Railroad Shopmen Plot a Grand Union Federation
A secret initiative seeks to unite mechanical trades across every railroad west of the Mississippi to force a general wage hike.
The story, cleaned up
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Plans for the formation of a territorial organization of railroad shop employees that will include every railroad operating west of the Mississippi river are being secretly perfected by labor officials. As soon as the organization is launched, demands will be made for a general advance in wages on every road. The plan is said to be the most far-reaching of any that has been attempted. Railroad managers were alarmed when they learned that the shop crafts were forming federations on each system, and it was the refusal of the managers to recognize such federations that led to the strike on the Illinois Central and the Harriman lines. The new plan of organization aims to unite all the federations, so that when demands are made they will be made on all railroads in the same territory at the same time, and if a strike is called it will involve all the roads simultaneously.
“They believe that if the employees in the mechanical departments of all the roads were called out at the same time it would be impossible for the railroads to find a sufficient number of nonunion men to take their places.”
This 1912 movement for regional labor solidarity anticipated the modern challenges of globalized supply chains and centralized corporate power. It highlights a recurring struggle for workers to gain bargaining leverage that matches the scale of their employers.
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