LBST 110—LOBBYING AND POLITICAL ACTION
POLITICAL DECISIONS AFFECTING WORKERS
“Everything comes from some place”
----The Great Authority
“The court follows the ballot box.”
---Mr. Dooley
1351—The Statute of Laborers is passed in England to enforce The Ordinance of Laborers, which tried to freeze wages at a level which existed prior to the labor shortages created by the Black Plague. This statute prohibited collective, or concerted, activity by workers in their own defense and became the basis for “labor relations” laws in the colonies, and in the United States.
The Tudor Industrial Code tried to guarantee profits by assuring a steady supply of labor, including compulsory labor required or all poor youth as well as by gypsies, vagrants and thieves, with penalties of imprisonment or public whippings—children were to be taught a trade and sent to work.
1621-1773—Maximum Wage Controls—adopted in various colonies as a result of labor shortages
1621-1640—Virginia (1621-23) set specific wage and price scales. Maryland (October, 1640) authorized counties to regulate wages for two years
1630-1675—In New England, Massachusetts set maximum wages in building trades (1630), repealed the law in 1631, restored it and extended it to farm labor in 1633, and turned regulation over to towns in 1636. Over the next 40 years, established sweeping wage scales, including the authorization for selectmen to impose double penalty on workers who “took excessive wages.”
1690-1773—General age scales disappeared but specific wages and fees were set in “monopoly” trades—carmen, porters, butchers, innkeepers, teachers and—ministers!
Allowed local governments to enforce indentured servitude and bound slavery, and to offer public money as a reward for capture of runaways, and for courts to enforce individual contracts and to uphold the “rights” of masters and slave owners to absolute control
In Maryland, in 1661, the colonial legislature passed a law that any worked who was “unlawfully absent” from his employer would be penalized ten-fold
Workhouse Programs—as early as 1658, anticipating the end of welfare as we know it, the Plymouth Colony passed an ordinance so “vagrants, idle persons, rebellious children and stubborn servants” were compelled to work. Some subsidized industries, like cotton, linen and woolen goods, used forced labor—a tradition which continues until 2001, with prisoners subcontracted to private employers.
1774-1783--War of Independence
Wage Controls-Various bodies, beginning with the Providence Convention (December 31, 1776) established wage limits to combat spiraling inflation during the war years
1806-1815—The Conspiracy Trials
Based on the policies created by The Statute of Laborers, the federal and state governments bring criminal conspiracy charges to trial against workers who “conspired” to act collectively to raise wages. The most famous trial involved the Philadelphia Cordwainers (“the nine brave shoemakers”) who were convicted of conspiracy in 1806, and the New York cordwainers who were also convicted in 1810.
1817-1860—Workers Political Action
Debtor relief was first a political issue, and in New York, $25 was established as the minimum for which a worker could be imprisoned. Both Kentucky and Ohio abolished imprisonment for debts by 1828.
See sheets on Workers Political Action in 18th century
Worker political action was increased by the abolition of property requirements for voting (new western state constitutions) and in Connecticut (1818) and Massachusetts (1820) and New York (1821)
1828-Election of Andrew Jackson
Splintered workers votes in a familiar situation, with some supporters of labor parties insisting on independent political action while others supported Jackson, “the man of the people” though a slave owner and capitalists, as providing the best of “realistic” alternatives—by 1834, labor parties were virtually extinct
1834—First use of federal troops in a labor dispute
President Jackson, “the friend of labor” called out federal troops to end a “riotous assembly” by Irish immigrant workers demanding the closed shop on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, near Williamsport, MD
In fact, there is no recorded history of federal or local troops ever being called out to support workers in a labor dispute
1842-Commonwealth v Hunt
In the first example of the influence of workers political strength influencing court decisions, Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that trade unions were lawful, and strike for a closed shop were also legal, so long as no “illegal” methods were used. This decision began to reverse the labor policies that had existed since 1371—almost 400 years of criminal status for union members.
Justice Shaw also promulgated the first “fellow-servant doctrine” decision in a case involving a workplace injury. When a worker tried to sue his boss for an injury, Shaw ruled that the accident was caused by the negligence of another worker, and that the employer could not be held responsible for any damages. This decision helped delay any workers compensation activity.
Shaw also ruled against a fugitive slave named Sims, in 1851, holding that slavery was legal under the U.S. Constitution
1834—The 10-hour day legislation
Although various building trades union had bargained, in effect, for a 10-hour day, the Philadelphia municipal council made it a law for all public workers
August 31, 1836—the Secretary of the Navy issued an order for the 10-hour day at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
March 31, 18400—President van Buren extended the 10-hour day to all laborers and mechanics employed on federal public works
1830s—the “factory girls” passed enormous petitions into the state legislature in Massachusetts, demanding a shorter work day, and threatened the legislators with political action even though the women did not have the right to vote. When Massachusetts finally passed a 10-hour day legislation, it includ3d a por0vision allowing “individual workers “ to sign contract to “avoid” the law
1840s—the Temperance Laws
One element of the workers movement argued that alcohol was responsible for the desperate conditions of many workers, and so in Maine, the state passed a prohibition law in 1846, and the movement later expanded to Vermont, Rhode Island and the Minnesota Territory and Michigan, so 13 states had prohibition by 1855
Susan B. Anthony, who is most famous as a suffragist, began her political career as a temperance supporter and served as a delegate to the first National Labor Union convention in Baltimore in 1866
July 4, 1864—Emigrant Contract Labor Act
The shortage of labor once again, as a result of the Civil War, led to pressure from employers for expanded immigration, so Congress passed a law pledging wages for a term of not more than 12 months. To meet the anticipated demand for foreign workers, The American Emigrant Co. was established.
1868—the first 8-hour day
Under pressure from President Grant, Congress passed a law covering mechanics and laborers employed by, or on behalf of, the U.S. government setting 8 hours as a normal work day.
1872-The National Labor Reform Party
Disappointed with protective legislation loopholes created by the dominant parties, the national Labor Union created its own party and ran Judge David Davis for President, though he withdrew before the election and the party collapsed
1877-the Molly Maguires
The President of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad actually served as a public prosecutor against 10 Irish miners, alleged to be engaged in criminal conspiracy, “discovered” by an undercover agent from the Pinkertons hired by the same president.. The jury of mine owners convicted the ten and they were publicly hanged in Pottsville, PA. By 1985, all of the victims had been posthumously pardoned by the governor of Pennsylvania
On the day the Mollies were hanged, the B & O Railroad strike began in Baltimore and in Martinsburg, WVA, leading to the assignment first of Pennsylvania state militia and then of federal troops sent by President Rutherford B. Hayes, who had withdrawn all federal troops from the former states of the confederacy as a sign of respect for “states’ rights.”
May 4, 1886—the Haymarket Massacre
A demonstration in support of the 8-hour day and of strikers at the McCormick Reaper Co. was broken up by police and, as the square cleared, a bomb exploded, and 10 “radical agitators” were tried and found guilty
March 1886—the Theiss Boycotters case—in a case which began as a labor dispute between The musicians assembly of the Knights of Labor against a small “concert saloon” owned by George Theiss, a boycott spread to the saloon’s suppliers, like breweries. Thiess sued the union for extortion and intimidation and was assisted by a District Attorney who proclaimed “this boycott business must be annihilated and stopped.” The union defendants were convicted and sentenced to 2 years/10 months at hard labor, one of a series of cases directed against worker boycotts, culminating in their prohibition by the Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
1886-American Federation of labor(AFL) founded
The major political issues supported by the Federation included
1)“job ownership”
2)limited immigration to create labor shortages
3)relief from technological unemployment
4)enactment of “labor legislation” recognizing union rights and collective bargaining
5)promote mediation of labor disputes
6)a political position of “rewarding our friends and punishing our enemies,” as Samuel Gompers described it, rather than proposing an independent Labor Party
Railroad Unions
Union on the railroads became the strongest, and most important, national workers’ organizations in the late 1800s in several areas, so national legislation to control this power naturally followed:
1)these were truly national unions following a national industry
2)because of their strength, the unions had enormous bargaining power since work stoppages literally could stop vital and profitable sections of the national economy
3)the unions established bargaining practices, like work rules and benefit societies, that other workers wanted to emulate
4)the unions became politically influential, in a negative way, as the employers tried to use the government to direct their activities into more conservative and “constructive areas. As a result, the pattern of legislation controlling the railroad unions became a model for legislation that applied to a larger range of workers
5)the railroad Brotherhoods became the craft union leaders in the AFL, helping establish the exclusionary policies (white, skilled, native-born, English-speaking men) of the federation
1888—Adjustment of Railroad Labor Disputes Congress authorized a federal panel to arbitrate disputes and for a Presidential commission to investigate if one of the parties refused the offer to arbitrate
Using the controversial Interstate Commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, the federal government began to take authority for labor relations issues away from the states, though employers would go shopping for the most favorable agency—state, federal or local—in case of a labor dispute.
July 6, 1892—Homestead Massacre
State of Pennsylvania allows Henry Clay Frick to deputize boatloads of Pinkerton thugs, and declare martial law in the are so state militia can protect scabs
Inspired by reports of the Homestead strike, miners in Couer D’Alene Idaho, struck and federal troops were brought to the area to protect scabs from the striking miners
1894—The Pullman Strike
Called by the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, the strikers tried to call a nationwide boycott on all Pullman cars and successfully tied up every Midwestern railroad line when Attorney General Richard Olney swore in 3,400 men as “special deputies” to keep the trains running. President Grover Cleveland, elected with labor support, called out federal troops “top restore order and to safeguard the mail and to protect interstate commerce,” the major use of the Constitution to allow the federal government to intervene in a private labor dispute. The railroads simply placed the mail car at the end of each train, so that any boycott of Pullman cars would also stop the delivery of mail, giving Attorney General Olney, a railroad lawyer in private life, the excuse to intervene in behalf of the bosses.
July 2, 1894—a federal court issued an injunction, which had become more common since 1883, forbidding interference with the operation of the mails or with Interstate Commerce. Debs was jailed for contempt and the strike was smashed.
Of course, the machinery to arbitrate railroad strikes was refused by the railroad bosses.
The government also relied upon The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which was supposed to prevent corporate monopolies but was often used against strikes as “worker monopolies.” In Re Debs (1895), the Supreme Court agreed that the federal government had the right under interstate commerce to intervene in the strike.
June 1, 1898—The Erdman Act provided for mediation in railroad labor disputes by the Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor, although neither had the legal power to initiate the proceedings
September 3, 1913-The Newlands Act—created a Board of mediation and conciliation consisting of four members. This board settled 58 of the 71 disputes which came before it between 1913 and 1917.
September 3, 1916-The Adamson Act provided for the 8-hour day ands for time and one-half for overtime on the railroads.
During World War I, the government took control over private railroads for the duration of the war.
February 28, 1920—Transportation Act (Esch-Cummings Act)—provided for returning the railroads to private ownership and expanded the power of the ICC, which not only established railroad monopolies but also established a Railroad Labor Board for the mediation of wage disputes
May 20, 1926-Act of 1926—the Labor Board was replaced by an independent mediation agency consisting of five members appointed by the President
June 27, 1934—The Railway Labor Act provided the right of workers to organize and to be represented “through representatives of their own choosing” and created the National Railroad Adjustment Board. In a greatly expanded form, covering airlines and some trucking companies, the Railway Labor Act is still important today
Federal Injunctions
Between 1901-1928, there were 188 recorded requests for federal injunctions, most of which ended strikes before a final decree was needed. State injunctions were widespread, and the courts frequently avoided restrictions established by state legislatures.
April, 1899—the second Couer d’Alene strike by miners against the Bunker Hill Mine, owned by Standard Oil. Federal troops ere called into Idaho, martial law was declared and 600 strikers were arrested and held without charges for months in filthy bullpens. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended by Idaho Governor Frank “Bloody Bridles” Steuenberg
May 12, 1902—the National Anthracite Coal Strike was called when the mine owners refused arbitration and President Theodore Roosevelt intervened in October, and the strike was called off. In March, 1903, a commission awarded the miners a 10% wage increase.
1902—Congress passes The Chinese Exclusion Act, supported by the AFL
1902-1916 The Danbury Hatters Case—a critical Supreme Court decision upholdingthe use of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to penalize a union for a secondary boycott, making the union and its members liable for triple damages. The strike began on July 25, 1902, but the secondary boycott was called “a conspiracy in restraint of trade within the meaning of the Act.” The secondary boycott became a criminal, and not just civil, offense.
1902—Maryland became the first state to enact a workers compensation law, allowing workers to collect for workplace damages without suing the boss. In 1933, a judge interpreted the law to include the notorious “slip, trip or fall standard,” so that routine or cumulative injuries on the job would not be covered by workers comp.
Mississippi passed the last state workers comp law in 1948
1908—the state of Oregon passed a law limiting the number of hours women could work. In Muller v Oregon, the Supreme Court upheld the law and denied that it violated the liberty of contract guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
1912—the first minimum wage act for women and minors was passed in Massachusetts.
1913—the U.S. Department of Labor was established as a federal cabinet position
October 15, 1914—the Clayton Antitrust Act—in many ways, this legislation strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act, but included the famous phrase “. . .the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce; nothing contained in the antitrust laws shall be construed to forbid the existence and operation of labor. . .organizations. . .nor shall such organizations or the members be held or construed to be illegal combinations in restraint of trade under the antitrust laws.” This act also prohibited the use of injunctions in labor disputes unless the court decided that an injunction was necessary “to prevent irreparable injury to property.” The law also made picketing, boycotts and strikes legal under federal jurisdiction. Proclaimed as labor’s “Magna Carta,” the law was seriously weakened by court interpretations.
1914—the Lafollette Seamen’s Act—regulated conditions of employment for maritime workers.