CHAPTER X

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE AMERICAN TRADE UNION

Gradual Evolution of the Union. Government of Workingmen, by Workingmen, for Workingmen. The Elasticity of the Trade Union Constitution. Local, National, and International Unions. Nature of the Local Union. Its Democracy. Local Officials. Relations between Local and National Unions. Basis of Representation. ure of Office. Salaries. Who May be Members of Trade Unions. Initiation Fees Conventions. Delegates. Referendum and Initiative. Trade Union Officials. Tenand Dues. Union Cards. Internal Government of Unions. A Typical Trade Union Constitution. Trade Union By-Laws. The Constitution Follows the Trade Agree

ment.

THE

'HE labor organization as it exists to-day is the product of a long evolution. Unions did not spring full-grown from the brain of man; they were not invented, not contrived. The constitution of the trade union, its by-laws, its customs and traditions, its practices and policies have all been the result of a gradual working out of particular remedies for particular problems.

The constitution of the trade union, moreover, has been evolved by and through the efforts of workingmen. The trade union is a government of workingmen, by workingmen, for workingmen, and the framers of its constitution have been workingmen. Although the supreme law of the union was not formulated by highly paid constitutional lawyers, nevertheless, it represents in a clear and definite manner the ideals, purposes, and aims of the great majority of the members of the organization.

The faithfulness with which trade union constitutions represent trade union sentiment is due to the elasticity of these constitutions. The government of trade unions is loose and flexible, and neither constitution nor by-laws are rigidly fixed and immutable. The object of the leaders, as of the rank and file of trade unionists, has been to preserve the largest possible

elasticity and freedom of movement to the ruling majority of the organization. In trade union management, there is no tyranny of the "dead hand." Even the most conservative unions are not bound by a blind, unthinking worship of an outgrown instrument, but adjust their form of government to the changing needs and exigencies of the times.

To a certain extent, therefore, the formal written constitution of a trade union is rather a statement of principles and a formulation of the present policy of the union than a hard and fast determination of its future laws. Trade union constitutions are easily changed. The Constitution of the United Mine Workers may be altered by a majority vote in convention, and in a large number of other unions the fundamental law of the organization may be changed by a majority vote either of the delegates in convention or of the members voting by referendum, although in some unions a two-thirds. vote is necessary.

American unions are either local, district, national, or international. The local unions ordinarily represent members of a single trade who live and work in a single city or small community. A district organization is a division of a national union usually exercising supervision over the locals in a particular state. It is chartered by, and subordinate to, the national. National organizations, as a rule, extend to the various states where members ply the particular trade, or are engaged in the particular industry over which such organizations exercise jurisdiction, although in a few cases, these national unions are concentrated in certain localities and do not seek to extend their sphere of influence. For instance, the organizations in the cotton spinning trade are practically confined to New England, and the membership of the Northern Mineral Mine Workers, although a nationai organization, is confined to the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Many of these unions are styled international because they include Canadian, and, as among several of the railroad brotherhoods, Mexican members. There is no affiliation, however, of American international unions with organizations in Europe or in other parts of the world, with the exception of Canada and Mexico.

Historically considered, the local union is father to the national. Small local organizations existed half a century before national organizations were established, and these latter were usually formed by the amalgamation of existing locals combined for the purposes of common defense and general welfare; but the overwhelming majority of local unions in all trades have been formed by the national organizations.

The local union may thus be considered as the basis or foundation. stone of the national organization. As might be supposed, these local bodies are extremely democratic and popular in their form of government. They are composed usually of men working at the same trade, men with approximately equal wealth, wages, and position in the community and connected, moreover, by ties of personal friendship or mutual acquaintance. It is perfectly easy in a town of one hundred thousand or less to convene meetings of local unions at short and regular intervals, and it is therefore possible for the local body to act directly upon all matters of interest to it. Every attempt is made by these local bodies to maintain their free and democratic nature. Most of the decisions and actions are taken by popular vote, and in many cases even the appointment of committees devolves upon the members instead of upon the chairman. The presiding officer, usually called the president, is elected, as a rule, for but six months or a year and is rarely paid a salary for his services. The secretaries and treasurers of local unions are required to give bond and are subject to the close supervision of the members. The walking delegate or business agent is usually a salaried employce elected for a term of six months or one year, but subject to removal at any time by a majority vote of the members of his union. Nearly all of the national organizations employ paid organizers, who are constantly engaged in forming local unions. The United Mine Workers of America has at present eighty paid, and about two hundred unpaid, organizers devoting their time to this work. The Union expended in 1902. the sum of $110,000 in the creation and maintenance of new unions. The American Federation of Labor, which is a federated body composed of the

principal unions of the country, also pays a large force of organizers and secures the gratuitous services of a great number of volunteer organizers.

Upon the relation existing between the local and national organizations depend the character, power and prestige of the union. In some instances, the national organization has limited power and exercises but slight control over the actions of the local unions; whereas, in other cases, this control and supervision is effective. Where, as in coal mining, the industry is of such a nature that the employers in the various parts of the country compete with each other for the sale of their product, it is highly essential that power be concentrated in the national organization. In other industries, where there is less competition and less need of uniformity, the demand for the centralization of power in the national union is less keenly felt. Generally speaking, the relation of the local unions to the national is somewhat similar to the relation between the state and national governments. The local unions have somewhat less power than the state, but considerably greater power than municipalities. Broadly considered, they have the right to do anything not in conflict with the national constitution or with by-laws passed *in accordance therewith. In many instances, the locals are supreme in determining the rates of wages, the shop or factory rules, the fining or disciplining of members, and the amount of dues and initiation fees. Even where the hours of labor are fixed at a certain maximum by the national union, the locals are frequently permitted to secure a still further reduction, and where the national union prescribes a maximum and minimum for fines and assessments, the local is generally allowed discretion in fixing these fines between the maximum and the minimum. The administration of the funds of the local, except such portion as is paid for taxes or assessments to the district or national organizations, is in the hands of the local. The punishment of members for offense against the union, for underbidding members, for working below the union scale, for working during strikes, for revealing the proceedings of the organization, for abusive language, for misappropriation of funds, for unexcused absence, or for other neglect of duty, is under the control of the local, although appeals may be made

from these decisions to the national officers, or even to the conventions of the national organization. The punishment inflicted for failure to comply with the rules of the union may consist of reprimand, fine, suspension, or expulsion according to the gravity of the offense and the past record of the offender. Although this punishment is, to a large extent, a local matter, the national organization sometimes regulates the maximum amount of fines or makes other provisions to obviate occasional injustice.

Local unions are rarely vested with power to inaugurate a strike without the advice and consent of the national organization. As a general rule, the national officers do not have the right to call a local strike, but merely have the privilege of vetoing the application of a local union that contemplates engaging in a strike, thus acting as a brake upon, and not as a stimulus to, hasty action. In practically all unions, the national officers are more conservative and more desirous of maintaining peace than the local officials or members who, not feeling the same degree of responsibility, frequently overestimate the importance of a petty quarrel and thoughtlessly rush into strikes which may involve the whole organization.

The government of a national labor organization, like the government of the United States is composed of executive, legislative, and judicial de- • partments. The power to direct and administer its affairs is entrusted to representatives selected by the local unions. These executive powers are vested in a president and a board of directors; the legislative, in a delegate convention, while the judicial function devolves upon the president or secretary of the organization, with the right of appeal to the executive board. The legislation of the national union is carried on by means of conventions composed of delegates from the various locals, or by the actual votes of the members of the union themselves. The representation of the locals is in some organizations based entirely upon the number of their members, resembling in this respect the representation of the various states in the United States House of Representatives. The majority of unions, however, give the larger locals a less than proportionate representation in the national conventions; for illustration, the Brotherhood of Carpenters gives one vote to