The Fall of the House of Labor

Abstract

This book studies the changing ways in which American industrial workers mobilised concerted action in their own interests between the abolition of slavery and the end of open immigration from Europe and Asia. Sustained class conflict between 1916 and 1922 reshaped governmental and business policies, but left labour largely unorganised and in retreat. The House of Labor, so arduously erected by working-class activists during the preceeding generation, did not collapse, but ossified, so that when labour activism was reinvigorated after 1933, the movement split in two. These developments are analysed here in ways which stress the links between migration, neighbourhood life, racial subjugation, business reform, the state, and the daily experience of work itself.

Brotherhood From a Distance: Americanization and the Internationalism of the Knights of Labor

“…Many unionists, Knights included, doubted whether the newer arrivals, increasingly from areas where industry and union action were still new or unknown, would ever be properly assimilated in this respect. 94 Yet despite these suspicions, and often in the face of their own xenophobic beliefs, Knights were in the forefront of attempts to transform new immigrants into American unionists. 95 But the Knights also took this process of Americanization a step further.…”

De Amerikaanse en Belgische vensterglasindustrie en de Nederlandse diamantindustrie (circa 1880-1940). Vakbonden, arbeidsorganisatie en marktverhoudingen

“…6 Elders werd het werk individueel aangenomen door 'een teamleider, die het contract voor zus en zo veel per eenheid aannam, anderen tegen daglonen inhuurde, en het verschil tussen de lonen van zijn helpers en de prijs die het bedrijf betaalde in zijn zak stak'. 7 Die interne organisatie paste bij het gespecialiseerde karakter van veel fabrieksarbeid en de herkomst daarvan uit het zelfstandige ambacht. In een arbeidsorganisatie onder leiding van voormannen daarentegen werden alle arbeiders, net als de voorman zelf, in dienst genomen of ontslagen door het bedrijf, tegen lonen die het bedrijf centraal had vastgelegd.…”

“…Ook in de Amerikaanse staalindustrie waren er spanningen tussen onderaannemers en hun personeel. 17 Craft unions of ambachtelijke vakverenigingen ontstonden in de 19e eeuw, maar werden aan het eind ervan en in de eerste decennia van de 20e eeuw steeds meer vervangen door algemene bonden per bedrijfstak in plaats van per beroep. Een van de achtergronden daarvan was de hierboven geschetste verandering in de arbeidsorganisatie.…”

The Rotary Club and the Promotion of the Social Responsibilities of Business in the Early 20th Century

“…At the tail end of the 1920s, they provided their workers with access to pensions, health care, and demonstrated transparency in hiring and promotion decisions (see Hewitt, 1950, p. 79). And reflecting on the early twentieth century context , their acknowledgement of these issues is not surprising since employer-employee relations were contentious (Galambos & Pratt, 1988), sweated labor was not uncommon, and health and safety an afterthought (see Montgomery, 1989). Small business owners and managers, in some cases, were more attentive to their workforce than larger corporations as they could not afford to alienate their skilled labor (Marens, 2013, p. 459).…”

“…Thus the numerous books that Rotary issued contain comprehensive advice about how to ensure positive and productive labor relations. This advice would, in turn, help Rotarian employers avoid the strikes which were widespread during the early twentieth century (Marens, 2012;Montgomery, 1989). Rotary encouraged its membership to appreciate the contribution of their workers in economic and social terms.…”