The General Trades' Union was formed in New York City in 1833 with the purpose of uniting all of the trade societies of New York. The goal of this central union was to better coordinate the various trade unions in the New York City area, to provide assistance during conflicts with employers, and to maintain a fund for striking laborers. The GTU formed the
National Trades Union The National Trades' Union was the first federation of labor unions in the United States. It was established in 1834, but collapsed during the Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major d ...
, the first attempt at a nationwide union movement. The GTU of New York organised one the first strikes in the United States and initiated the system now known as collective bargaining.
History
The first large trade union, the General Trades' Union (GTU), was organized in New York City on 14 August 1833 by delegates from nine
craft trades. It celebrated with a public parade displaying its new emblem, a banner bearing a likeness of Archimedes lifting a mountain with a lever.
Ely Moore, a journeyman printer, was elected its first president. He left soon after, and with the backing of the newly formed National Trades’ Union won a seat in Congress as a Democrat. Later he helped generate Congressional support for the 10-hour workday.
John Commerford
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
, a cabinet and chair maker, replaced Moore, and asserted that skilled artisans were only seen as commodities by their employers. Commerford did not have the benefit of experience, and thus much of what he accomplished was ad hoc. Commerford stressed education as necessary for empowering workers. True reform would come when workers knew the value of their own worth and the truth about the economic and political system. Commerford later ran for Congress on several third party tickets.
The Union was affiliated with the
Locofocos
The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Loco-focos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s.
History
The faction, originally named the Equal Rights Party, was created in New York City as a p ...
, who were against the
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January 1836.. The Bank's formal name, ...
, but refrained from political activity so as to avoid the kind of demise suffered by the
Working Men's Party in 1829–30. They staged over 40
strikes
Strike may refer to:
People
*Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
and by 1836 had a membership including 66% of New York City's Journeyman
labourers.
The GTU spread across many cities along the eastern seaboard, including Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Newark, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. By 1835 a network of trade unions developed in New York City and Philadelphia. One year later the number of unions in the network had grown to 13, with 52 local societies in New York, 53 in Philadelphia, 23 in Baltimore, and 16 in Boston.
The labor movement of the 1830s was wiped out by the financial panic of 1837. An even larger labor movement in the 1860s collapsed in the Depression of 1873. It was only in the 1880s that a labor movement was established for good.
[Kenneth T. Jackson: ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'': The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 458.]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The GTU of the City and County of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
was formed in 1834.
See also
*
Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations
*
Working Men's Party
References
External links
History of New Haven labor struggle{{Authority control
Trade unions in the United States
Organizations established in 1833
1837 disestablishments in the United States
Trade unions established in the 1830s
Trade unions disestablished in the 1830s