitalism
• Concentrated on direct
action at the point of
production (including
strikes, sabotage and
violence)

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During World War I
• AFL strengthens its position
– Supported war effort
– Gained from government right to bargain
collectively
– Accumulated 4 million members by 1919
– Railway Labor Act in 1926 gave railroad
workers right to form and join unions

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Wagner Act of 1934
• Guaranteed right to organize
• Formed the National Labor
Relations Board to police the
labor practices of employers
• In 1935, AFL divided and
Congress of Industrial
Organization (CIO) split to fight
for unionization of the mass
production industries (made
inroads into rubber, auto, steel,
and textile industries)

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AFL-CIO
• AFL and CIO reunited in 1955
• AFL-CIO unions negotiated
– Wide ranging health and welfare
– Pension
– Paid vacation
– Supplementary unemployment benefit programs
• Taft-Harley Act in 1947 laid basis for state right-
to-work laws

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Strength in Unity
• Pre-
Revolutionary
War Cartoon
– Showing 13
colonies as a
snake cut into
13 pieces
• In unity there is
strength

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UA
• UA one of the most
respected and influential
building trades unions in
US and Canada
• UA founded in 1889, 25
years passed before it
became the sole
representative of the
pipe trades

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UA Serves and Protects
• Wage rates and working hours
• Personal fringe benefits
– Medical
– Retirement
– Other programs
• Working Conditions
– Employer and employee responsibilities for safety on the job
– What tools are required and how they are to be provided
– Variety of other on-the-job arrangements
• Trade Jurisdictions

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UA Beginnings
• In 1884, leaders of five New York Area
locals called a conference in New York
– Formed National Association of Plumbers,
Steam Fitters and Gas Fitters
– Intended to operate under Knights of Labor
– Locals from Chicago, Milwaukee and other
areas signed on

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Conflicts with K of L
• In 1886 decided to withdraw from Knights
of Labor
• Formed International Association of
Journeyworkers Plumbers, Steam Fitters
and Gas Fitters
• More locals affiliated but some still loyal to
Knights of Labor

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New Constitution
• One of most influential
leaders, Patrick Quinlan
– Head of independent local
in Boston
– Prolific letter writer
– Met with Richard O’Brien
from National Assembly
– Adopted new constitution
and United Association was
born

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Battles
• Competition between UA and IA (covering
steam and hot water fitting, sprinkler fitting
and other types of pipe fitting)
• Locals but not national
• Strong in plumbing not pipefitters

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UA Today
• Membership has grown
• UA has proven strength by dealing with
economic and internal issues
• Continues to upgrade apprenticeship
training

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UA Training Expansion
• 1984 signed national agreement covering
nondestructive testing
• Apprenticeship Scholarship Agreement in
1985 which obligated apprentice to stay in
union for a total of nine years in return for
training
• Piping Industry Information Network
established in 1988 to support local
organizing efforts
• In 1992, Air Conditioning/Refrigeration
Industry to influence regulations published
by EPA regarding CFC and HCFC
• Course guidelines for Conservation and Safe
Handling of Refrigerants
• Certified Control Systems Technician
Program introduced in 1995