Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
's 2,400 cigar makers walked off the job in protest of their employer's failure to meet their demand of a 13 7/11% raise. Three of Boston's largest cigar manufacturers chose to leave the city rather than meet the union's demands and a number of union members formed a cigar-making co-operative. By August 30, 1919, all of the remaining manufacturers had reached agreements with the union.
Early labor struggles
During the early years of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Boston's cigar factories hired many refugees from
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. In addition to being expert cigar makers, many of them were
socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...
. After this, the manufacturers clashed with the local union, who threatened to strike if the manufacturers hired more employees, implemented the use of machinery, weighed tobacco, ended the practice of cigar makers using their mouths to shape cigars, or dismissed an employee without the consent of a union committee. On January 24, 1919, the Boston Cigar Makers' Union adopted a resolution calling for "all the land and workshops and public utilities" to "be conscripted for control by the A. F. of L., in the interest of all of the people" and that "the working class take over the control of wealth production".
Cigar Makers' International Union
The Journeymen Cigar Makers' International Union of America (CMIU) was a labor union established in 1864 that represented workers in the cigar industry. The CMIU was part of the American Federation of Labor from 1887 until its merger in 1974.
Org ...
President George W. Perkins criticized the amendment as an "attempt to fasten upon the International Union...a communistic, socialistic, soviet form of government". On June 19, 1919, Perkins wrote that the proposed strike by the cigar makers would "put the Boston seed cigar entirely out of the market...How much longer the Boston manufacturers can continue to pay these demands, with the many restrictions thrown around them, is a mighty serious question".
Walkout
On July 7, 1919, more than 2,000 of the 2,400 members of the Cigarmakers' Union, Local 97
walked out
In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest.
A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...
against manufacturers who failed to implement a 13 7/11% wage increase. This shut down Boston's large cigar manufacturers, including
Waitt & Bond
Waitt & Bond, Inc. was an American cigar manufacturer that was in operation from 1870 to 1969. During the early 20th century it was the largest cigar manufacturer in New England and one of the largest in the United States.
Early years
Waitt & Bo ...
, H. Traiser, C. C. A., Breslin & Campbell, Elcho, M. C. A., and Alles & Fisher. A number of the smaller shops who had granted the increase were able to continue production. A strike at the R. G. Sullivan factory in Manchester, New Hampshire was ongoing at the time of the Boston strike.
Gustave A. Rothfuss, secretary of the Boston Cigar Manufacturers' Association, accused Local 97 of making repeating wage demands and of striking without the sanction of the Cigar Makers' International Union. He also stated that the manufacturers would refuse to consider the cigar makers demand that "no firm shall discharge an employe without first consulting the grievance committee". Rothfuss claimed that the wage increase would raise the price of a ten-cent cigar to fifteen cents, while William Collins contended the increase would be less than 1/4th of a cent. Collins blamed the manufacturers for increased prices, stating that from 1906 to 1919, cigar manufacturers have increased their prices by $30 per 1,000 cigars, while cigar makers had only received a raise of $3.80 per 1,000 cigars made. Waitt & Bond cited increased wages of cigar packers, tobacco stripers, and general workers, increased federal taxes on cigars, increased tobacco prices, and other increased expenses, including freight and insurance rates, as the reason for the increased price and went on to state that Boston's cigar manufacturers were operating at the lowest profit since the establishment of the industry.
Departure of manufacturers
On August 13, 1919, Waitt & Bond announced that they would move from Boston to
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. Upon moving to Newark, Waitt & Bond operated on a non-union machine production basis. Other cigars makers followed suit. C. C. A. also moved to Newark while Breslin & Campbell moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Both switched to machine production.
Co-operative
Following Waitt & Bond and C. C. A.'s departure, the Boston Union Cigarmaker's Co-operative was formed. The Co-operative began with 50 cigar workers and $90,000 worth of capital. Morris Becker, a cigar maker who had put himself through
Suffolk Law School
Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two blocks ...
, was the Co-operative's first manager. Its factory was a former bowling alley. Although all of the Co-operative's employees were union members, the union officially had nothing to do with the business. The Co-operative operated on a "one-man, one-vote" system, which entitled a member to only one vote no matter how many shares he held.
By February 1920, 100 cigar makers were employed. By that December, the co-operative was the third largest cigar factory in Boston.
On October 8, 1921, five creditors filed a bankruptcy petition against the Co-operative. According to the February 18, 1922 issue of ''Industrial Relations'' "Lack of business training, acumen and experience seems to be the generally accepted reason for the failure". All of the Co-operative's departments, except for bookkeeping and accounting, were staffed by cigar makers, which resulted in buyers and salesmen with little experience. Becker also criticized the accounting department, which he stated was "run by a man who owed his position to a feeling of sympathy by certain members". ''Industrial Relations'' also faulted the Co-operative for not making an effort to take advantage of special seasonal demands and stated that "the generally accepted...final blow was due to a decision of the Board of Directors not to center their activities in New England, but to open up a market in New York City". The Co-operative's rights were sold to a Boston cigar factory superintendent for $5,500.
Resolution of the strike
The strike ended on August 30, 1919, when the Sullivan factory in Manchester and the cigar makers agreed on a compromise of $20 per 1,000 cigars made (down from the union's original demand of $21). By that time, H. Traiser, Elcho, M. C. A., and Alles & Fisher had all resumed production.