12 moments in Cincy labor history
John T. McNay, professor of history at UC - Blue Ash, used a variety of print and web-based sources for this piece as well as the resources of the University Archives and contributions from Kevin, Grace, Andrea T. Kornbluh and Thurman Wenzl.
The Cincinnati labor community is nearly as old as the city itself and very much a part of the fabric that makes up this great American city. The labor movement includes both unions and individual workers taking actions to improve their lot in life. Its history in Cincinnati includes presidential visits, strikes with nationwide implications and, of course, beer.
As historian Steven J. Ross recounts in his book about 19th-century workers in Cincinnati, Workers on the Edge, the city "was the first great industrial metropolis of the Midwest" and was thus at the forefront of labor developments. In more recent years, the fact that President Barack Obama and Labor Secretary Tom Perez would choose to attend the Cincinnati Labor Day Picnic is evidence that the city's role in the national labor movement remains essential.
Through organizing, through education, through negotiations, and occasionally through strikes, the labor movement in the Cincinnati region has continually fought for respect, security, and fair compensation for workers.
Here are a dozen important moments in the labor movement in Cincinnati – a sampling of the richness and diversity of a heritage that we all share.
1819 – The Society of Carpenters and Joiners was established in Cincinnati the same year the young community was incorporated as a city.
1877 – The Great Railway Strike of 1877 started as a handful of railroad workers who refused to have their pay reduced in West Virginia. The strike spread across the country, reflecting unhappiness many workers felt with their pay and conditions. Cincinnati rail workers walked off the job in support. When the militia was called to the city's train depot, a crowd of thousands of citizens followed them "hissing, groaning, shouting" their criticism. Later, when firemen were called out to fight a fire set by the strikers, the crowd cut their hoses. The unrest in Cincinnati stopped only when the railroads agreed to rescind their pay cuts.
1879 – The nation's first brewery workers union was established in Cincinnati. Inspired by the Great Railway Strike, brewery workers in the city determined that they, too, would have their own union. Mostly German, it was initially known as "Brauer Gesellen Union."
1886 – The fight for the eight-hour day had spread across the country and came to Cincinnati with enthusiasm. An estimated 32,000 workers walked off the job here to make the point that their lives should not be crushed by unreasonably long hours at work.
1886 – Central Labor Council established – the predecessor organization to today's Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, which continues to meet regularly. For decades, the council produced a newspaper called The Chronicle.
1891 – President William McKinley spoke to a gathering of Cincinnati labor organizations on Labor Day: "The triumphs of American labor cannot easily be recited nor its trophies enumerated. But, great as they have been in the past, I am fully convinced there are richer rewards in store for labor in the future."
1921 – In Newport, the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers struck at the Andrews Steel Co. and with remarkable support from the community struggled for better conditions, including an end to work-weeks of more than 80 hours.
1928 – Cincinnatian George M. Harrison became grand president of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks at the age of 33. Under his leadership, the union was based in the Queen City and, by the 1960s, grew to become the largest white-collar union in the world with over 320,000 members as the International Brotherhood of Railway, Steamship, and Airline Clerks.
1936 – President Franklin Roosevelt visited the city in October running for re-election and in the wake of the passage of the 1935 Wagner Act, which guaranteed the right to join unions, bargain collectively and strike. Roosevelt spoke to Cincinnatians about their security. "By security, I do not mean just a living, just having enough to eat and a place to sleep. I mean a living according to the American standard – a standard which provides a decent diet, a decent education and a reasonable amount of leisure and recreation."
1969 – The IUE-CWA waged a long nationwide strike against GE, including the local facilities, and won, finally defeating the negotiating tactics of GE executive Lemuel Bouleware. "Boulewarism" had become a national byword in many industries for what the unions considered a failure to negotiate in good faith.
1971 – The UAW went on strike at the Norwood GM plant and stayed out 174 days, the longest walkout in GM history up to that time.
2011 – Senate Bill 5, which would have restricted the bargaining rights of public workers, was repealed by referendum. Public and private unions joined with faith groups and progressive organizations in a victory for the labor community in Cincinnati and Ohio. Queen City unions contributed to the drive through large rallies, phone banking and door-to-door campaiging, demonstrating the continued strength of the movement in the city.