as ‘scabs’,” Fairchild reported.78 In the face of this struggle, which also involved union-initiated violence, these non-striking men demanded, and ultimately created, a new organization.
Fairchild and Elmira’s “free men” celebrated the establishment of the ILLA on March 19, 1903. The organization’s principal aim was perfectly consistent with the open-shop movement’s goals: “To protect workmen in their independence.”79 The extent of Fairchild’s involvement in the formation of this organization is difficult to measure, though we do know that the clergyman had established relationships with some of the antiunion workers before the strike. Whatever the case, union activists lampooned this organization and others like it. Writing in late 1903, a member of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers declared that “one can almost see the wage earners of this country falling over each other in an attempt to become members of this wonderful organization in order to obtain a reduction in wages or increased hours of labor.”80
Despite sardonic comments from union activists, this supposedly bottom-up movement quickly gained momentum. Shortly after its formation in Elmira, “free workers” created other branches, and besieged employers approached these organizations during strikes for employment purposes. ILLA branches became highly useful to employers’ associations embroiled in numerous workplace showdowns. For instance, during a Brooklyn shipyard strike in June 1903, Henry C. Hunter, secretary of New York City’s Metal Trades Association, was happy to employ league members as strikebreakers. Hunter, a talented strikebreaking architect, was enormously pleased that it “has a branch in New York and undertakes to supply competent men.”81 Some manufacturers contacted league chapters to obtain “free men” before launching new workplaces. Consider the words of an unnamed Ohio employer writing in 1903: “Our reason for writing to you is that we desire to employ members of the Independent Labor League of America in a large new foundry which we are ready to start.”82 The league essentially served as a reserve army of potential strikebreakers, delighting open-shop enthusiasts and labor-hungry supervisors alike. And this movement continued to grow after Roosevelt announced his Square Deal. By the end of 1903, six cities—Albany, Boston, Detroit, Elmira, New York City, and Sherman, Texas—hosted chapters. League branches reinforced the efforts of the CIAA, emboldened “free workers,” and sent a powerful message demonstrating that the open-shop movement was more than a top-down campaign led exclusively by the moneyed elite.83
“Gratifying results of the employers’ movement”
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
