The 1928-1931 amalgamation cases were too numerous to recount but the reasons,
methods, and problems of the typical case can be demonstrated by describing the
amalgamation of the Chicago locals, both stationary and hoisting and portable.
The Chicago situation contained all the elements of the other cases and some unique
ones of its own.
Amalgamation of the Chicago locals. The conditions in Chicago which led to the
revocation of the charter of stationary local No. 3, and its fracturing into a number of
locals in 1910, and the revocation of the charter of hoisting and portable Local 69 in
1914 have been described. When the IUSOE became the IUOE in 1927, there were
five general stationary locals 399, 400, 401, 402, and 629 one mixed local of
stationary engineers and nonconstruction crane operators number 115 and three
construction locals 569, 464, and 42. Locals 399, 400, 401, and 402 had originally
been divided on a geographical basis to cover different sections of the city.
Local 569 was the successor of 69; Local 464 consisted of men engaged in the
paving of streets and had once been a branch of Local 69; 42 was the old steam
shovel and dredge district, headquartered in Chicago but having jurisdiction over
shovel work in the entire north central states area. In Chicago also were a number of
specialized locals of school custodians, fire department engineers, and waterworks
employees, which took no part in the events to be described. A dozen local unions
of the same international in one city, several covering the same territory, were an
open invitation to rivalry and internal strife.
In 1927, Locals 400, 401, 402, and 464 withdrew from the international in protest
over a jurisdictional decision favoring Local 115 and organized themselves as the
Amalgamated Union of Operating Engineers.6 The secessionists were in
communication with Herman M.Comerford who was then involved in his attempt to
establish a rival union. Huddell immediately took steps to combat the secessionist
movement by informing all other labor organizations, employers, and city and state
officials, soliciting and in some cases demanding their support. Local 400 sued for
peace in November 1927 and reentered the union through absorption by Local 399.
Members of Locals 401 and 402 straggled into 399 individually, and by March 1928
the president of the Chicago local joint executive board reported the dual
organization eliminated and practically all the stationary engineers back in the
international. However, Local 464 with its close relationship with the paving contractors
was able to survive independently for three years before it was absorbed by 569.
Simultaneous with the absorption of the secessionists by 399, Local 629 was
absorbing another independent local organizational the International Brotherhood of
Steam and Operating Engineers Firemen, and Oilers. Because of the political turmoil
resulting from the concentration of ambitious ex-officers within the same organizations,
both locals were placed under international supervision in May 1928. The Local
399 supervision established a pattern which was followed in many of the supervisions
of the period. The general officers were not critical of the abilities of the elected
business manager Anton J. Imhahn. In fact he became a general vice-president the
following year. Rather, the concern was with the political turmoil which was preventing
responsible action, leaving the Chicago stationary engineers poorly organized
and still working seven-day weeks. The already elected business manager was
appointed international supervisor and the other officers maintained in a politically
secure position from which they could supposedly administer the affairs of the local in
a responsible manner without political repercussions.
Because the locals involved were stationary did not mean that the turmoil was fairly
peaceful. During 1929, James Fee, supervisor of Local 629, was shot and killed on the
streets of Chicago by an unknown assailant, and the home of Anton J. Imhahn, Local
399 supervisor, was bombed. Hard feelings between Fee and Imhahn may have
delayed the amalgamation of the two largest locals in the IUOE, but, following Fee's
death, Locals 399, 629 and the stationary engineers in Local 115 were consolidated
into Local 399.
Relations between the hoisting and portable locals were equally turbulent. Locals
569 and 464 had been at Odds since 1906 when the latter functioned as a branch of
the former. The chartering of Local 42 in 1927 added a further source of controversy.
Local 569 had controlled all the shovel work in the city since 1912 while the steam
shovel and dredgemen had been held at the outskirts. Local 569 was afflicted with the
usual hoisting and portable reluctance to accept new members. The local president,
Ed Moore, was an influential politician and his influence plus tight control of the
hoisting work within the city gave 569 a secure position which its members were
unwilling to endanger. The rural areas surrounding Chicago were completely un-
organized except for some of the shovelwork, and weak locals in neighboring small
cities were unable to command respect in their jurisdiction.
The separate chartering of the steam shovel locals had never been
considered anything but temporary, and in March 1929 Locals 569 and 42 were
ordered to amalgamate. The existence of Local 42 with shovel jurisdiction over several
states was causing disputes in a number of areas, and it was necessary to absorb the
shovelmen into the existing IUOE locals in each city. The members of Local 42 were
more than willing since the city work offered a higher scale and additional
job opportunities, but the membership of Local 569 opposed thee increased job
competition.
It was one thing to order amalgamation and another to enforce it. Business Agents
William E. Maloney, of Local 569, and John F.Tracy, of Local 42, were in agreement
with the international policy, but the members of 569 obtained an injunction in April
1929 to prevent the amalgamation, revocation of the charter, or interference
with the contracts of employment of the members. Huddell ignored the injunction,
revoking the two existing charters and ordering them to amalgamate as Local 150.
The Chicago Engineers' District Council, as the local joint executive board called itself,
representing 6000 IUOE members in Chicago and headed by an international
vice-president, James W. Graham, sided against Huddell by refusing to unseat
the representatives of 569 in favor of those of 150. For his temerity, Graham was tried
and deposed as general vice-president. The circuit court found Huddell to be in
violation of the injunction, but, in August 1929, before his appeal could be heard, the
now-independent Local 569 withdrew its suit. Maloney had been prevented by the in-
junction from interfering with the employment of the dissenting groups, but he had
contacted the representatives of eastern locals who threatened to shut down the jobs
of any contractor in their locality who failed to hire members of Local 150 in Chicago.
The contractors then sought out Maloney who was therefore not in violation of the
injunction. Deprived of their largest jobs, all but a handful of the members of 569
returned to the IUOE as members of Local 150. Because of the inevitable political
turmoil and the need for leadership responsible. to the policies of the international,
William E. Maloney was appointed supervisor of the new local.
The ex-569 membership soon had more than the Local 42 grievance against
Maloney. Their "more members less work" fears were aroused by the policies of
Maloney who considered the weak locals and nonunion conditions in the territory
surrounding Chicago to be a continual threat to the wages and conditions of the local.
The Chicago contractors were already complaining about the unorganized competition.
The union rates were standard throughout the city of Chicago and Cook County, but
all their attempts to secure jobs in the surrounding territory were defeated by the bids
of nonunion contractors. Not only that, but their position within the city and county was
threatened. The combination of union power and political influence had so far been
sufficient to eliminate nonunion competition within the city and county, but the officials
of those governments were becoming disturbed by the difference between their street
and sewer construction costs and those of the state of Illinois and of surrounding city
governments.
After being approached by the contractors for assistance, Maloney undertook a
campaign to consolidate the weak locals and organize the whole area. The engineers'
scale in Cook County was $1.621/2 per hour, while nonunion engineers outside the
county were working for 75 cents an hour. Maloney offered to furnish engineers in the
unorganized areas for 90 cents per hour and influenced the laborers to make
a similar bargain. Since the larger Chicago contractors were better equipped and
generally more efficient, they could stand the small differential and still underbid the
nonunion contractors. He then (1930) contacted the business agents in the smaller
cities surrounding Chicago and offered them amalgamation with Local 150 with the
business agents continuing as business representatives in their own areas under
Maloney's direction. The membership of the smaller locals were eager for a chance at
the higher Chicago scales and the broadened employment opportunities. The only
opposition was from the original Local 569 membership, but this was stifled by
Maloney's position as international supervisor.
Meantime, Maloney had been engaged since 1927 in an attempt to absorb the
membership and destroy the secessionist Local 464. The local, because of its close
relationship with the paving contractors, was able to operate independently with little
difficulty. Unable to reach the paving engineers through the contractors, Maloney
turned to the teamsters who were closely involved in the street-paving work.
However, the Chicago teamsters were an independent organization unaffiliated with
the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and cared nothing for AFL legitimacy.
They chose to remain neutral. It had become generally accepted that the paving
engineers had jurisdiction over all street work between curb and curb. All the street
work was done in the summertime, and there was little winter employment for
these men. In the winter of 1929-30 members of the paving engineers were engaged
in paving a railroad yard. According to Maloney:
I put up an awful howl that they were taking our work. While it might be road work it
wasn't between curb and curb. The result was that I finally got the teamsters to quit.
They refused to work with them because they were taking someone else's work. That
was in the wintertime when they needed the work and, of course, when I got the job I
didn't put my men on the job. What I done was to take what men they wanted to join
our local from their local and put them on the job so they wouldn't be losing their
jurisdiction. Well, that was a break and then when spring come I was able to force the
contractor to sign an agreement with us.
With that beachhead established, ex-Local 464 voted unanimously on April 19,1930 to
consolidate with Local 150 unanimous except for the business agent who refused to
affiliate.
With complete control of all building, excavation, street and highway work within a
wide area which included parts of three states, Local l50 was soon able to equalize its
scales with those of Chicago with great improvements for most of its membership. The
new men who benefited most were solidly behind Maloney, but the gains for the
old-timers of 569 were never so obvious. The resulting political situation has been
described by Maloney who was, of course, secure in his position as international
supervisor:
So then I started out on the sewer work . . . They were importing Italians from Italy
to do the sewer work and then breaking them in on their drag lines and stuff like that .
. . some of them couldn't speak English. And of course there was always a rebel
group in the local with me . . . There was an Italian, the first meeting he was in, and
there was a fellow sitting along side of him one of these rebel members and he
was getting up on the floor a-talking and he said, "Why this fella is not even a citizen
of the United States. He can't talk English and here he is in this local." So I said,
"What are you talking about?" I was up in the front of the thing. I said, "Who's talking
about whether he can talk English or not?" So he turned around to the fellow and he
said. "Are you a citizen of the United States?" The fellow stood up, raised his right
hand and he said, "I vote for Maloney."
During the years 1927 through 1931, the Chicago story was being repeated in less
spectacular terms throughout the IUOE. Amalgamations took place in New York City,
upstate New York, Boston, the entire state of New Jersey, Washington, D. C.,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Madison, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Indianapolis
Cincinnati, Atlanta, Peoria, St. Louis, Kansas City, Houston, FortWorth, Denver,
San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, and Montreal.
The combination of supervision and amalgamation had an undoubted positive
influence on the economic welfare of the organization as a whole, but it was bitterly
opposed by some of the stronger locals who felt their interests were being sacrificed.