Sons of Vulcan - Merger

Merger

Other iron and steel unions had also formed in the post-Civil War period, and in 1873 merger of the largest unions was proposed. The Associated Brotherhood of Iron and Steel Heaters, Rollers, and Roughers had formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1861. This craft union recruited the skilled workers who rolled steel in railroad track mills, but soon expanded its membership to rollers throughout the iron and steel industry. Another union, the Iron and Steel Roll Hands of the United States, formed in Chicago in 1870. This union attracted anyone whom the Associated Brotherhood would not permit as a member. The Roll Hands never achieved much membership growth, which led the union to propose merger as a way of combatting employer resistance to unions.

The main impetus for merger was the growing failure of many strikes. If the puddlers struck, steel and iron already manufactured would continue to be milled by the rollers, heaters, roughers and other mill hands. This enabled the employeer to continue to manufacture product and receive revenue, and so outlast the union. The movement to form an industrial union began in Columbus, Ohio, where locals of the Sons of Vulcan, Associated Brotherhood and Roll Hands amalgamated into a single union. The National Labor Tribune, a newspaper dedicated to labor issues in the iron and steel industry, discussed industrial unionism extensively for the next year. On December 10, 1874, locals of all three unions from Columbus, Louisville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana, met in Louisville to formulate a proposal, which was published in the National Labor Tribune.

After three years of negotiation, the three unions merged to form the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. At its convention in Troy, New York, in 1874, the Sons of Vulcan debated the industrial union proposal, and reacted favorably to it. However, the union took no formal action. The Roll Hands sent a representative to the Associated Brotherhood convention of July 1874 to negotiate a merger of the unions. Merger was effected in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 6, 1875. The Sons of Vulcan, meeting at the same time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, did not accept merger at that time. The Sons of Vulcan replied on August 23, 1875, and informed the merging unions that they would participate. The three unions met in Pittsburgh on December 7, 1875, and drafted a constitution and bylaws. The three unions met separately in Emerald Hall in Pittsburgh on August 2, 1876, and adopted the resolution for amalgamation. On August 3, the three unions as well as a fourth (the United Nailers) met to debate and adopt the new constitution. The new Amalgamated Association was formed on August 4, 1876.

The Sons of Vulcan provided 85 percent of the new union's membership, and dominated the new organization for much of its early history. Its membership was almost exclusive to the iron industry, as steelmaking was still in its infancy.