General Trades Union
Encyclopedia
City of New York
The General Trades Union of the City of New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(GTU) was formed in 1833 by delegates from nine craft trades
Craft unionism
Craft unionism refers to organizing a union in a manner that seeks to unify workers in a particular industry along the lines of the particular craft or trade that they work in by class or skill level...
. It was responsible for a surge of labor militancy between 1833 and 1836.
The union evolved over time, first espousing the views of Ely Moore
Ely Moore
Ely Moore was a Jacksonian Congressman from New York.In 1833 Moore performed one of his last speeches. It was a stunning defense of Workers, Unions, and the Free Labor System...
, who was a Tammany
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
politician who made moderate criticisms against aristocrats who were greedy and corrupt. By 1835, the GTU had progressed to the beliefs of John Commerford, who made pointed attacks on “Capital”, which he defined as including not only aristocrats, but also Master Artisans. By this time, the union’s membership consisted of Craft journeymen, and sympathetic small Master Artisans were excluded because of their status.
Acceptance of female members was spotty, with many Male members hoping that their efforts against Female exploitation would result in their being returned to their previous domestic status.
The Union was affiliated with the Locofocos
Locofocos
The Locofocos were a radical faction of the Democratic Party that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s. The faction was originally named the Equal Rights Party, and was created in New York City as a protest against that city’s regular Democratic organization . It contained a mixture of...
, who were against the Second Bank of the United States
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
, but refrained from political activity so as to avoid the kind of demise suffered by the Working Man’s Party in 1829-30.
They staged over 40 strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
and by 1836 had a membership including 66% of New York City’s Journeyman labourers.
The union was disbanded in 1837 as a result of the financial panic of that year, and the subsequent Depression
Depression (economics)
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The GTU of the City and County of Philadelphia was formed in 1834.See also
- Mechanics' Union of Trade AssociationsMechanics' Union of Trade AssociationsThe Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations is a now defunct American trade union founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1827.-Origin:...
- Working Men's PartyWorking Men's PartyThe Working Men's Party, nicknamed the "Workies", founded in 1828, was the first labor union in the United States, located in Philadelphia. They promoted free public education as a way out of poverty. They also demanded a 10–11-hour work period and universal male suffrage. The Working Men's Party...
, - New England Association of Farmers, Mechanics, and Other Working Men
- CommunismCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
- AnarchismAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
- SocialismSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...