€515 Cornell University LiDrary HD6515.L82C7 Types of American labor unionstthe Long iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 3 1924 002 335 879 THE LIBRARY OF THE NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002335879 TYPfeS OF, AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS THE 'LONGSHOREMEN OF THE GREAT LAKES JOHN R. COMMpNS University of Wisconsin reprinted from The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. XX., November, 1965 ... THE . . . QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS Published for Harvard t/niversity Is established for the advancement of knowledge -by the full and free discussiu^i' of economic questions. The editors assume no responsibility for the views of contributors, beyond a guarantee that they have a good claim to the attention q), well-informed readers. Communications for the editors should be addressed to the Quarterly fourna of Economics, Cambridge, Mass.j business communications and subscriptiom ($J.oo a year), to Geo. H. Ellis Co., zjs Congress Street, Boston, Mass. CONTENTS FOR AUGUST, 1905. I. THE CO-OPERATIVE COOPERS OF MINNEAPOLIS G. O. Virtue II. THE PROBABLE INCREASE OP^ THE NEGRO RACE IN THE UNITED STATES .... AWalter F. 'Willcox III. SUGGESTION^ ON THE THEORY OF VALUE . . Ludwig Kotany .IV. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOLD EXCHANGE STANDARD IN THE PHILIPPINES . . E. W. Kemmerer V. WOOL-GROWING AND THE TARIFF SINCE 1890 . Chester Whitney Wilght VI. THE HIBERNIA FIASCO: RECENT EFFORT OF THE PRUSSIAN FISCUS TO ACQUIRE COAL LANDS . Francis V^alker RECENT PUBLICATIONS UPON ECONOMICS. CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER, 1905. I. THE ENGLISH RAILWAY AND CANAL COMMISSION OF 1888 ..... S. J. McLean II. TYPES OF AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS: THE 'LONG- SHOREMEN OF THE GREAT LAKES . John R. Commons in. THE EFFECT OF LABOR-SAVING t)EVICES UPON WAGES .... Alvin S. Johnson IV. EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS FOR DEALING WITH LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES William Franklin Willoughby NOTES AND MEMORANDA: Changes in the Tax Laws of New York State in 1905 Frank A. Fetter The Origin of the Phrase "Balance of Trade" W. H. Price RECENT PUBLICATIONS UPON ECONOMICS. TYPES OF AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS: THE 'LONGSHOREMEN OF THE GREAT LAKES. Beginning in 1892 as a convention of delegates from ten local unions of lumber handlers from Ashland to Buffalo, under the name of the "National 'Longshore- men's Association of the United States"; changing its name to "International" in 1895 to take in Canada; changing again in 1902 to " International 'Longshoremen, Marine and Transport Workers' Association," — this or- ganization now includes forty different occupations, and claims 100,000 members, of whom one-half are on the Great Lakes. As stated in its Directory, it embraces in its membership and grants charters to Loaders and Unloaders of all Vessels and Ships; Marine and Warehouse Pack- age Freight Handlers; Grain Elevator Employees; Dock and Marine Engineers; Dock Hoisters, Firemen, and Marine Repairmen; Marine Firemen, Oilers and Water Tenders; Licensed Pilots and Tugmen; Tug Firemen and Linemen; Marine Divers, Helpers, Tenders, and Steam Pump Operators; Steam Shovel and Dredge Engineers; Drill Boat Workers : Dredge Firemen and Laborers on Dredge Scows; Marine PUe Drivers; Lumber Inspectors, Tally- men, and Lumber Handlers; Top Dockmen; Cotton and Tobacco Screwmen; General Cargo Dock Laborers; Pool Deck Hands and Fishermen, — along the Great Lakes, Rivers, and Seacoasts in the United States, Canada, Central and South America, and new United States possessions. At one time the organization claimed railway freight handlers, saw-mill workers, and all men employed in limiber yards; but it has receded from these claims. On the other hand, it is now organizing the pilots and mates on the lake steamers, and has demanded the revo- cation of the charter of the Seamen's Union.^ The wages ^ Proceedings 1 Fourteenth Annual Convention, 1005, p. 236. PROPERTY OF LIBRARY m YORK STATF SCHOOL mmmi^m=^m BEUTICNS 60 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS and salaries of its members range from those of laborers at 22 cents an hour to those of divers at $10 or $15 and, in some instances, $25 a day, and tug-boat captains at $165 a month and board. In thus reaching out for all employees engaged in water transportation, the Direc- tory says: — The business of handling transportation is now unified. It presents a distinct branch of commerce to which has been applied all the known scientific principles of the organization of capital and labor. An account of the lumber handling "locals" will give a clew to the other locals. They are the oldest, those at Bay City and Saginaw running back to 1870, and the one at Chicago to 1877. The Chicago and Detroit locals have furnished the president, D. C. Keefe, and the secretary, H. C. Barter, whose experience and policies have guided the International throughout its history. The aim of the lumber locals from the beginning has been to become co-operative contractors. In their first preamble they say,— Having proved through experience that the system of loading and unloading boats by individual jobbers is one that robs our labor of its wages, we have determined to use every legitimate means in our power to suppress it, and to give every man an equal opportunity to secure work and receive the profits of his labor. And the "Rules for Locals" declare' "all Locals are re- quested to endeavor to abolish the stevedore system by taking the work themselves directly." This object has been kept in the front at all times, and is the key to an understanding of much that the union has done and is trying to do. In 1905 the president of the union ad- ' Section 11. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 61 dressed the convention of Lake Carriers on this subject, as follows:' — A year ago we virged your co-operation to assist us in bringing about the abolition of the stevedore system in connection with the handling of grain at Chicago, in which I am pleased to say that our efforts were quite successful, and since then the grain has been handled to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. To my mind there can be no suitable apology offered for the further continua- tion of the obnoxious practice anywhere. We stand ready and willing to furnish a guarantee that we will do all the work that properly belongs to our organization to the entire satisfaction of the Lake Carriers and employers generally. . . . The system is a reflection on the intelligence of the American worker, maintained by the employer, where the employee is compelled to pay tribute to a drone for the privilege of working. "We again pray your honor; able body to unite with us in bringing about the complete abolition of this unjust system. The stevedore was usually a labor contractor without capital. He furnished the men for loading or unloading the boats on contracts made with the captains or owners. At the Gulf ports the stevedores have formed associa- tions for regulating charges; but on the Lakes they were usually competitors. Often they were saloon-keepers and ward politicians, or partners of such; and the condi- tions on which they- hired men included patronage of the saloon and political errands. The men "bunked" in the saloon in order to be ready when a boat arrived, and they received their pay in the saloon. The co-operative system, however, is not practicable as a substitute for the stevedore except on a piece-work basis. For example, in the loading of lumber on the upper lakes the conditions vary greatly. In some cases liunber is run down through chutes; and, where it is taken from the docks, it is brought from different parts, so that it is impossible to agree in advance upon a rate ^ProceediTigs, Fourteenth Annual Convention, p. 34. 62 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS per thousand feet. At 50 cents per hour in wages the cost to the owner varies from 23 cents to 90 cents per thousand feet. But the unloading of lumber is uniform. A man in the boat passes the lumber to a man opposite on the dock, and it is pUed one tier in depth. The prices paid by the vessel owner have always been made on a piece-rate, both to the stevedore when he hired the men by the hour and to the union when it took the contract. In the latter case the local union makes a contract for the season with the vessel owner, or the owners' or dealers' association, containing a scale of prices, beginning, say, "white pine, 1 inch, IJ inch, and 1^ inch. No. 3 and bet- ter, 10 feet and over, at 33 cents per M.," and so on for different sizes and grades. To do the work, the union distributes its members in gangs. The Cleveland local, No. 3, with 200 members, has 8 gangs of 25 men each. The Buffalo local has 36 men in a gang. One, two, or even three gangs may work on a boat, according to its size. Each gang has a stevedore or boss, or, in a German local, a Oangfuhrer, who is elected by the imion at the same time and for the same period as the other officers. This boss works with the men, if necessary; but, since the gang works in pairs and he is the odd man, his actual work consists in placing the men and overseeing the work. In any dealings between the captain or lumber dealer and the union, only the business agent or the gang boss has the right to speak. If any other member takes part, he is reported by the agent or boss at the next meeting of the union, and, if found guilty, is punished as the union sees fit. If he creates disturbances at the union office or at work, he may be suspended eight days, and on third offence expelled.* The business agent (Geschdfts- fuhrer) has charge of all the bosses and the gangs. The bosses take their orders from him. He makes a report ^Constitution, Local No. 3, Cleveland, p. 13. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 63 at union headquarters two or three times a day of the boats to be unloaded, and especially sees to it that each gang gets its turn. If this equalizing of work cannot be done from week to week, it is evened up towards the close of the season, so that one man's earnings are very nearly the same as those of aU other men in the union. In fact, the Cleveland union of Germans, on yearly earnings of $487, has come within 75 cents of bringing the mem- bers out equal. Other locals earning from $500 per member at Chicago to $750 at Tonawanda have not been able to equalize so exactly. The business agent is fined and even ousted, if he does not keep the turns equalized. The members of the gang are required to obey the gang boss and to be industrious and pimctual, and they carmot leave the job untU it is finished. If disobedient, the gang boss can lay them off. If they have a grievance, they must wait and bring it up in union meeting; and the gang boss can be fined or. suspended if he is to blame. After the ship is imloaded, the boss collects the amount due from the captain, but he must take with him one member of the gang as a witness. He has the right to inspect the original bill of lading in order to verify the amount. He takes this to the union headquarters, and divides it equally with all the members of the gang. His own share is exactly the same as that of the other men in his gang, with 10 cents added for each boat to pay book- keeping expenses. Finally, he makes a report at the union meeting of the work done and the amounts received and distributed. This is the method followed by all of the lumber unload- ing locals except those at Chicago, Milwaukee, and Michi- gan City. At these ports the gang bosses are selected by the captain or dealer. The latter method is the one also followed by the ore unloaders and the coal loaders, 64 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS even though they are paid by the ton. For a single year the ore shovellers at Cleveland tried the plan of electing their gang bosses, but their experience was discouraging. Factions were formed within the union, popular favorites and skilful wire-pullers secured election for themselves and their friends or relatives, and the imion was weakened by dissensions. Since that trial the superintendent se- lects a gang boss from among the members of each gang, and the union, as well as the superintendent, is much better satisfied with the selections. But the imion assigns the members to the respective gangs. Local No. 205, ore shovellers, for example, of 200 mem- bers, is divided into eight gangs, of which two are Irish, one is German, one is Polish, one is Croatian, and three are mixed. But each gang is again divided into three sections of eight members each; and the sections of the mixed gangs are also based on race lines, one gang, for example, being composed of one Polish section, one Ger- man section, and one Irish section. Some sections have Irish and Germans together, but otherwise the races are usually separated Each section works in one hatch of the boat, where they load the buckets by shovel, which then are hoisted by the engineer, or operator. A boat with nine hatches will have three gangs at work, the boss of each gang belonging to the nationality of the gang, except in the case of mixed gangs, where he is usually an Irishman. The gang boss has the same duties and is governed by the union in the same manner as when elected. The union can even secure his dismissal, but this must be done by lodging a grievance under the arbi- tration agreement with the association of carriers or dock managers, as the case may be. He is a member of the gang, and receives exactly the same share of the gang's earnings as the others. But he does not work in the hold. He watches the machinery, to see that it is in THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 65 working order and that repairs are promptly made. He watches the gang, to see that no one is shirking; and he has authority to lay off a member, subject to appeal to the union. The imion generally has also its business agent to preserve the equality of turns among the gangs, to inspect bills of lading, and to verify the amounts due for xmloading. Since the operating companies are large con- cerns and have the contracts for unloading many vessels, pay day is arranged once a week instead of collecting the amount due on each boat when it is finished, as is done by the lumber locals. Both the business agent and the gang bosses keep these accounts for their men. Before the union was organized, the gangs were hired and made up by foremen to whom their earnings were paid and by whom they were distributed to the men, usually in a saloon kept by a friend or brother. Any complaint or grievance was followed by dismissal. No record could be kept of the amoimt of work done, except when the ore was loaded in cars and the weight was kindly furnished by the railroad yardman. It was, of course, suspected that the foreman pocketed a share of the pro- ceeds. Now the men receive their pay in envelopes at the companies' offices, and the business agent is at hand to verify all accounts and take up all complaints or dis- crepancies with the superintendent. The foreman has dis- appeared, and in his place is the co-operative gang boss, sharing equally with his fellows. This change alone, apart from the increase in tonnage rates, has added materially to the earnings of the shovellers. As already stated, the co-operative plan is impracticable where the men are paid by the hour, and the progress of improvement in hoisting machinery has substituted hourly wages for tonnage rates. Within the past five years automatic "grab buckets," or "clam shells," have been introduced, and are operated by the hoisting engineer. 66 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS The shoveller is not needed except to clean out the cor- ners after the boat is practically unloaded. The ore is even pulled from the sides up to the hatches, where the buckets can reach it, by means of road shovels or great iron hoes operated by men in the hold with cables from a steam or electric winch. The men working in the holds with this automatic machinery get 28 cents an hour, but it is stipulated that they shall be paid during the time the machinery is working in the boat. This gives them two to four hours' full pay before the buckets get down deep enough for the road shovel or the hoe to begin. Already six of the eight gangs in Local No. 205 have been put on the automatic machines, leaving but two gangs on the tonnage or co-operative basis. On these machines their earnings are much less. At 14 cents a ton for shovelling they earn 55 to 60 cents an hour, or about $600 a year, as against 28 cents an hour, or $500 a year, on the hourly basis. On the other hand, however, the hoisters operating the machines have had an increase, since they joined the imion, from $60 or $65 a month of 84 hours per week to $80 or $105 per month of 66 hours a week. The work of the shovel- lers is, of course, much harder than that of the laborers at the automatic buckets. On hot days they are naked to the waists. There is no period of waiting on full pay. But, notwithstanding the harder work, there is great dissatisfaction among the younger and stronger men if they are not permitted to work at shovelling on the old- style buckets at the higher earnings. The older and less active men seek the easier conditions with the lower earn- ings. There is also a wide difference among the nation- alities. Very few American-born men are found in the holds. They have been promoted to hoistmg. The supply is kept up by immigration. The Croatians are large and powerful mountaineers with magnificent arms and legs, THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 67 who rejoice in the heavy work. At the other extreme are the Poles, a smaller and weaker race. The Germans are heavy workers, but they lack endurance, a weakness ascribed by the Irish to their diet. The Irish, being more Americanized than others, do not work as hard as they did. Yet all get the same pay on the same boat, sharing equally the tonnage receipts. The only criterion is will- ingness. The gang leaves to the older men the lighter work, such as signalling to the bolster; and the younger men do the heaviest work, such as running up the pile of ore and heaving and pulling the heavy buckets in place. It is an interesting fact that, in aU instances, this system of gang piece-work which, in the clothing, machinery, and other trades, has developed into a sweating system, and is therefore vigorously opposed, is looked upon by the 'longshoremen with the greatest favor. Instead of stirring up jealousy and factions, it joins the union to- gether in feelings of friendship and mutual aid, and is being extended wherever the union can do so. Doubtless, the secret of its success lies in the fact that the gangs do not compete with each other in making the contract prices whenever a boat comes to dock, but all are subject to the same uniform scale of prices made annually in ad- vance by agreement. The coal handlers also are paid by the ton. The work is mainly trimming the cargo in the hold of the vessel after the raUroad car has been dumped on board by the hoister. The superintendent appoints the gang boss. Since each gang of sixteen or twenty men is hired for the season for a single dock, the earnings as between the gangs cannot be equalized. On one of the docks in Cleveland in one year the men earned $1,200, while on another only $600 were earned. However, as between members of the same gang earnings are equal. An automatic trimmer has recently been introduced, displacing the gang, and operated with 68 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS the aid of a few 'longshoremen at 33 cents an hour when actually at work. This has materially reduced their earn- ings. Grain scoopers at Buffalo are paid by the thousand bushels on the gang-sharing plan, the bosses being selected from the union by the superintendent. At Chicago the grain elevator employees, with automatic machinery, are on hourly wages or monthly salaries. II. The 'Longshoremen's Association has entered into agree- ments annually with several associations of employers, es- pecially the Lumber Carriers, the Lake Carriers, the Dock Managers, the Great Lakes Towing Company, and the Great Lakes Tug and Dredge Owners' Protective Associa- tion. The agreements with the Lumber Carriers were the first in point of time. Local agreements had been made at early dates by local unions and local associations of dealers or carriers, but the unions favored dealing only with individuals. The lumber carriers had formed asso- ciations at several times since 1883, but those associations were short-lived. The present Lumber Carriers' Associa- tion of the Great Lakes has had a continuous existence only since the year 1900. The weakness of earlier asso- ciations may be judged from the appeal made by the ex- ecutive committee of one which was organized in 1898 to the convention of 'longshoremen at Cheboygan in July of that year.' The employers' committee, consistmg of the president and the secretary of the association, in ap- pearing before the convention, represented that the great interests, such as the railroads and railroad steamers, opposed to the 'longshoremen, were also attempting " to drive the lumber carriers to destruction by reducing the ^Proceedinft, SeveiUK Anniuil Convention, 1898, pp. 19, 20. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 69 carrying charges below a point where they can live." The committee continued: — Many of you remember the aid extended by your organization, by one of your local unions, in keeping the carrying rates at living prices on the Great Lakes. This was several years ago at Bay City, which then made the rates on lumber. The committee then stated the existing situation and their proposed remedy, as follows: — The ship-owners or vesselmen, having carried lumber at a loss for the past two years, and witnessing the effect and success of your efforts and organization, decided last winter to follow your example, — organize for a living hire, and appeal to your body so closely identified with us for aid and assistance. At a meeting held in Detroit in February last the vessel-owners did succeed in effect- ing a voluntary association for the purpose of maintaining a uni- form minimum rate which should cover the cost of transporting lumber and forest products. They succeeded in enlisting a large majority of all the vessels on the lakes. Unfortunately there were a few who did not come in. They threaten to disrupt our asso- ciation, and we therefore, the Executive Committee of the Lumber Carriers' Association, come before your honorable body, asking and appealing for the co-operation which is necessary for our exist-_ . ence, for our success as well as yours. This assistance which we request is that you should either refuse to load boats not belong- ing to the association, or boats belonging to the association that cut rates, or impose a heavy fine, heavy enough to prevent such suicidal business or to drive them all into the association. This we recommend be done on the entire chain of lakes, or mor^ es- pecially the Lake Superior districts. After promising the 'longshoremen an increase in wages if the Lumber Carriers' Association could be kept together during the season, the committee concluded: — Whatever action you may take, it should be taken as soon as possible, for the reason that members and non-members are cutting the rates, and we fear that, if some action is not taken promptly, it will become general and the association wUl go to pieces. 70 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS This appeal of the lumber carriers was not indorsed by the convention. "The delegates," said the secretary in his report the following year, " did not wish to decide the matter, because it included the fining of boats not enrolled in the association and referred it to the Locals." ' Mean- while the Lumber Carriers' Association disbanded, and was followed in 1900 by the present association, which then made an agreement with the union, and has done so each succeeding year. These agreements, which cover all the loading and unloading ports, contain no clause whatever relating to non-association boats. It is, indeed, on the 1 side of the 'longshoremen, provided that the union shall furnish all the men to rniload the boats. The employers are protected by a clause which reads, — Failing to supply such men within twelve hours, said boat shall have the right to employ enough outside labor to unload said boats. It is also agreed that, if a boat has been loaded by non-union men the unloading local shall charge 5 cents , per M. extra. This practice of fining a boat which has been loaded or unloaded by non-unionists has a bearing on the relations of the union to the Association of Lumber Carriers, as will _^ appear when the practice is described. It has been in vogue since the beginning of the national organization, and, indeed, was the strongest weapon of mutual protec- tion which brought the scattered locals together. The convention of 1893 adopted a resolution providing for the practice, and the constitution of the international asso- ciation contains the following sections:^ — ^ Proceedinge, Eighth Annual Convention 1899, p. 19. ^AitioleXVI. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 7X PENALTIES. Section 1 . Whenever any vessel or barge loads or unloads with non-union men, then it shall be the duty of such Local where the loading or unloading was done to notify the General Secretary- Treasurer to enforce extra charge of ten cents per hour for loading lumber and five cents per thousand for unloading lumber, two cents per ton for unloading iron ore and coal, twenty-five cents per thousand bushels for elevating or trimlning grain, two cents per ton for trimming ore and coal, and for boats which do not trim two cents per ton extra for unloading. Provided, further, that boats loading or unloading lumber shall be punished by en- forcing grain, coal, or ore rates, and those loading ore, coal, or grain shall be punished by enforcing lumber rates, and where boats, after being fined, still refuse to employ union labor at the ports where loaded or unloaded, the Locals in ports for which said boats are destined are requested to double the fine for each succeeding offence, and it shall be the duty of the Locals to notify the General Secretary-Treasurer that the said fine has been enforced. Section 2. It shall be the duty of the Local that has received such fine to give the captain of such vessel or barge a receipt for the same, with the seal of the Local attached. Section 4. The President and Corresponding Secretary of all Locals shall notify, under seal of their respective Local, the Secre- tary-Treasurer of any boats that have violated the constitution of our association, and in case of error or misunderstanding the Local that orders the fine imposed shall reimburse the Local collecting the fine. When the boats are to be fined for violation, the order must be sent through the General Secretary-Treasurer to enforce the fine. When a fine has been wrongfully imposed, the matter is brought by the secretary of the Lumber Carriers to the general secretary-treasurer of the 'Longshoremen, and he refunds the amount and collects it from the offending local. Since this practice of fining boats has long been recog-: nized and enforced as a penalty for hiring non-union 'long-; shoremen, it naturally also might be enforced as a penalty for refusing to join the Lumber Carriers' Association, as 72 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS requested by that association in 1898. This has been done by some of the locals, though others charge the non- association boats the same prices as the association boats. The union refuses to make agreements with individual vessel-owners. Thus it has reversed the policy of earlier days, when the locals, in order to prevent the employers from organizing, preferred to deal only with individuals. By dealing with an association the competitive conditions are equalized at loading and unloading ports, and the Carriers' Association becomes responsible for violations by individual owners. The non-association owner, having no agreement, may be charged any price that the local wishes and can enforce. If he protests, the answer is that he can get the association price by joining the association. This opportunity to make extra earnings is enough of an inducement to the locals to lead them to put a higher price on non-association boats without any request to do so from the association or its representatives. Such a request the present association has not made. It, of course, would consider its agreements violated if the union charged a non-association boat less than an association boat, and would have its remedy by an appeal to the in- ternational officers. In addition to fines the local unions give priority in loading and unloading their boats to members of the as- sociation over non-members. Such preference is pro- hibited as between members, the Buffalo agreement pro- viding that "boats shall be unloaded strictly according to priority of arrival at this port." Not protected by such a clause, the non-association boat in a busy season is at a disadvantage. In the agreement it is stipulated that a verified list of the members of the Lumber Carriers' Association in good standing and the name of the vessel annexed shall be sent by its secretary to each of the local unions on the chain of lakes, and each vessel carries a THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 73 certificate showing that it is properly enrolled and in good standing. Owing largely to this support by the union, the present Lumber Carriers' Association has been able to hold its members and to enforce its scale of freight rates. It includes 85 per cent, of the lumber-carrying tonnage on the Lakes, the outside vessels being the older and smaller boats, doing but little of the business. The association is controlled by lumber dealers who are also vessel- owners, though a number of them are solely carriers. By reso- lution adopted in 1903 the owners agree not to charter their boats through agents who do not belong to the as- sociation, and shippers agree not to allow charters to be made of any vessel whose owners are not members in good standing. The association adopts a scale of freight rates to and from each port on the Lakes. These rates have been ma- terially reduced in the past two years, notwithstanding the great increase in wages, the firemen and seamen having secured advances from $15 to $25 a month for deck hands, and the wheelsmen from $20 or $25 to $45. The recent advances in 'longshoremen's wages are not as great proportionally, since they have been organized much longer. Railroad competition has become a seri- ous matter on account of better facilities and lower wages. The railroad car goes direct from the shipping yard into the receiving yard. The yard hands are paid 17 cents to 20 cents an hour, while the vessel- owner must pay 50 cents an hour to the loader and a piece-rate for un- loading at which the 'longshoreman earns 60 cents or more per hour. In spite of their association the vessel- owners claim that the union "gets all the Juice out of the orange." The members of the union on their side realize that the lumber supply is falling off, and they are satisfied that top wages have been reached. 74 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS The Lake Carriers' Association includes the leading owners of the ore, coal, and grain carrying vessels, the largest one being the Pittsburg Steamship Company, a branch of the United States Steel Corporation. This association was inaugurated thirty years ago to oppose burdensome legislation at Washington, and has been the most important agency in securing aids to naviga- tion on the Lakes. Some fifteen years ago it broke up the sailors' imion, and for a number of years was not con- fronted by any union of employees. Since 1900, however, it has made agreements with two branches of 'longshore- men, the grain scoopers at Buffalo and the firemen on the boats; also with the lake seamen and its affiliated union of marine cooks and stewards; and, finally, with the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association. In this way all of its employees have been organized. Even the remarkable spectacle was seen in 1904 of the captains and mates following the example of their crews, and organ- izing a Masters' and Pilots' Association, which ordered a strike and tied up the shipping on the Lakes for nearly two months. The Lake Carriers at first tried to reach an understanding with this association, but felt compelled to resist the essential feature of an agreement, namely, that the owners should not deal individually with their own captains. These, they insisted, are the executive personal representatives and vice-principals of the owners. On this ground they drew a distinction between a tmion of captains and a union of the crews. The latter are not hired and discharged by the owners, but by the owner's representative, the captain or mate. The masters and pilots were defeated in their strike; and many of them, as a condition of re-employment, signed contracts not again to join a marine labor organization. Commenting on this defeat, the president of the longshoremen's union, in his address at the convention of 1905, said:^— -. ^Proceedings, Fourteenth Annual Convention, 1905, pp. 36, 37. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 75 Had there been a federation of all the maritime organizations, working in harmony and union, the humiliating ending of the masters' and pilots' strike could not have happened. We had it in our power to win the battle for the masters and pilots, if given an opportunity to do so, but were not permitted by their officials, who were carried away by their own importance, believing that they were equal to the situation without the co-operation and assistance of any other organization, and that it would cast a reflection on them as professional men if they were to be identified with a common, every-day lot of workers like the I. L. M. and T. A. Taking advantage of the defeat of the captains and mates, the 'longshoremen have proceeded to organize the pUots (that is, the mates), and to bring them in as another branch of their association. At the convention of 1905 these new pilots' local unions were represented by four delegates; and, whUe it is understood that under no circumstances would the Lake Carriers concede the organization of the masters, yet they seem to have con- ceded to the 'longshoremen the organization of the mates and pUots. The outcome of the masters' and pilots' organization is significant by way of contrast with that of a similar organization on the tug-boats. The Licensed Tugmen's Protective Association, organized in 1900, is composed of captains, mates, and engineers. In 1902 this organ- ization was involved in a contest with the Great Lakes Towing Company, known as "the trust," a member of the Lake Carriers' Association, and operating 90 tug- boats. After the strike had been in progress two months, the association asked for affiliation with the 'longshore- men; and charters were thereupon granted to each of the twenty-eight locals on condition that the 'longshore- men should not be asked to enter on a sympathetic strike. Conferences were arranged with the company through the good offices of the 'longshoremen and the Lake Car- 76 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS riers' Association, by which in 1903 the Licensed Tug- men's Association secured the exclusive employment of its members and a scale of wages. Meanwhile the tug firemen and linemen had been organized by the 'long- shoremen; and an agreement was also secured for them with the same company. These agreements were re- newed in 1904 and 1905. Consequently, the 'longshore- men's union, through these two branches, controls the captains and all members of the crews operating nearly all of the tug-boats on the Lakes. The Association of Dock Managers at Lake Erie ports represents the employers of much the largest proportion of 'longshoremen. They are the great railroad compan- ies or their lessees, operating the docks for unloading iron ore and loading coal, including the United States Steel Corporation at Conneaut, M. A. Hanna & Co. at Cleve- land and Ashtabula, and others. The association has been m existence since 1874, for the purpose of estab- lishing uniform scales of charges for loading and unloading boats. When the ore shovellers and coal handlers were organized by the 'longshoremen in 1898, they secured agreements with individual managers; but, finally, in 1900 the Dock Managers' Association took up the prob- lem of regulating wages as well as charges. At that time the 'longshoremen had organized aU ports, except To- ledo and Sandusky; the dock managers entered into an agreement providing for the exclusive employment of union men at these as well as other ports; and the union agreed to admit to membership all of the local men. In this agreement the 'longshoremen extended their juris- diction to cover also the highly skilled hoisters and engi- neers, as well as the wholly unskilled dock laborers and aU employees on the docks. In contrast with the lumber carriers, the dock man- agers do not depend upon the union to maintain their THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 77 organization. They had regulated charges for twenty- five years before the unions were strong enough to share with them. It is an interesting fact that the prices charged to vessel-owners for unloading iron ore are 2 or 3 cents a ton lower in 1905 than they were in earlier years, while the tonnage rates paid to 'longshoremen are 4 to 6 cents higher. Prior to 1899 the shovellers at Cleve- land received 8 to 10 cents per ton, the rate standing at 9 cents in 1898. The first effect of the union is seen in the fluctuating piece-wages of 10 to 12^ cents in 1899; and the final effect is seen in the uniform rate of 14 cents in 1900, reduced to 13 cents in 1901 and 1904, but restored to 14 cents in 1903 and 1905. The rate charged to the vessel-owner by the dock managers is 19 cents a ton, leaving a margin of only 5 cents to the dock manager against a margin of 10 or 12 cents in earlier years. This margi|i, it should be said, is no longer decisive; for it applies only to the old style of hoisting bucket paid for at tonnage rates, — a style which, as already shown, has been largely displaced, and will soon disappear under the competition of the great automatic buckets operated at day-wage rates. These revolutionizing improvements have been introduced during the period since the union began to secure advances in wages, so that, notwithstanding those advances, the cost of handling ore has been reduced. Further, as already stated, the advance in earnings, ex- cept for holsters and engineers, has not been nearly so great on the new machinery coming into use as on the old machinery going out of use. III. Enough has been said to show that the 'longshoremen's association has grown up and extended its organization without any preconceived plan. This will be seen further 78 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS in noticing the variety of relations existing between "locals" and "branches" and the international organiza- tion. The locals are usually very small in the number of members, since they are organized on craft lines; and there are some forty crafts or occupations within the organiza- tion. Seven of the crafts are spoken of as "branches." The branch in some cases is admitted as a local, and in other cases it is an association of locals. Only locals as such are represented in the 'Longshoremen's Convention. Thus the International Brotherhood of Steam Shovel and Dredgemen is an organization which has been in existence several years, with headquarters at Chicago, with its general president and other general officers, its board of directors and its general executive board, with its twenty local "lodges" widely scattered (including one at Panama) and with its own official journal. Steam Shovel and Dredge. Yet this organization is known simply as "Locals 460" of the I. L. M. and T. A., with two votes in the last con- vention. The same is true of the International Brother- hood of Steam Shovel, Dredge Firemen, Deck Hands, Oilers, Watchmen, and Scowmen of America, known as "Local 470." Likewise the Marine Firemen, Oilers, and Water Tenders' Benevolent Association, with branch offices at seven ports on the Great Lakes and headquarters at Buffalo, is known as "Local 124," with six votes in the 'Longshoremen's Convention. On the other hand the Licensed Tugmen's Protective Association is composed of twenty-eight locals, with sepa- rate charters from the 'Longshoremen's Association enti- tling each local to at least one vote in the convention, and an additional number if its membership exceeds one himdred. The Tug Firemen and Linemen have a representative for each of thirteen separate locals, and the Fishermen for twenty-two locals. Each has its "branch" organization with general officers, like the dredgemen. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 79 These branches hold their own annual conventions, and conduct their business entirely separate from the 'Long- shoremen's Convention. They select their conference committees to meet the employers and to make agree- ments. It would seem on paper that they are important wheels in the 'longshoremen's union. As a matter of fact, however, their powers are no greater than those of any local imion of ore handlers or grain, scoopers. This is on accoimt of the position that has gradually been conceded to the executive council of the international association, consisting of the president, secretary-treasurer, and nine vice-presidents elected at the annual convention (biennial after 1905). All locals have full power to regulate their own wages, whether by the hour, by the thousand, or by the ton; but the association rec- ommends that the locals whose interests are identical in the same locaUty establish a monthly correspondence, so that a more uniform scale of wages may be established.' In this effort to secure uniformity the locals with identical interests, whether they are recognized as branches or not, send their delegates to the conferences with the associated employers. Such a delegate is not recognized unless he comes with credentials showing that he has full power to bind his local to whatever agreement is entered upon. The agreement takes precedence over aU constitutions and by-laws, whether of locals, branches, or the international organization. It cannot be reviewed by referendum or by convention. In fact, as viewed by their employers, "the only capital the union has is their reputation of fulfilling their contracts." They are in the peculiar position of making a contract to furnish all of the labor necessary to do certain work at certain wages or piece-prices, yet with- out subjecting themselves to a penalty for failure. Natu- rally, the employers look to the international officers to 'Constitution, Article VI., Section 4. 80 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS see that the locals furnish the men. They, indeed, always reserve "the right to secure any other men who can per- form the work in a satisfactory manner until such time as members of the I. L. M. and T. A. can be secured." ' This reservation applies to two classes of cases, — inability of the local union to furnish men and a strike of the local union. Where the local cannot furnish men, it is the duty of its president or manager to notify the captain within twelve working hours of the time when the boat is placed at the dock.^ The captain then employs outsiders if he can find them, but hoists a flag to indicate that a non-imion man is at work. As soon as a member of the union appears, the non-unionist is laid off, the union man is employed, and the flag is lowered. In the other case, of a strike or refusal by a local to work on a vessel, it is considered a violation of the contract, and the vessel may be sent to another dock or port to be unloaded according to the agreement, and the men who refuse to work are discharged.^ Resort to this clause has seldom been necessary because the international officers have promptly furnished men, even going so far as to furnish men outside of their own organization to take the places of the strikers. The constitution of the in- ternational organization also provides for such contin- gencies by giving adequate powers of control over the local unions. Locals are forbidden to take part in any sympathetic strike or any other strike, or to assist another local, without the consent of the executive coimcil.* The coimcil has the power to fine a local $10 for the first offence, $25 for the second offence, and to expel the local for the third offence.^ With these powers the executive 'Dock Managers' Agreement, 1905, Section 3. 2 Lumber Carriers' Agreement, Sections 1 and 2. 'Dock Managers' Agreement, 1905, Section 12. * Constitution, Article XIII., Sections 3, 4,8. 'Ibid., Article XVII. , Section 1. THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION gl council, through the international president, has enforced all of the agreements so promptly and effectually that the employers without exception have only the strongest words of commendation for the record of the union in this respect. Practically aU of the very few strikes that have occurred in recent years have been those of new organizations not yet admitted to membership in the 'Longshoremen's Asso- ciation. Indeed, the growth of the association, especially in the way of organizations other than 'longshoremen proper, has followed upon the defeat, or the prospect of defeat, of those organizations in strikes of their own initia- tion. This has already been shown in the case of the pilots. The same was true of the tugmen, whose strike in 1902 was lost, but who secured their agreement through joining the 'longshoremen's union. Without mentioning other instances, it is evident that the 'longshoremen show a reversal of the usual course of unionizing, in that with them the skilled and salaried employees have not led in organization, but have followed and relied upon the dis- respected "dock-woUoper." It was the lumber handler, the ore shoveller, the coal handler, who led the way, and afterwards took in and gained for many skilled occupa- tions favorable conditions and union recognition which they were unable to gain for themselves. In no case has this been done through a sympathetic strike or a violation of any agreement. The newly admitted organization has usually been required to wait until the existing agreements expired, and then, in the conferences with employers on a renewal of agreements, it has been cared for the same as the others. Naturally, with so many occupations and races there arises dissatisfaction with some of the agreements. But the members of the various branches have seen a few vivid lessons of the penalties inflicted when a branch or a local 82 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS attempts to act alone. This was spectacularly true of the strike called by Local 124 in April, 1903, when that local was dissatisfied with an agreement just about to be made. Local 124 is known as the Marine Firemen, Oilers, and Water-tenders, employed on all the lake steamers, and had been a "branch" of the 'Longshoremen's Asso- ciation for four years. Its officers, unable to carry their point, brought on the strike without the knowledge of the executive council. The latter declined to permit a sympathetic strike of other locals, although the work of all of their members was interrupted. The lake carriers filled the places of the firemen, and the other 'longshore- men continued to work with the non-unionists. After being defeated in a two months' strike, the firemen offered arbitration, which the lake carriers refused, but finally, through the representations of the 'longshoremen's officers, they made an agreement, and the firemen were granted the terms which two months before they had refused to accept. This salutary lesson, administered to a well- organized branch whose members visit every port on the Lakes, has greatly strengthened the hold of the interna- tional officers on all the locals. The lesson is all the more impressive, for it has been accompanied in this case by an increase in wages from $25 or $30 a month to $45 to October 1, and $65 from that date to the close of navi- gation. There has also been a lessening in the amomit of work by increasing the number of men, so that one man fires four doors where he formerly fired six. It is significant that this strong position of the inter- national has been accomplished without the backing of a treasury. Other national and international unions have built up strike or "defence" ftmds, held by the general treasurer and available only for those local unions whose strikes have been sanctioned by the international officers. These funds are accumulated through a per capita tax THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 83 on all members of local unions. But the per capita tax of the 'longshoremen is only 5 cents as against 15, 25, and 40 cents a month in other organizations. This barely meets the expenses of the central organization. The ex- ecutive council may, indeed, levy assessments on local imions; but this has never been done. On the other hand, the dues of the local unions are 50 cents a month, enabling them, after paying the per capita tax, to accumulate a good-sized treasury which may be used as they see fit, for strikes or for insurance benefits. This extreme local autonomy in the constitution of , the union, accompanied by unusual discipline and centraliza- tion in all dealings with lemployers, suggests the question whether, perhaps, this union is merely a "one-man" or- ganization, depending for its unusual success on the per- sonality of the able executive officers who happen to have been in charge during the period of its growth. Neither the organization nor its leaders are as yet old enough to answer this question. It will have been noted that aU of the agreements of the 'longshoremen are strictly "closed-shop" agreements, stipulating the employment exclusively of union mem- bers. This is true not only of the dock workers whose agreements are something more than scales of wages,— contracts to load or unload cargoes, and therefore neces- sarily exclusive; it is true also of all the crafts and occu- pations. The first agreement of the association, made in 1893 for the port of Chicago only, was silent on member- ship in the union; but in 1894 the imion accepted a reduc- tion of 20 per cent, in wages, but extended the agreement to all ports on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and se- cured the exclusive employment of imion men. Similar strategy has been shown at other times, as when in 1901, after substantial advances during the preceding years, a horizontal reduction in wages of 7^ per cent, was agreed 84 QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS upon with the Dock Managers, and continued for 1902, accompanied, however, by a reduction of working hours to 9 or 10 per day in some cases, and 11 per day in handling iron ore and coal. This reduction in hours has been main- tained, but wages were advanced 8 per cent, in 1903. They were reduced again 7^ per cent, in 1904, with various compensations in the conditions and hours of work, and restored in 1905 with the compensations retained. This adaptation of wages to industrial conditions indicates an imusual degree of discipline in the union and a willingness to avoid strikes; and this, naturally, wins the employers to the closed-shop agreements. ' On the side of the dock laborers and 'longshoremen proper the closed-shop agreements are looked upon mainly as a protection against immigrants. The higher grades of skilled employees, such as holsters and engineers, are filled, according to the agreements, by promotion from employees on the docks where the promotions are made. These promotions come almost solely to the English-speak- ing laborers, especially Irish and Germans, so that these races are gradually rising from the lower grades. But the 'longshoremen and dock laborers, from whom these pro- motions are made, are themselves recruited from foreign immigrants; and the pressure of immigration therefore bears directly upon them. Prior to the organization of the unions there was a rapid influx of these laborers. The boss or a friend would bring up a dozen men from a dis- tance, and put them to work, while men who had been there for years were displaced. But with the closed-shop agreement these new-comers are not admitted unless the amount of work is greater than the number in the union can supply. This supply is regulated automatically through the ini- tiation fees. These are under the control solely of each local union. Beginning with fees of $5, the locals have THE 'LONGSHOREMEN'S UNION 85 raised the amount to $25 or $50, and even $100, according as the pressure for admission increased beyond the oppor- tunity for steady employment of those already admitted. Again, when the pressure lightened or the work increased, the initiation fee was reduced; but the majority of the locals seem iaclLned to place it at $50. Since the wages earned are much higher than what the Poles, Croatians, Italians, Roumanians, and similar races can earn outside, and since these races are notedly thrifty even on those lower wages, it has been found that $50 is just about the rate of tariff that equalizes supply and demand. I have not mentioned the spread of the 'longshoremen's imion to the Gulf and Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The original and characteristic features are found on the Great Lakes, especially the control by one organization of both ends of the vessel's trip, so that by their system of fines a weak imion at one end can be promptly and effectually aided by a strong local at the other end. The salt-water locals have looked forward to a similar arrangement with the dock workers of other lands, and recently an affiliation was arranged with the International Transport Federation, headquarters, London. Thus it is something more than a dream that the oceans shall be governed like the lakes, and vessels loaded or unloaded by non-union men in any port of the world shaU be punished when they touch a port across the ocean controlled by union men. John R. Commons. Univebsity op Wisconsin. THE EFFECT OF LABOR-SAVING DEVICES UPON WAGES. Economic literature is replete with controversies. So far as the central problems of economics are concerned, it may almost be said, qiiot homines, tot opiniones; and many of the minor problems are treated with a most ap- palling diversity in method and in point of view. Yet there is one small field that is practically unravaged by controversial warfare. With but few exceptions^ econo- mists are agreed that the idtimate effect of labor saving is invariably to increase the real income of the working classes. Whatever differences of view-point exist concern themselves chiefly with the relative emphasis laid upon the immediate loss to the laborers whose functions this form of progress renders obsolete. Moreover, an examination of the arguments advanced in support of the prevailing view reveals a surprising uni- formity. Attention is called to the fact that the cheapen- ing of products, which normally attends the introduction of an improvement in the technique of production, rep- resents aj.virtual increase in the incomes "of all classes, in- 1 Among these may be mentioned Mill, Principles of Political Economy (Book I. chap, vi); Ross, Proceedings of the American Econ,omic Association, Fifteenth Annual Meeting (pp. 151, 152); and, perhaps, Carver (Ibid., pp. 149, 150). Mill's argument rests upon a juggling of the concepts **fixed" and "circulating" capital, and their respective relations to the wage-fund, and is in so far quite out of harmony with modern thought. In Ross's view the effect of the introduction of machinery is analogous with that of the introduction of an exceptionally efficient body of slaves. From the published reports of the Proceedings of the Economic Association it would be difficult to discover the groimds on which Professor Carver based his view that it is not certain that laboi^saving inventions invariably benefit the la- borer; but, from his method of reasoning in an earlier address {Proceedings of the American Economic Association, Fourteenth Annual Meeting, pp. 183-198) it would appear that his position is not essentially different from that defended in this paper Date Due PRINTED IN U. o. A. Cornell University Library HD6515.L82C7 Types of American labor ""'""^.i'tJilliMS!"^ 3 1924 002 335 879 n 'I