History of The Socialist Movement in The United States - Socialism's Ties To Labor

Socialism's Ties To Labor

The Party formed strong alliances with a number of labor organizations, because of their similar goals. In an attempt to rebel against the abuses of corporations, workers had found a solution–or so they thought–in a technique known as collective bargaining. By banding together into "unions" and refusing to work, or “striking,” workers would halt production at a plant or in a mine, forcing management to meet their demands. From Daniel De Leon’s early proposal to organize unions with a Socialist purpose, the two movements became closely tied. One major ideal they had in common was the spirit of collectivism: both in the Socialist platform and in the idea of collective bargaining.

The most prominent unions of the time were the American Federation of Labor, the Knights of Labor, and the Industrial Workers of the World. Uriah S. Stephens founded the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor around secrecy and a semireligious aura to "create a sense of solidarity". The Knights was, in essence, “one big union of all workers. In 1886, a convention of delegates from twenty separate unions formed the American Federation of Labor, with Samuel Gompers as its head. It peaked at 4 million members. The Industrial Workers of the World (or "Wobblies") was formed along the same lines as the Knights, to become one big union. The IWW found early supporters in De Leon and Debs.

The Socialist movement was able to gain strength from its ties to labor. "The panic of 1907, as well as the growing strength of the Socialists, Wobblies, and trade unions, speeded up the process of reform." However, corporations sought to protect their profits, and took steps against unions and strikers. They hired strikebreakers and pressured the government to call in the national militia when workers refused to do their jobs. A number of strikes dissolved into violent confrontations.

In May 1886, the Knights of Labor were demonstrating in the Haymarket Square in Chicago, demanding an eight-hour day in all trades. When police arrived, an unknown person threw a bomb into the crowd, killing one person and injuring several others. “In a trial marked by prejudice and hysteria,” seven anarchists, six of them German speaking, were sentenced to death with no evidence linking them to the bomb.

Strikes also took place that same month (May 1886) in other cities, including Milwaukee, where seven people were killed when Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah M. Rusk ordered state militia troops to fire upon thousands of striking workers who had marched to the Milwaukee Iron Works Rolling Mill in Bay View, on Milwaukeee's south side.

In early 1894, a dispute broke out between George Pullman and his employees. Debs, then-leader of the American Railway Union, organized a strike. United States Attorney General Olney and President Grover Cleveland took the matter to court and were granted several injunctions preventing railroad workers from “interfering with interstate commerce and the mails”. The judiciary of the time denied the legitimacy of strikers. Said one judge, " the weapon of the insurrectionist, nor the inflamed tongue of him who incites fire and sword is the instrument to bring about reforms". This was the first sign of a clash between the government and Socialist ideals.

In 1914, one of the worst labor conflicts in American history took place at a mining colony in Colorado called Ludlow. After workers struck with grievances ranging from requests for an eight-hour day to allegations of subjugation, the National Guard was called in by Colorado governor Elias Ammons. That winter, Guardsmen made 172 arrests.

The strikers began to fight back, killing four mine guards and firing into a separate camp where strikebreakers lived. When the body of a strikebreaker was found nearby, the National Guard’s General Chase ordered the tent colony destroyed in retaliation.

"On Monday morning, April 20, two dynamite bombs were exploded, in the hills above Ludlow... a signal for operations to begin. At 9 AM a machine gun began firing into the tents, and then others joined." One eyewitness reported, “The soldiers and mine guards tried to kill everybody; anything they saw move". That night, the National Guard rode down from the hills surrounding Ludlow and set fire to the tents. Twenty-six people, including two women and eleven children, were killed.

Union members were now afraid to strike. The military, which saw strikers as dangerous insurgents, intimidated and threatened them. This compounded with a public backlash against anarchists and radicals. As public opinion of strikes and unions was soured, the Socialists often appeared guilty by association. They were lumped together with strikers and anarchists under a blanket of public distrust.