On Tuesday, June 28th, the first national convention of the Amalgamated
Building Trades was held in Chicago. There were sixty-eight delegates
present, of whom fifty were from Chicago. The others were from Detroit,
3; Washington, 1; Cincinnati, 2; New York, 3; Pennsylvania, 1; Bay City,
1; Brooklyn, 1; Denver, 1; Milwaukee, 1; Philadelphia, 2; Sioux City, 1;
Pittsburgh, 1. P. W. Birk, of Brooklyn, presided during the session
which lasted three days.
The objects of the council were defined as follows:
The objects of the Council are to assist in the organization of the
journeymen workers of the building trades, and the federation of
such trade organizations into building trade councils and central
bodies in each locality of the United States; to create a bond of
unity between the wage-working builders, and to aid by counsel and
support all legitimate efforts made for the betterment of the
condition of members of the building trades.
The following appeal to the building trade organizations was adopted and
directed to be sent all over the country:
TO ALL COUNCILS, FEDERATIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS OF THE BUILDING
TRADES IN THE UNITED STATES--_Greeting_: The time has come in the
wisdom of the soundest thinkers and most experienced workers in the
ranks of labor when it is not only proper, but necessary, that the
journeymen workers of the building industry in the United States
should be thoroughly organized and federated under a national
council. Such an organization, by the conservative exercise of the
control delegated to it by a constitution upon which all local
organizations can unite, could do a great work in looking after the
interests of the various crafts and callings engaged in the
building industry; and, by a timely and wise supervision in cases
of wage or other difficulties, exercise an incalculable influence
in directing the course of events to a solution favorable to the
workers, by keeping the craftsmen of the whole country fully
informed of the situation and the necessities of the case. The
contractors, or "Master Builders," have formed and are endeavoring
to perfect a National Association with the declared purpose of
opposing the efforts of the labor organizations to regulate wages
and the hours of labor.
Pursuant to a call issued by the Amalgamated Building Trades'
Council of Chicago, a convention of delegates from building trades
organizations of the country met in this city on Tuesday June 28,
and in a three days' convention perfected a national organization
with the objects as set forth in the preceding paragraph.
Notwithstanding the short notice given, there were in the
convention delegates from fourteen of the principal cities of the
union, representing one-half million journeymen builders. The
result is that the National Building Trades' Council of the United
States is now an established fact, working under a temporary
constitution, copies of which accompany this circular. We submit
the action of the convention and the constitution to the building
trades organizations of the United States, and ask their prompt and
active support of the movement. The convention, after due
deliberation, decided, as it was hardly more than preliminary, that
the first regular session of the national council should be held as
soon as possible; that the delay in bringing all the building
organizations under one head should not be greater than the time
necessary to disseminate the work of the convention and to allow
sufficient time for the many organizations to act; it was therefore
decided to name the third Tuesday in September, 1887, as the date
for holding such session. The place selected for the next
convention is Chicago.
All organizations receiving a copy of this circular are urged to
take action in accordance with the constitution, and at once to
open correspondence with the general secretary of the council, who
will furnish information to those desiring it.
Brothers, in conclusion, we urge you to give your support at once
to this movement and to aid in perfecting an organization which may
be made a power second to nothing of its character in the world, as
its field is as broad as this great land, and its opportunities as
limitless as humanity.
On the last day the following resolutions were adopted:
_Resolved_, That, in the event that the committee of the Chicago
bricklayers do not succeed in making a satisfactory settlement with
the Master Builders' association, the council declare the Chicago
difficulty a national cause and appoint a committee on arbitration
to meet the bosses, the power to appoint such committee resting in
the hands of the president, in session or after adjournment.
_Resolved_, That, in the event of failure of such committee to
settle satisfactorily the trouble, the president, with the
concurrence of the executive board, make an appeal to the building
trades organizations of the United States, asking
support--financial and moral--for the building-trades organizations
of Chicago.
Officers were elected as follows: President, J. S. Robinson, Cincinnati;
Vice Presidents, George Keithly, Washington; William F. Abrams, Detroit;
Louis Hartman, Milwaukee; Secretary, Peter A. Hogan, Chicago; Treasurer,
L. C. Hutchinson, Detroit; Executive Board, W. H. Thomas, Philadelphia;
Edward Farrell, New York; George E. Gray, Denver.