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Utah Labor Before Statehood
Utah Labor Before Statehood
by J. Kenneth Davies
Lloyd G. Reynolds in his popular text Labor Economics and Labor Relations, in discussing the development of unions, avers that unionism did not first develop among the exploited or the industrial worker, but among the "skilled and prosperous workers."
The Utah experience in some measure points to the validity of this conclusion and serves as an interesting case history in the development of unionism within a geographical area.
When the Mormon pioneers entered the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847, they presented themselves as a unique people, engaged in an unusual experiment. Here was a religiously motivated people, tried and tested by persecution and mobbings, with close to an absolute faith in the leadership of Brigham Young and other leaders of the Mormon Church. Here was a people who when called to leave family and home would travel to the ends of the earth as missionaries, as colonizers, or as gold miners. Here was a people "called" to make the "desert blossom as the rose," to establish a "commonwealth" perfecting it for delivery into the hands of Deity. Here was a "Royal Priesthood" composed of almost all the adult male members of the church.
The pioneers of the first few years of Utah's history were an agrarian people with a sprinkling of professionals, merchants, and craftsmen. In 1850 there were just 14 manufacturing establishments employing 51 people, out of a population of 11,000. In that same year there were 3,125 gainfully employed persons over 15 years of age. Of this number 1,649 were in agriculture, while there were 828 persons engaged in commerce, trade, manufactures, mechanic arts, and mining. Twenty-six residents listed themselves in the professions, and 620 indicated other types of employment. Their heritage was mostly from New England and other Northern States, though there were some Southerners and a few of foreign birth. Literacy was high; the figure for the 1850 census was 99.75 per cent. Utah was close to California and Oregon in its level of wages and the cost of living.
Little is yet known of the extent of the tradition of unionism which was brought to Utah by the pioneers. However, a number of guilds — the tailors, smiths, boot and harness makers, coopers, and wagon makers — had previously been established in Nauvoo, from whence the Mormons had just been driven. The diary of an early pioneer stonecutter, Charles Lambert, a convert to the church from England, shows his membership in England in a "Mechanicks Institute" and an "Opperative Society." While still in England he participated, according to his diary, in at least one strike for wages.
The first known labor union in Utah was established before February 24, 1852, for on that date Brigham Young offered a prayer at the first meeting of the Printers Union in Salt Lake. This was a most unique labor union, motivated more strongly by religious ideals than economic goals. Considering the "uplift" nature of much of the union movement contemporary to that period, however, it was not as strange as it would seem today. Nevertheless, it was probably the only union in the world to open the union meeting with a song entitled "Come All Ye Sons of Zion"; whose leader, Ariah Brower, would deliver an address to those who "have an interest in the great and glorious work of building up the Kingdom of God on the earth"; and whose members would not only admit but also strongly accept the leadership of the religious leader, Brigham Young, in union affairs. The same union leader said "may they [church leaders] ever enjoy the light of the Spirit of Truth and Wisdom, that by their skillful direction, we may be enabled to employ our time, talents, profession, substance and lives in a proper manner." At this same meeting toasts were made to "The Kingdom of God," "The First Presidency," "The Twelve Apostles," "Our Martyred Seer," and "The Body Typography." Heber C. Kimball, a counselor to Brigham Young, remarked that "There was nothing... which was inappropriate or unbecoming this occasion, on the contrary, order, simplicity, harmony, peace and the Spirit of God eminently characterized and pervaded the whole assembly."
The next year a union leader, James Bond, in addressing the Printers Union said, "Thus may we hope to acquit ourselves as skillful workmen, under our great head and Master Jesus Christ, directed by his Foreman [Brigham Young] on earth."
The following year, the foreman of the union at the anniversary of the Typographical Society of Deseret, said that the job of the Society's members was to "prepare a people for the Millennium." He referred to "our Missionary operations" and attacked Mormon-haters. The reporter observed that "The Spirit of God was in our midst."
There can be little question of the unique nature of this society of printers. The printers' organization was quite active, for recorded in the "Journal History" are references to a "Printers' Festival" on January 22, 1853; a picnic for the "Printers of Deseret" on March 19,1853; an address to the "Typographical Society of Deseret" on March 7, 1854; and the first annual festival of the "Typographical Association of Deseret" on February 2, 1855. References are made to other meetings and parties as late as 1869 when the Deseret Typographical Association, Local No. 115, by now affiliated with the international body, took its place in the Fourth of July parade. The Local received its national charter on August 3, 1868, and has remained in continuous existence.
This Printers' Union demonstrates the evolutionary character of many unions of the period. The business unionism of the later decades of the nineteenth century often found its roots in the reform or uplift unionism of the first half of that century. However, as unionization proceeded, it was found necessary with the expansion of the markets to become affiliated with national organizations. This the printers accomplished in 1868. For Utah unions this trend proved troublesome, for the religious motivation and controls would now suffer as the local union merged its interests with that of the national union. Local religious leaders would less and less be able to influence the decisions and actions of the union, naturally creating some apprehension on the part of the church leaders.
Early in the history of Utah it was recognized that disputes would arise between workers and their employers, and that some means of peaceful solution was essential. In 1852 the legislative assembly established a system whereby the mechanics of each county would elect 12 "Select men as Referees" to resolve disputes brought to them by mutual consent. While the decision of the arbitration board was to be final, it was not intended to take the place of the judicial power of the territory.
This Mormon arbitration was not originated in Utah, but found its roots earlier in the ecclesiastical system of the Mormon Church. A non- Mormon treatment of this system was given in 1886 by D. D. Lum. According to Lum, the church organization set up in 1834 to handle disputes among church members was essentially a system of arbitration with various levels of appeal. Should a dispute arise, the church members by mutual consent would take their dispute to the "Home Teachers." Appeal could then be made to the bishop and his counselors. The next step was an appeal to the stake high council and stake presidency, a council composed of 15 men. Final appeal could be made to the First Presidency of the church.
While the Territory of Utah established an arbitration system by law, the church system functioned independently. Lum quotes a letter from a church member of the period describing the church system and indicating its use in 1886.
The unique interests of the workers other than the typographers were recognized rather early. At the Fourth of July parade of 1861, 30 or 40 groups of workers participated by lining up according to their trades.
It is not known whether or not these workers were organized into formal societies or guilds at that time, but the parade formation indicated a group consciousness which could easily evolve into formalized trade unions. The banners carried by some of the groups would seem to indicate some organization and union loyalty. The tin and coppersmiths carried a sign "True to the Constitution and Union." The carpenters and joiners broadcast that "Union is Strength." The coopers claimed that "United In These Bands We Stand." The painters and glaziers had emblazoned "United Painters," while the boot and shoemakers' banner read "May the True Sons of St. Crispin ever feel an interest in the soles of all mankind" and "May their craft ever be united, and true merit ever be appreciated." The Typographical Association members announced themselves as "The Printers of Deseret."
Each of the groups of workers was led by an outstanding leader of that trade. These men also appeared to be rather prominent in the church. The great bulk of them held either the office of high priest, seventy, or elder. Most of them came from the British Isles, with a smattering from the Northern States, both areas figuring prominently in the development of unionism.
Workers were organized according to "Guilds or Trade Associations" in the Fourth of July parade in 1865. 18 Again in the parade of 1869, it was reported that the "mechanics union" took part, as well as the Deseret Typographical Union Number 115 and many other groups carrying banners.
The 1860's were trying years for labor. The Deseret News editorial of August 3, 1864, referring to the high prices of that year, inferred that a strike was imminent. The upshot was a convention called under church leadership to do something about prices. At this meeting labor representatives were allowed to express themselves, and out of it came a system of price regulation which evidently calmed the troubled waters. On February 1 of the following year, the newspaper reported that a sufficiency of breadstuff's protected laborers and mechanics from injustice and that conditions of work were improving.
In 1866 high wages were a common complaint. William W. Riter, recently-returned missionary, in a letter sent to his former field of missionary labor, wrote that carpenters were earning from $5.00 to $10.00 a day depending on their abilities. It was felt that high wages made it difficult for Utah's production to compete with goods from other states and territories. This inability to compete meant that the people would purchase goods from Gentile importers, thus retarding the economic development of Mormondom. By 1869 there was so much concern that the School of the Prophet, took action to induce the mechanics to agree to a lowering of their wages. Brigham Young and other church leaders took an active interest in this movement.
During this pioneering period when public works were constructed, workers were secured by requisitioning men through their respective bishops; official assignments were frequently made from the pulpit in Sunday meetings. This meant that the church played an important part in directing the work force.
On June 6, 1877, the members of the St. George United Order organized. Under articles of agreement, the St. George Builders' Union — representing the carpenters, joiners, cabinetmakers, turners, wagon makers, coopers, painters, masons, stone cutters, plasterers, quarrymen, brick and adobe makers, lime burners, and tending laborers — formed to "promote our interests and those of the community." Wages were to be fixed by the union. The disposition of any surplus of union receipts was to be made as directed by the union and the priesthood, no member having any claim to them. Only church members were allowed membership in the union, and all were required to sign the articles of agreement. Members could be expelled by a two-thirds vote for "acts detrimental or prejudicial to the interests of the union." The presiding officer (superintendent) was assisted by foremen over each department of work. All were elected to office by the union membership and were to hold office as long as willing to serve or until rejected by a two-thirds vote.
Each member agreed to allow the union officers to negotiate all contracts for work and to be controlled by the officers in his labor. Meetings were to be held as called, except that one was scheduled for June 1 of each year for the purpose of sustaining the leaders. Any five members could require the superintendent to call a meeting. The work day was held at 10 hours. Wages were to be credited for overtime — but evidently at no premium rates. Intoxicating beverages were not to be consumed on the job. Most of the leaders in this organization were men who had been
prominent in the construction of the church tabernacle and temple in St. George. Bishop Miles P. Romney, the son of Miles Romney, the general superintendent of construction on these church buildings, was elected the first superintendent of the union.
It is not known how long the St. George Builders' Union remained in existence, but a news report in April of 1878 indicates that it had the contract for erecting a two-story building on a cotton farm 10 miles east of St. George. It is known that the local church leaders were actively interested in this development, for without their leadership the union could not have been formed by the United Order. At a stake conference of July 8, 1877, a counselor to the stake president, Henry Eyring, reported on the progress of the mechanics in uniting and felt that the farmers would so unite in the near future.
The Silver Reef mining development nearby was booming at this time, and the union of craftsmen and proposed union of farmers could have been sponsored in order to have the advantage of a union in dealing with that Gentile community.
The famous Silver Reef mining area was developed toward the end of the 1870's. A number of claims had come under the ownership and control of the Stormont Mining and Milling Company, an eastern corporation. In 1880 the company announced a cut in dividends, and the stockholders insisted on wage cuts. The miners organized a union, probably local, with about 300 members. When, on February 1, 1881, the miners were given notice of a cut in wages, they went on strike. After a month approximately 60 men, under the now obscure Jim Fitzsimmons, ordered the head of the company's operations at Silver Reef, Colonel W. I. Allen, to leave the camp. The exiled company head journeyed to Beaver, where the federal district court was situated, and asked for an investigation. The authorities acted, and upon the findings of a federal grand jury indictments were issued against some 40 miners, and orders for their arrest were given to U.S. Marshal Arthur Pratt. Pratt called on Sheriff A. P. Hardy, of Washington County, to assist with a posse. A force of 25 men, mostly Mormons, was raised including county attorney and church leader, Anthony W. Ivins. Thirty-six men were placed under arrest. This action broke the strike, and the mines reopened with inexperienced workers at less pay.
The 1870's mark a breaking point in the relationship between worker organizations and the Mormon Church. There is no reason to believe that there was any strong antagonism to that point. In fact the evidence would seem to indicate a compatibility. Previous to the entry of railroads and miners, the population was very homogeneous, practically all Mormon, and the church leaders maintained considerable influence over the fledgling labor organizations. The imminent strike in 1864 for higher wages induced by high prices had been averted by the intervention of church leaders. The Gentile invasion was yet to come, and there was still confidence that Utah was a sanctuary for church members who largely came from the oppressed agricultural and industrial classes. The church leaders, expressing themselves through the Deseret News, were certain that in the church and its politico-economic institutions was the answer to the social and economic evils which had become a part of capitalism.
However, with the 1870's railroad workers and miners came in seemingly never ending waves. These workers had a great propensity to organize into unions — the railroad workers into craft-oriented unions and the miners into industrial-type unions. In addition other workers were attracted to the territory not by religion but by the high wages which prevailed. These workers were largely Gentile, while the earlier immigrants had been mostly Mormons. The Gentiles congregated in Salt Lake City, while the Mormons dispersed to take up land. The great relative increase in non-Mormons resulted in a dilution of church influence which culminated in the loss by Mormons of political control of Salt Lake City and County in the early 1890's.
The polyglot Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, which formed nationally in 1869, probably got its start in Utah in the late 1870's or early 1880's. By 1888 membership in this federation of unions reached a peak of about 1,100 or 1,200 in the territory.
In its early years the Knights were a secret organization. The onus of this secrecy was to provide problems for the relationship between the Mormon Church and unionism. It must be remembered that the Mormon leaders were fighting to preserve the church against the onslaught of anti- Mormon politicians, clergymen, and reformers who were dedicated to the destruction of the church and its influence. "Outsiders" were feared. Early in 1886 the editors of the Deseret News advised the Saints not to become members of any secret society or "worldly entanglements" including the Knights. Later that year the Knights retaliated by passing a resolution excluding from membership anyone who believed in plural marriage, which, of course, eliminated the Mormons. The Deseret News reacted saying,
A reply was made in the same issue of the paper (an indication that someone working for the News had access to the editorial before publication) . The reply was signed anonymously by "Vindex" who averred that there were many church members associated with the Knights. He went on to enunciate the principles of the Knights, many of which the Deseret News supported in reply. In addition Vindex informed the editors that forces within the Knights had been able to eliminate the anti-Mormon resolution, an evidence of the probable numerical importance of active Mormons in that organization.
While the waters were calmed, the church leaders undoubtedly remained skeptical of this outside organization with which many church members had become associated and over which they had little direct influence.
At the same time that the Knights began their activity, the carpenters in Salt Lake City organized a local of the Amalgamated Carpenters, with international headquarters in Manchester, England. Very little is known about this union, but it is probable that its members, at least in part, were convert immigrants from the British Isles. Thousands of Saints had immigrated to Utah from Britain in the preceding decade, and it is highly probable that some of these were already union men.
Continued church influence in outlying areas is shown by the action of the coal miners of Pleasant Valley in the southeastern corner of Utah County in 1883. They engaged in a strike, indicating some form of organization. A. O. Smoot, the stake president of the area, visited the valley and induced the men to return to work. Several "hostile strikers" were arrested for "intimidating their fellows." It is possible that the strikers, at least in large numbers, were church members over whom Smoot presided. This would account for his influence in settling the strike. The feeling between Gentiles and Mormons was antagonistic at this time, and it is doubtful that Smoot could have induced other than church members to return to work.
The plasterers of Salt Lake were organized into a union by 1884. 47 In that same year the plumbers of the city engaged in a strike, evidence of the fact they had been previously organized. The brewery workers and cigar makers of the city were organized sometime prior to 1887. The Typographical Union, which had continued its existence in Salt Lake City, had made sufficient headway in Ogden by 1887 to organize a local there.
By 1889 unionization had developed to the extent that there were 20 local unions in Salt Lake City, 14 of which were organized into a central body since the Federated Trades had deserted the Knights as they sank into oblivion. All union members were not satisfied with this conglomeration of locals, and in January of 1893 the Building Trades Congress was organized to handle the interests of construction workers more effectively. It was started at a most unpropitious time, since the nationwide depression of 1893-94 hit Utah full force. In December of 1894 the Congress was dissolved and along with it the Federated Trades which had remained in existence.
During this period the railroaders of the state became organized into the four Railroad Brotherhoods. The first local, Perseverance Lodge No. 68 of the Brotherhood of Firemen, was organized in 1882 at Ogden, Utah's rail center. By 1894 locals of all four independent Brotherhoods had been established in the territory. In that same year the Brotherhoods unfortunately became involved in a strike in sympathy with Eugene V. Debs's American Railway Union which was engaged in an abortive nationwide strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company. However, they were defeated.
In a number of areas during the 1880's, workers succeeded in reducing the hours of work from 10 to 8, a highly progressive step for that day. However, it was easy to undercut the agreements for such hours in periods of considerable business activity. By 1892 sufficient undercutting had taken place that the unions using political influence were able to have an ordinance outlawing work in excess of eight hours passed by the Salt Lake City Commission. However, the mayor vetoed the ordinance, and the workers were left without effective relief.
The forces existing to prevent a complete rupture between the Mormon Church and Utah unions can be seen in the Salt Lake County elections in August of 1890. In the election of that year there were three political parties — the Peoples party (Mormon), the Liberal party (anti-Mormon), and the Independent Workingmen's party. Whitney reports that before the February elections of that year, the Liberals, to obtain the support of the workingmen, had promised Salt Lake City work to Salt Lake City workmen, but had not followed through, giving jobs instead to imported "hobos." The Independent Workingmen were reported to have decided to put up an independent ticket for the Salt Lake County offices, to be voted on in August. The workers waited for the Liberal party convention, but were dissatisfied with the nominees. On July 25, 1890, they formed an organization, adopted a platform, passed resolutions, and nominated a ticket. On the following day the Peoples party met in convention and, with only one exception, accepted the ticket of the Workingmen's party. However, the alliance was unable to prevent the Liberals from taking most of the county offices. This was the only known formation of a political party by the unions of Utah. In name, at least, there was a kinship to the Workingmen's party of the early 1800's, America's first laborsponsored political party. Its demise was in keeping with the non-political orientation of the American Federation of Labor which came to dominate the labor movement in both Utah and the nation.
While the political difficulties of 1890 created a partnership between the Mormon Church and unionism, it was a tenuous one. The conflict of ideologies which are apparently inherent to each was too strong. Consistently the church leaders had been opposed to compulsory unionism while the majority of union members and leaders were convinced that they needed this weapon to remain in existence. In addition the Mormons, long-time victims of mob violence, were distrustful of union strikes which, in the late 1880's, ended in violence and destruction. However, while they disliked strikes, union members and leaders were just as convinced that strikes were sometimes a necessary display of the power of the union. Finally the church and its leaders, both general and local, exercised not only spiritual leadership but in addition were intimately involved in the economic affairs of the community as employers of labor. As such they could not help but be involved in differences of opinion with workers over wages, hours, and working conditions. The unions, representing the workers, thus came into direct conflict with church leaders. To the latter it appeared that this conflict was rebellion against constituted church authority. Such rebellion had historically resulted in mass apostasy from the church, something the leaders could not look upon without concern. On the other hand American labor leaders in general had become convinced that unions must be independent from ideological controls exercised by both political and religious leaders.
Utah achieved statehood in 1896, and with its birth as a state came a rebirth of unionism which had been almost destroyed by the onslaught of the depression in 1893-94. The decimation of unions had followed the national pattern, though local union leaders may have blamed the Mormon Church. With each depression unionism had been weakened while with each period of prosperity, it had generally prospered. Utah proved to be no exception. Utah unionism, with help from the American Federation of Labor, Railroad Brotherhoods, and several internationals, was to bounce back with renewed vigor.
Early Pioneer Day Parade with union participation. The signs on the three
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