The Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association of North America (SMAA) was a 19th-century fraternal benefit society and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in the United States of America. Its members included the operators of railway track switches and those who coupled train cars in railway yards. Organized in 1886, the union came to its demise in July 1894 with rise of the

American Railway Union The American Railway Union (ARU) was briefly among the largest labor unions of its time and one of the first industrial unions in the United States. Launched at a meeting held in Chicago in February 1893, the ARU won an early victory in a strike ...

and the smashing defeat it was delivered in the 1894 Pullman Strike. The organization was succeeded in October 1894 with the establishment of the

Switchmen's Union of North America The Switchmen's Union of North America (SUNA) was a labor union formed in October 1894 that represented the track switch operators and people who coupled railway cars in railway yards in the United States and Canada. It became part of the United T ...

History

Establishment

The first

of American railway switchmen was a local organization founded in the city of

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during the tumultuous labor struggles of 1877. In June of that year James Cullerton, a switchman for the

Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833 and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the ...

, sent word to the various rail yards of the city asking for three delegates from each to be dispatched to an organizational meeting."Old-Time Switchmen," ''Switchmen's Journal,'' vol. 1, no. 2 (June 1886), pg. 51. A total of 15 delegates showed up for the meeting, which launched a short-lived organization called the Switchmen's Brotherhood. This was supplanted by a new organization on August 18 of the same year called the Switchmen's Union, with Cullerton again playing a leading role. This organization continued in existence at least through 1881, failing to expand outside of Chicago but nevertheless providing a nucleus for development of a future union.John A. Hall, ''The Great Strike on the Q.'' Chicago: Elliott and Beezley, 1889; pg. 20. Cullerton's pioneering effort finally saw growth in 1884 with increased local membership and activity in Chicago and expansion of the concept to other local organizations in railroad cities in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. These autonomous local Switchmen's Unions began to feel the need for a national organization and a call was issued for a founding convention, to be held February 22, 1886, in Chicago. A well-attended organizational convention lasting 8 days followed, with the body electing officers, establishing a monthly magazine, and carrying on extensive discussions in secret session.Hall, ''The Great Strike on the Q,'' pg. 21. A follow-up convention was scheduled to begin September 20, 1886, in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. This gathering was known as the First Annual Convention of the SMAA and was attended by delegates from 25 lodges affiliated with the organization.Hall, ''The Great Strike on the Q,'' pg. 22. The main business of the gathering was consumed in the writing of a constitution and bylaws for the governance of the organization. James L. Monaghan, a graduate of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

school system who had studied law for two years, was elected the first Grand Master of the organization. Monaghan would be elected to the

Illinois State Legislature The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818 ...

in November 1888, to be succeeded as head of the SMAA by

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

resident Frank Sweeney. The Second Annual Convention of the SMAA was gaveled to order September 19, 1887, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. The gathering was noteworthy for its elevation of another mainstay of the SMAA to prominence when it elected 26-year old Chicago native William A. Simsrott as Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the organization. Together with Sweeney, Vice Grand Master John Downey, and ''Switchman's Magazine'' editor John A. Hall, these would comprise the top leaders of the SMAA during its comparatively brief existence.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy strike of 1888

Throughout the 19th and much of the 20th Century, railway workers were divided into innumerable subdivisions based upon craft, with the

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

participating in the

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the US. A year lat ...

(B of LE), the

firemen A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

who broke and shoveled coal to fuel the trains part of the

Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (B of LF&E) was a North American Rail transport, railroad fraternal benefit society and trade union in the 19th and 20th centuries. The organization began in 1873 as the Brotherhood of Locomotive ...

(B of LF), the conductors part of the

Order of Railway Conductors The Order of Railway Conductors of America (ORC) was a labor union that represented train conductors in the United States. It has its origins in the Conductors Union founded in 1868. Later it extended membership to brakemen. In 1969 the ORC merg ...

(ORC), the brake operators part of the

Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) was a labor organization for railroad employees founded in 1883. Originally called the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen, its purpose was to negotiate contracts with railroad management and to provide in ...

(BRB), and so forth. The SMAA was part of this myriad of organizations — a diffusion of decision-making authority and range of competing institutional interests which made unity of action during strikes extremely difficult. In January 1888, disaffected engineers of the B of LE and firemen of the B of LF who were part of the

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

(CB&Q) system of lines came together to discuss joint action against their employer — which they perceived as abusive — with respect to wages, job security (requiring cause for termination), job classification, and work conditions. A negotiating committee was appointed, which presented the unions' case to railway officials, who declined to make any substantive changes.Hall, ''The Great Strike on the Q,'' pg. 45. Heads of the two organizations, Grand Chief Peter M. Arthur of the B of LE and Grand Master Frank P. Sargent of the B of LF were called in and together with a reorganized negotiating team further meetings were conducted with the railway still unwilling to increase wages or to alter working conditions. Final appeals to the General Manager and President of the railway were similarly unproductive. A strike was called. At 4 pm on February 27, 1888, all locomotives of the CB&Q system were delivered to their terminal points and all engineers and firemen of the railway walked off the job and a protracted strike was begun. Shortly after the beginning of the strike, the CB&Q began to move its cars via other parallel railways.Hall, ''The Great Strike on the Q,'' pg. 50, citing a brief history of events in a June 1888 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers circular. A meeting was held in Chicago on March 5 between the two striking organizations, at which it was agreed that the engineers and firemen of these parallel lines should notify their employers that while they would continue to perform all of their other duties, they would henceforth no longer handle CB&Q cars on the trains which they operated. Strikebreakers were hired by the railway in order to keep the line open, many of whom had little railway experience, making the already dangerous job of coupling and uncoupling cars performed by switchmen in the yards and on the sidings even more deadly. Consequently, the strike against the CB&Q was joined on March 23 by the members of the SMAA.Hall, ''The Great Strike on the Q,'' pg. 48. The railway brakemen remained on the job, however, helping to operate the trains of the CB&Q while the three brotherhoods of the running trades were on strike, although the level ill feeling on the part of striking engineers, firemen, and switchmen towards the brakemen was said to be comparatively small. The strike was ultimately lost by the unions, lending to a general sense of unease with the efficacy of the diffused craft form of labor organization.

Federation efforts

During the summer and fall of 1888, following the loss of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy strike, officials of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association began discussions intended to bring about a broad and permanent federation of the brotherhoods of the rolling crafts — engineers, firemen, switchmen, brakemen, and conductors.Paul Michel Taillon, ''Good, Reliable, White Men: Railroad Brotherhoods, 1877-1917.'' Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2009; pg. 98. Articles of confederation were adopted between the two groups. In February 1889, officers of the extremely pro-federation B of LF, including Grand Master Frank Sargent and Grand Secretary-Treasurer and magazine editor

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate of the Soc ...

met in Philadelphia to explore an even broader labor alliance, engaging in discussions with representatives of the venerable

Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...

(KoL) and the fledgling

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

(AF of L) with a view to uniting workers in the railroad industry with the wider population of organized. American workers.Taillon, ''Good, Reliable, White Men,'' pp. 98-99. Little more than a bland and impotent circular calling for greater labor union emerged from this Philadelphia session.Taillon, ''Good, Reliable, White Men,'' pg. 99. It was not long until Sargent and Debs' work bore fruit, however, when on June 6, 1898, a new railway federation was established in Chicago called the

Supreme Council of the United Orders of Railway Employees Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

. Charter brotherhoods in this organization included the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the Brotherhood of Railway Brakemen, and the Switchmens' Mutual Aid Association. The two leading brotherhoods, organizations of the comparatively highly paid railway conductors and engineers, chose to stand aside from this new organizing effort. The Supreme Council was a top-down organization, which centralized the authority of the executive officers of the railway brotherhoods and to thus make possible countervailing power against the centralized railroad systems, united in their own associations, the

American Railway Association The American Railway Association (ARA) was an industry trade group representing railroads in the United States. The organization had its inception in meetings of General Managers and ranking railroad operating officials known as Time Table Conventi ...

(ARA) and the General Managers' Association (GMA), established in 1885 and 1886, respectively.

Battle with the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen

Demise

Footnotes

Official organ

* ''Switchmen's Journal'' — Vol. 1 (1886-87)
, Vol. 2 (1887-88) , Vol. 3 (1888-89) , Vol. 4 (1889-90) , Vol. 5 (1890-91) , Vol. 6 (1891-92) , Vol. 7 (1892-93) , Vol. 8 (1893-94) , Vol. 9 (1894) — ''Note: No copies known to exist for vols. 2, 3, 5, and 6.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association 1886 establishments 1894 disestablishments Railway unions in the United States