Adolph Strasser (1843-1939), born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, was an American

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 ...

organizer. Strasser is best remembered as a founder of the United Cigarmakers Union and the American Federation of Labor (AF of L). Strasser was additionally the president of the Cigar Makers' International Union for a period of 14 years, heading the union during the period in which it introduced its successful

union label A union label (sometimes called a union bug) is a label, mark or emblem which advertises that the employees who make a product or provide a service are represented by the labor union or group of unions whose label appears, in order to attract cus ...

and gained substantial organizational strength.

Biography

Early years

Adolph Strasser was born in the Austro-Hungarian empire in part of today's

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

in 1843. He was a native speaker of German.Patricia A. Cooper, ''Once a Cigar Maker: Men, Women, and Work Culture in American Cigar Factories, 1900-1919.'' Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1987; pg. 20. Strasser emigrated to the United States in 1871 or perhaps 1872.Merl E. Reed, "Adolph Strasser," in Gary M. Fink (ed.), ''Biographical Dictionary of American Labor.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984; pp. 532-533. After his arrival in America, Strasser worked at the craft of cigar making, taking up residence and employment in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

."Adolph Strasser" in Stuart B. Kaufman (ed.), ''The Samuel Gompers Papers: Volume 1: The Making of a Union Leader, 1850-86.'' Urbana, IL: Illinois University Press, 1986; pg. 504. In his posthumous memoirs fellow cigarmaker

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 13, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

recalled his impressions of Strasser from the time he met him in 1872:

"Strasser was a man of extraordinary mentality. He came to America some months before, traveling considerably through the South before settling in New York City. He had been identified with the
IWA IWA may refer to: Organizations International * International Water Association * International Webmasters Association * International Woodworkers of America, United States and Canada * International Workers Association, an anarcho-syndicalist fed ...
(International Workingmen's Association) and became a leader of American Section 5. Then for a while he was exceedingly active in the work of the Social Democratic Party. He shifted all his energy to the trade union movement when he came to understand the unsoundness and impracticability of Socialist Party policy and philosophy or, as Strasser called it, 'sophistry.' * * *

"Strasser had a keen practical mind... No one knew Strasser's early life and no one asked him questions lightly, for Strasser had a terse bluntness of expression in English and in German that made even the most venturesome hesitate to take liberties. Whether he learned cigarmaking in Europe or the United States I do not know, but he did not make cigars as one who had learned the trade in his youth.... It was often said that Strasser came of a well-to-do cultured Hungarian family. At any rate, he looked the part. He must have had some little means, for he dressed well even when he gave all his time to the International nionfor a salary of $250 a year."

While Gompers is unclear about the date of Strasser's break with the

socialist 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 ...

movement, it is known that in 1874 Strasser helped to organize the Social Democratic Workingmen's Party of the United States, one of the first International Socialist political parties in North America. Moreover, continued his activity in its successor organizations, which culminated as the Socialist Labor Party at the end of 1877.

Career

In the course of this activity, Strasser became involved in the

movement, initially helping to found the United Cigarmakers Union, concentrating for its members upon those

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

-based workers excluded from membership in the

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 ...

(CMIU). Strasser soon joined forces with the CMIU, editing the monthly magazine established by that union in 1875, the ''Cigar Makers' Official Journal.''Cooper, ''Once a Cigar Maker,'' pg. 22. In 1876 and 1877 Strasser was instrumental in helping to establish a central body bringing together New York City's various local trade unions. Strasser was elected vice president of the Cigar Makers' International Union in 1876 and president in 1877. He continued to serve in that capacity until stepping down from the job in 1891. During Strasser's term as head of the CMIU the organization began to win strikes which it had previously lost. Between 1871 and 1875 the union had waged 78 strikes, winning just 12, but in the years from 1876 to 1881 a total of 69 strikes had been fought, with 58 resolved in favor of the striking cigar workers. Strasser was a close ally of Samuel Gompers, siding with him in the early 1880s against the Socialist "Progressive" faction of the Cigarmakers' Union in a split of the union. Strasser also fought against New York's District Assembly 49 of the

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 ...

for its support of the Progressive Cigarmakers. In 1886 Strasser was one of five signatories to a call for a convention in Columbus, Ohio, which was to formally establish the American Federation of Labor (AF of L). Gompers and Strasser were outspoken opponents of the

system of production, in which raw materials were provided to workers for manufacture at home. Under their leadership the CMIU attempted to outlaw the practice of home work outright rather than making any effort to organize cigar workers engaged in that form of production. In 1881 the CMIU adopted use of a special "Blue Label" to denote union-made cigars.Cooper, ''Once a Cigar Maker,'' pg. 21. Following his retirement as CMIU president in 1891 he continued to work for the union as an organizer and auditor. He also was active in the American Federation of Labor as a lecturer,

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

, and arbitrator of jurisdictional disputes between competing

craft union Craft unionism refers to a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on the particular craft or trade in which they work. It contrasts with industrial unionism, in which all workers in the same industry are organized into the sa ...

Later years

Strasser left the trade union movement in 1914, becoming a real estate agent in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, for the next five years. In 1919 Strasser retired, living first in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

through 1929. In 1930 Strasser moved to Daytona Beach, located on the Atlantic coast of the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where he lived out the last decade of his life.

Death and legacy

Adolph Strasser died on January 1, 1939, in Lakeland, Florida. He was 95 years old at the time of his death.

Biography

Early years

Career

Later years

Death and legacy

Footnotes

Further reading