United Hebrew Trades
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The United Hebrew Trades (
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
:
''Fareynikte Yidishe Geverkshaftn''), was an association of Jewish labor unions in New York formed in the late 1880s. The organization was inspired by and modeled upon the United German Trades (German: ''Deutsche Vereignte Gewerkshaften),'' formed decades earlier by German immigrants to the United States who were active in the German, and later the German-American, labor movement.


Organizational history


Establishment

The United Hebrew Trades (UHT) was organized as a prospective central body of federated
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 ( ...
s on October 9, 1888, by J. Magidoff, a member of the
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
-language Branch 8 of the
Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...
(SLP).Melech Epstein, ''Jewish Labor in USA: An Industrial, Political and Cultural History of the Jewish Labor Movement, 1882-1914.'' New York: Trade Union Sponsoring Committee, 1950; pg. 168. The Yiddish Branch of the SLP had been established the previous year and had attracted a number of ambitious and talented young activists to its ranks, including future newspaper publisher
Abraham Cahan Abraham "Abe" Cahan (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם קאַהאַן; July 7, 1860 – August 31, 1951) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician. Cahan was one of the founders of ''The Forward'' (), a ...
. This SLP branch would be joined by the
Russian-language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living Eas ...
Branch 17, which included active Jewish radicals
Louis Miller Louis E. Miller (1866–1927), born Efim Samuilovich Bandes, was a Russian-Jewish political activist who emigrated to the United States of America in 1884. A trade union organizer and newspaper editor, Miller is best remembered as a founding edit ...
, Lev Bandes, and
Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqui ...
, in forming the core of the new trade union organization. The new organization, the ''Vereinigte Yiddishe Gewerkschaften'' (United Hebrew Trades) patterned itself on an earlier trade union organization of German-speaking socialists, the ''Deutsche Vereignte Gewerkshaften'' (German United Trades), an organization which dispatched two official delegates to the foundation meeting of the Jewish organization.Epstein, ''Jewish Labor in USA,'' pg. 169. The gathering was also joined by the editor of the SLP's German-language newspaper,
Wilhelm Rosenberg Wilhelm Ludwig "William" Rosenberg (1850 – 1930s) was a German-American teacher, poet, playwright, journalist, and socialist political activist. He is best remembered as the head of the Socialist Labor Party of America from 1884 to 1889. Bi ...
. Only two tiny unions joined the new Jewish federation at the time of its formation, the typesetters' union and the chorus union — groups with a combined total membership of just 75 people. Despite the organization's tiny size at the time of its establishment, a full slate of officers were elected, with B. Weinstein named secretary and Morris Hillquit chosen as corresponding secretary. Delegates to the German United Trades were also elected. The United Hebrew Trades rapidly gained recognition by New York unions and by March 1890 the UHT could claim 22 affiliated unions, including sizable organizations of tailors and cloakmakers.


DeLeonist interval

In 1895, the UHT became a member of the SLP sponsored
Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance of the United States and Canada - commonly abbreviated STLA or ST&LA - was a revolutionary socialist labor union in the United States closely linked to the Socialist Labor Party (SLP), which existed from 189 ...
, becoming "District Alliance 2" in February 1896. Some of its constituent unions, however, were still affiliated with the
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 ...
and splintered to become the Federated Hebrew Trades of Greater New York in September 1897. As the ST&LA declined, the UHT disaffiliated in 1899 and merged with the newer federation.


Membership growth

By 1910, Weinstein was able to report that the UHT had 106 unions under its umbrella, consisting of 150,000 working men and women. In 1914 the UHT celebrated its 25th anniversary in
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
.
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and
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 ...
were featured speakers at the event. In May 1915, eight members of the association's Executive Committee were indicted in New York City and charged with hiring gangsters, including Benjamin Fein, to intimidate uncooperative employers. UHT secretary Abraham Shiplacoff told the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
that "we are not going to allow the reactionary District Attorney to eat our beloved leaders alive." By 1922, the UHT represented approximately 200,000 workers. In 1933, United Hebrew Trades' activists joined with other organizations and trade unions to form the
Jewish Labor Committee The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) is an American secular Jewish organization dedicated to promoting labor union interests in Jewish communities, and Jewish interests within unions. The organization is headquartered in New York City, with local/re ...
, which had its founding convention in February 1934. In 1938, when the UHT celebrated its 50th anniversary, it had 250,000 members.


Unification with the Jewish Labor Committee

In the 1990s, the UHT changed its relationship with the JLC, from that of an independent affiliated organization to the New York Division of the JLC.


Footnotes


Further reading


Detailed entry for the UHT under "Organizations"Report of the US Industrial Commission p. 343-345
Discusses the activities of the UHT, as well as a comprehensive list of unions and number of members {{Authority control 1888 establishments in New York (state) Jewish-American political organizations Jewish socialism Jews and Judaism in New York (state) Socialism in New York (state) Yiddish culture in New York (state) Trade unions in New York (state) Trade unions established in 1888