Philip Murray
Encyclopedia
Philip Murray was a Scottish
born steelworker and an American
labor
leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee
(SWOC), the first president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), and the longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations
(CIO).
coal miner and union leader who emigrated from Ireland
to Scotland prior to his son's birth. His mother, the former Rose Layden, was a cotton mill
weaver
. Rose died when Philip was only two years old. William Murray remarried and had eight more children. Philip was the oldest boy, and after only a few years of public education he went to work in the coal mines at age 10 to help support the family.
In 1902, Philip and his father emigrated to the United States. They settled in southwestern Pennsylvania
and obtained jobs as coal miners. Young Philip Murray was paid for each ton of coal he mined. By the following year they had saved enough money to bring the rest of the family to America.
had purposefully altered and lowered the weight of the coal he had mined, Murray punched the man and was fired. The other coal miners went on strike
to demand his reinstatement. In response, the company threw Murray's family out of their company-owned home. Murray was shocked and angered by the company's actions. Convinced that unions were the only means workers had of protecting their interests, Murray became an avid and lifelong unionist.
In 1905, Murray was elected president of the UMWA local in Horning, Pennsylvania
. Determined to become the best local president he could, he enrolled in an 18-month correspondence course in mathematics
and science
. Although he had little formal education, he completed the course in just six months.
Murray married Elizabeth Lavery (the daughter of a miner killed in a mine accident) on September 7, 1910. They adopted a son.
In 1911, Murray became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Murray, who favored cooperation with management rather than militancy, came to the attention of UMWA President John P. White
. After White won the UMWA presidency in 1912, he appointed Murray to a vacant seat on the UMWA executive board. White then backed Murray in 1916 when Murray ran for president of UMWA District 5.
Despite his relative conservatism, however, Murray became a close associate of John L. Lewis
. He supported Lewis's bid to become a UMWA vice president in 1917, and UMWA president in 1920. In return, Lewis appointed Murray to the position of vice president. Murray became a strong supporter of and assistant to Lewis. Lewis handled relations with employers and politicians, and Murray handled relationships with UMWA members.
Murray strongly supported America's entry into World War I
, and worked closely with government officials and employers to ensure that labor cooperated in the war effort
. President Woodrow Wilson
appointed him to the Pennsylvania regional panel of the National War Labor Board
and the National Bituminous Coal Production Committee.
In the 1930s, Murray continued to serve on government committees. When General
Hugh S. Johnson
formed the Labor and Industrial Advisory Board in 1933 to implement Section 7(a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act
, Murray agreed to serve on the new body. He played a key role in writing the "Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935" (also known as the Guffey-Snyder Act; P.L. 402, 74th Cong., 1st sess.), later struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Carter v. Carter Coal Co., 298 U.S. 238
(1936).
When the American Federation of Labor
ejected the unions which composed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1936, Murray supported Lewis' decision to form a new labor organization. Murray was named a vice president in the new CIO. When the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) was formed in Pittsburgh
, Pennsylvania
on June 7, 1936, Lewis named Murray its chair. Murray oversaw a $500,000 budget and 36 (eventually 200) organizers.
Under Murray, SWOC made a dramatic breakthrough when, on March 2, 1937, it signed a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel
. SWOC infiltrated the employer's company unions and turned them against the company, foregoing a traditional organizing campaign.
Murray and SWOC suffered their first defeat when SWOC attempted to organize workers laboring for "Little Steel"—Republic Steel
, Bethlehem Steel
, Youngstown Sheet and Tube
, National Steel
, Inland Steel
and American Rolling Mills
. Employers utilized violence, espionage and large numbers of strikebreakers to defeat the organizing drive.
Murray was elected second vice president of the CIO at its first formal convention in November 1938.
Organizing slowed after the initial burst of success at U.S. Steel. By 1939, SWOC was in debt by $2.5 million. Little Steel continued to strongly resist unionization, and SWOC made few inroads at mills in the Deep South
.
and employer resistance had stalled the influx of new members. Lewis soon broke with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
over the need for war with Germany
and Japan
, and with his CIO colleagues over the need for government protection (as embodied by the National Labor Relations Act
). Lewis endorsed Wendell Wilkie for president just 11 days before the 1940 presidential election, and threatened to resign as CIO president if union members did not follow him. They did not. Despite a Lewis draft at the CIO convention two weeks after the November election, Sidney Hillman
and other CIO leaders pushed for a Murray candidacy. Although Murray had supported Roosevelt in the election, Lewis placed Murray's name into nomination himself. Philip Murray was elected president of the CIO on November 22, 1940.
The victories at Little Steel led Murray to transform SWOC into a real union. SWOC was disbanded at a convention held in Cleveland, Ohio
, on May 22, 1942. A new organization, the United Steel Workers of America (USWA), was founded. Murray was USWA's first president. David J. McDonald
, Murray's long-time aide at SWOC, became the number two man at SWOC, often running the union's day-to-day business. Together, they ran the union in as dictatorial fashion as possible. All dues flowed to the national office in Pittsburgh, and the right to negotiate contracts and conduct job actions was strictly controlled. But such actions were justified, Murray argued, in light of the vigorous resistance to the union displayed by steelmakers.
. He quickly adopted a "no strike pledge" on behalf of all CIO unions, and supported (with Walter Reuther
) the establishment of industry union councils to promote increased production, quicker retooling and to overcome design problems.
To help overcome racial tensions in war plants, Murray established the CIO Committee to Abolish Racial Discrimination (CARD). CARD quickly undertook a discrimination-awareness education program which proved somewhat effective (at least outside the South). In 1943, Murray advocated making the Fair Employment Practice Commission a permanent government agency.
Murray also served on the National Defense Mediation Board and a number of other government agencies to help promote the war effort.
Murray had another fight on his hands in 1947 when the Congress enacted the Taft-Hartley Act
over Truman's veto. Murray had established a permanent political action committee
(PAC) within the CIO in 1942. But the CIO's political efforts were only marginally effective. Republicans
successfully passed the Taft-Hartley act despite Murray's and the CIO's vigorous opposition.
After passage of the act, Murray and the CIO were indicted for violating Sec. 304 of the Act, which forbade the expenditure of union funds in federal political campaigns. The CIO had endorsed a candidate for Congress in Maryland
, and the United States Department of Justice
prosecuted Murray and the CIO for advertising the fact on the front page of "The CIO News." But in United States v. Congress of Industrial Organizations
, 335 U.S. 106
(1948), the Supreme Court overturned the indictment—finding that the publicizing of endorsements was not an "expenditure" under the Act.
Murray also refused to sign the required anti-communist affidavit on the grounds that it was demeaning. Nevertheless, Murray was no radical, and he aggressively purged the CIO of 11 left-leaning unions in 1949 and 1950.
Murray led the USWA through a second successful strike in 1949. This time the issue was whether employers should bear the entire cost of workers' health benefits and pensions. Once more, the union and the employers sought the assistance of a federal fact-finding board. But the board's recommendations did not prevent a strike from beginning on October 1, 1949. The strike lasted 31 days. Murray won a doubling of the pension benefit, with the employer continuing to pick up the entire cost. The USWA, meanwhile, agreed to pick up only half the cost of a new health and insurance benefit.
. In November 1951, USWA negotiators asked U.S. Steel for a large 30-cent wage increase, improvement in fringe benefits, and a closed shop
. The company responded that it could not agree without prior government approval of commensurate price increases.
President Truman referred the dispute to the federal Wage Stabilization Board
(WSB). Murray agreed to delay a planned January 1, 1952, walkout until the Board had made its recommendation. In March, the WSB recommended a 16.5 cent wage increase. But U.S. Steel and other steelmakers lobbied Congress, the Pentagon and the defense industry heavily, opposing any wage hike. Congress threatened to overturn any Board agreement. But Truman refused to invoke the Taft-Hartley's cooling-off provisions or seek an injunction against the Steelworkers.
Instead, on March 8, 1952, President Truman nationalized the American steel industry.
The steelmakers sought an injunction preventing the seizure. After a preliminary hearing went in the government's favor, a federal district court judge enjoined the President from seizing the steel mills. The full Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
, sitting en banc
, granted a stay of the injunction pending a decision by the Supreme Court to hear the case. A meeting between USWA and the steelmakers at the White House
on May 3 nearly ended in agreement on a tentative contract, but the Supreme Court accepted the case and the steelmakers backed out of the pact. On June 2, 1952, Justice Hugo Black
, writing for a 6-3 majority in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
, 343 U.S. 579
(1952), ruled that the president lacked the authority to seize the steel mills.
The government returned the mills to their owners hours later, and the Steelworkers struck. The strike lasted 51 days. But the CIO, lacking a strike fund, was unable to help the Steelworkers. John L. Lewis triumphantly offered the union a $10 million line of credit, which humiliated Murray. Steel supplies finally began to dwindle, and Murray feared the public opinion might turn against the union for impeding the war effort. Truman began preparations to draft the steelworkers into the military under the provisions of Section 18 of the Selective Service Act
of 1948, furthering weakening Murray's resolve to see the strike through.
An agreement was reached on July 24, 1952. The Steelworkers achieved only a limited version of the closed shop. Wages and benefits rose, although not as much as the WSB had recommended. But Murray and others considered the strike a terrific win. They had avoided the crippling imposition of a Taft-Hartley injunction and the fines which would accompany it, and Truman had gone to significant lengths to support the union.
won the presidential election, and Republicans swept to majorities in both houses of Congress. It was another defeat for the CIO PAC.
Philip Murray died in San Francisco on November 9, 1952, of a heart attack. Walter Reuther succeeded him as president of the CIO. David McDonald succeeded him as president of the Steelworkers.
He is buried in Saint Anne's Cemetery in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh (Castle Shannon, PA).
, and served on its executive committee. He also was a member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross
.
Philip Murray wrote one book in his lifetime. Organized Labor and Production was published in 1940.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
born steelworker and an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labor
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee
Steel Workers Organizing Committee
The Steel Workers Organizing Committee was one of two precursor labor organizations to the United Steelworkers. It was formed by the CIO in 1936. It disbanded in 1942 to become the United Steel Workers of America....
(SWOC), the first president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), and the longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
(CIO).
Early life
Philip Murray was born in Blantyre, Scotland, in 1886. His father, William Murray, was a CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
coal miner and union leader who emigrated from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to Scotland prior to his son's birth. His mother, the former Rose Layden, was a cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
weaver
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
. Rose died when Philip was only two years old. William Murray remarried and had eight more children. Philip was the oldest boy, and after only a few years of public education he went to work in the coal mines at age 10 to help support the family.
In 1902, Philip and his father emigrated to the United States. They settled in southwestern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and obtained jobs as coal miners. Young Philip Murray was paid for each ton of coal he mined. By the following year they had saved enough money to bring the rest of the family to America.
Career in the United Mine Workers
Murray was working in a coal mine in 1904 when he became involved in the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Feeling that a managerManagement
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
had purposefully altered and lowered the weight of the coal he had mined, Murray punched the man and was fired. The other coal miners went on strike
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...
to demand his reinstatement. In response, the company threw Murray's family out of their company-owned home. Murray was shocked and angered by the company's actions. Convinced that unions were the only means workers had of protecting their interests, Murray became an avid and lifelong unionist.
In 1905, Murray was elected president of the UMWA local in Horning, Pennsylvania
Horning, Pennsylvania
Horning, Pennsylvania is an unincorprated town in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was the residence of miners of the Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad and Coal Company #4 Mine, which had a racially integrated workforce, unusual in that era....
. Determined to become the best local president he could, he enrolled in an 18-month correspondence course in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
. Although he had little formal education, he completed the course in just six months.
Murray married Elizabeth Lavery (the daughter of a miner killed in a mine accident) on September 7, 1910. They adopted a son.
In 1911, Murray became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Murray, who favored cooperation with management rather than militancy, came to the attention of UMWA President John P. White
John White (unionist)
John Phillip White was a miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1911 to 1917....
. After White won the UMWA presidency in 1912, he appointed Murray to a vacant seat on the UMWA executive board. White then backed Murray in 1916 when Murray ran for president of UMWA District 5.
Despite his relative conservatism, however, Murray became a close associate of John L. Lewis
John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960...
. He supported Lewis's bid to become a UMWA vice president in 1917, and UMWA president in 1920. In return, Lewis appointed Murray to the position of vice president. Murray became a strong supporter of and assistant to Lewis. Lewis handled relations with employers and politicians, and Murray handled relationships with UMWA members.
Murray strongly supported America's entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and worked closely with government officials and employers to ensure that labor cooperated in the war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
. President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
appointed him to the Pennsylvania regional panel of the National War Labor Board
National War Labor Board
The National War Labor Board was a federal agency created in April 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson. It was composed of twelve representatives from business and labor, and co-chaired by Former President William Howard Taft. Its purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in...
and the National Bituminous Coal Production Committee.
In the 1930s, Murray continued to serve on government committees. When General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Hugh S. Johnson
Hugh Samuel Johnson
Hugh Samuel "Iron Pants" Johnson American Army officer, businessman, speech writer, government official and newspaper columnist. He is best known as a member of the Brain Trust of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932-34. He wrote numerous speeches for FDR and helped plan the New Deal...
formed the Labor and Industrial Advisory Board in 1933 to implement Section 7(a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act
National Industrial Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act , officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 (Ch. 90, 48 Stat. 195, formerly...
, Murray agreed to serve on the new body. He played a key role in writing the "Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935" (also known as the Guffey-Snyder Act; P.L. 402, 74th Cong., 1st sess.), later struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Carter v. Carter Coal Co., 298 U.S. 238
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1936).
SWOC
Philip Murray was active both in the CIO and in SWOC, the steel worker organizing project.When the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
ejected the unions which composed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1936, Murray supported Lewis' decision to form a new labor organization. Murray was named a vice president in the new CIO. When the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) was formed in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
on June 7, 1936, Lewis named Murray its chair. Murray oversaw a $500,000 budget and 36 (eventually 200) organizers.
Under Murray, SWOC made a dramatic breakthrough when, on March 2, 1937, it signed a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
. SWOC infiltrated the employer's company unions and turned them against the company, foregoing a traditional organizing campaign.
Murray and SWOC suffered their first defeat when SWOC attempted to organize workers laboring for "Little Steel"—Republic Steel
Republic Steel
Republic Steel was once the third largest steel producer in the United States.The Republic Iron and Steel Company was founded in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899....
, Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
, Youngstown Sheet and Tube
Youngstown Sheet and Tube
The Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company, based in Youngstown, Ohio, was one of the largest steel manufacturers in the world. Officially, the company was created on November 23, 1900, when Articles of Incorporation of the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company were filed with the Ohio Secretary...
, National Steel
National Steel Corporation
The National Steel Corporation was a major American steel producer. It was founded in 1929 through a merger arranged by Weirton Steel with some properties of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation and M.A. Hanna Company. Despite a difficult market in Depression-setting 1930, the company reported USD...
, Inland Steel
Inland Steel Company
The Inland Steel Company was a U.S. steel company active in 1893-1998. Its history as an independent firm thus spanned much of the 20th century. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois at the landmark Inland Steel Building....
and American Rolling Mills
AK Steel Holding
AK Steel Corporation is an American steel company whose predecessor, Armco, was founded in 1899 in Middletown, Ohio. Today, the company's corporate headquarters is situated in West Chester, Ohio, after having moved from Middletown, Ohio, in August 2007.- Products :AK Steel's main products are...
. Employers utilized violence, espionage and large numbers of strikebreakers to defeat the organizing drive.
Murray was elected second vice president of the CIO at its first formal convention in November 1938.
Organizing slowed after the initial burst of success at U.S. Steel. By 1939, SWOC was in debt by $2.5 million. Little Steel continued to strongly resist unionization, and SWOC made few inroads at mills in the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
.
CIO
When Lewis retired as CIO president in 1940, Murray was elected president as his successor. The CIO absorbed a large amount of UMWA's dues at a time when the ongoing Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and employer resistance had stalled the influx of new members. Lewis soon broke with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
over the need for war with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and with his CIO colleagues over the need for government protection (as embodied by the National Labor Relations Act
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act , is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions , engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in...
). Lewis endorsed Wendell Wilkie for president just 11 days before the 1940 presidential election, and threatened to resign as CIO president if union members did not follow him. They did not. Despite a Lewis draft at the CIO convention two weeks after the November election, Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman was an American labor leader. Head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, he was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor's support for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democratic Party.-Early years:Sidney Hillman was...
and other CIO leaders pushed for a Murray candidacy. Although Murray had supported Roosevelt in the election, Lewis placed Murray's name into nomination himself. Philip Murray was elected president of the CIO on November 22, 1940.
Formation of USWA
Little Steel capitulated to SWOC in the spring of 1941. Walk-outs involving tens of thousands of workers and adverse court rulings led to elections at Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Inland Steel in which huge majorities voted for the union. Republic Steel quietly signed contracts soon thereafter. SWOC soon had more members than the United Mine Workers, further alienating Murray and Lewis.The victories at Little Steel led Murray to transform SWOC into a real union. SWOC was disbanded at a convention held in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, on May 22, 1942. A new organization, the United Steel Workers of America (USWA), was founded. Murray was USWA's first president. David J. McDonald
David J. McDonald
David John McDonald was an American labor leader and president of the United Steelworkers of America from 1952 to 1965.-Early life:...
, Murray's long-time aide at SWOC, became the number two man at SWOC, often running the union's day-to-day business. Together, they ran the union in as dictatorial fashion as possible. All dues flowed to the national office in Pittsburgh, and the right to negotiate contracts and conduct job actions was strictly controlled. But such actions were justified, Murray argued, in light of the vigorous resistance to the union displayed by steelmakers.
Reform of the CIO
Murray took over as president of the CIO, he found the federation in deep financial and organizational distress. He quickly instituted a series of reforms to stabilize it. He collected back-dues from members and unions alike, reined in expenses, shuttered or cut off marginal organizing projects and unions, pulled organizers out of unions (which they acted more like service representatives than organizers), and slowly ended the organization's dependence on subsidies from the Mine Workers. By November 1941, the CIO had a budget surplus. In late 1941, Lewis submitted a "bill" to the CIO demanding repayment for its five years of subsidies, and began speaking to Murray only through intermediaries. The relationship between the two former friend soured quickly. When Murray transformed SWOC into USWA and installed himself as president, Lewis retaliated. On May 25, 1942, he forced the UMWA executive board to remove Murray as vice president and strip him of his union membership.The CIO in World War II
Murray strongly supported the Roosevelt administration and the war effort during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He quickly adopted a "no strike pledge" on behalf of all CIO unions, and supported (with Walter Reuther
Walter Reuther
Walter Philip Reuther was an American labor union leader, who made the United Automobile Workers a major force not only in the auto industry but also in the Democratic Party in the mid 20th century...
) the establishment of industry union councils to promote increased production, quicker retooling and to overcome design problems.
To help overcome racial tensions in war plants, Murray established the CIO Committee to Abolish Racial Discrimination (CARD). CARD quickly undertook a discrimination-awareness education program which proved somewhat effective (at least outside the South). In 1943, Murray advocated making the Fair Employment Practice Commission a permanent government agency.
Murray also served on the National Defense Mediation Board and a number of other government agencies to help promote the war effort.
Post-war strikes and Taft-Hartley
Murray lead the Steelworkers out on strike in 1946. But employers said they were unable to meet the union's wage demands under existing federal wage and price controls. President Harry S Truman established a fact-finding board to craft a settlement, eventually approving the price increases sought by business in order to finance the wage increases. The strike, which began in mid-January, was over within a month.Murray had another fight on his hands in 1947 when the Congress enacted the Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act
The Labor–Management Relations Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S...
over Truman's veto. Murray had established a permanent political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
(PAC) within the CIO in 1942. But the CIO's political efforts were only marginally effective. Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
successfully passed the Taft-Hartley act despite Murray's and the CIO's vigorous opposition.
After passage of the act, Murray and the CIO were indicted for violating Sec. 304 of the Act, which forbade the expenditure of union funds in federal political campaigns. The CIO had endorsed a candidate for Congress in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, and the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
prosecuted Murray and the CIO for advertising the fact on the front page of "The CIO News." But in United States v. Congress of Industrial Organizations
United States v. Congress of Industrial Organizations
United States v. Congress of Industrial Organizations, 335 U.S. 106 , is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that a labor union's publication of a statement advocating that its members vote for a certain candidate for Congress did not violate the Federal Corrupt Practices Act...
, 335 U.S. 106
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1948), the Supreme Court overturned the indictment—finding that the publicizing of endorsements was not an "expenditure" under the Act.
Murray also refused to sign the required anti-communist affidavit on the grounds that it was demeaning. Nevertheless, Murray was no radical, and he aggressively purged the CIO of 11 left-leaning unions in 1949 and 1950.
Murray led the USWA through a second successful strike in 1949. This time the issue was whether employers should bear the entire cost of workers' health benefits and pensions. Once more, the union and the employers sought the assistance of a federal fact-finding board. But the board's recommendations did not prevent a strike from beginning on October 1, 1949. The strike lasted 31 days. Murray won a doubling of the pension benefit, with the employer continuing to pick up the entire cost. The USWA, meanwhile, agreed to pick up only half the cost of a new health and insurance benefit.
1952 steel seizures
In 1952, Murray led the USWA in its most famous strike. National wage controls had been reimposed to keep inflation in check during the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. In November 1951, USWA negotiators asked U.S. Steel for a large 30-cent wage increase, improvement in fringe benefits, and a closed shop
Closed shop
A closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
. The company responded that it could not agree without prior government approval of commensurate price increases.
President Truman referred the dispute to the federal Wage Stabilization Board
Wage Stabilization Board
The Wage Stabilization Board was set up by President Harry Truman within the United States Department of Labor, in December 1945, to take over the work of the National War Labor Board...
(WSB). Murray agreed to delay a planned January 1, 1952, walkout until the Board had made its recommendation. In March, the WSB recommended a 16.5 cent wage increase. But U.S. Steel and other steelmakers lobbied Congress, the Pentagon and the defense industry heavily, opposing any wage hike. Congress threatened to overturn any Board agreement. But Truman refused to invoke the Taft-Hartley's cooling-off provisions or seek an injunction against the Steelworkers.
Instead, on March 8, 1952, President Truman nationalized the American steel industry.
The steelmakers sought an injunction preventing the seizure. After a preliminary hearing went in the government's favor, a federal district court judge enjoined the President from seizing the steel mills. The full Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
, sitting en banc
En banc
En banc, in banc, in banco or in bank is a French term used to refer to the hearing of a legal case where all judges of a court will hear the case , rather than a panel of them. It is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance...
, granted a stay of the injunction pending a decision by the Supreme Court to hear the case. A meeting between USWA and the steelmakers at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
on May 3 nearly ended in agreement on a tentative contract, but the Supreme Court accepted the case and the steelmakers backed out of the pact. On June 2, 1952, Justice Hugo Black
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme...
, writing for a 6-3 majority in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, , also commonly referred to as The Steel Seizure Case, was a United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property in the absence of either specifically enumerated authority under Article...
, 343 U.S. 579
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1952), ruled that the president lacked the authority to seize the steel mills.
The government returned the mills to their owners hours later, and the Steelworkers struck. The strike lasted 51 days. But the CIO, lacking a strike fund, was unable to help the Steelworkers. John L. Lewis triumphantly offered the union a $10 million line of credit, which humiliated Murray. Steel supplies finally began to dwindle, and Murray feared the public opinion might turn against the union for impeding the war effort. Truman began preparations to draft the steelworkers into the military under the provisions of Section 18 of the Selective Service Act
Selective Service Act
Selective Service Act may refer to:* Selective Service Act of 1917, or Selective Draft Act, which was passed by the Congress of the United States on May 18, 1917. It was for men to go to WWI at a young age....
of 1948, furthering weakening Murray's resolve to see the strike through.
An agreement was reached on July 24, 1952. The Steelworkers achieved only a limited version of the closed shop. Wages and benefits rose, although not as much as the WSB had recommended. But Murray and others considered the strike a terrific win. They had avoided the crippling imposition of a Taft-Hartley injunction and the fines which would accompany it, and Truman had gone to significant lengths to support the union.
Death
Murray was unable to savor his victory. In the November presidential election, Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
won the presidential election, and Republicans swept to majorities in both houses of Congress. It was another defeat for the CIO PAC.
Philip Murray died in San Francisco on November 9, 1952, of a heart attack. Walter Reuther succeeded him as president of the CIO. David McDonald succeeded him as president of the Steelworkers.
He is buried in Saint Anne's Cemetery in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh (Castle Shannon, PA).
Other roles and publications
Philip Murray was a civic-minded individual who participated on a wide number of nonprofit organizations. From 1918 until his death, he was a member of the Pittsburgh Board of Education. He was a long-time member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
, and served on its executive committee. He also was a member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
.
Philip Murray wrote one book in his lifetime. Organized Labor and Production was published in 1940.