The Granite Cutters' International Association of America (GCIA) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

cutters in the United States and Canada.

History

The union was founded in March 1877 near

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine S ...

, USA. Its official publication was the Granite Cutters’ Journal. It was among the founding organizations of 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 mutual ...

. It was founded as the Granite Cutters' National Union and later Granite Cutters' International Union of the United States and the British Provinces of America before taking its final name in 1905. Jobs for skilled granite cutters dwindled in the 1960s and the union eventually merged into the

Tile, Marble, Terrazzo, Finishers', Shopworkers' and Granite Cutters' International Union The Tile, Marble, Terrazzo, Finishers', Shopworkers' and Granite Cutters' International Union (TMT) was a labor union representing construction workers who used marble and similar decorative materials, in the United States and Canada. Histor ...

Leaders

The leader of the union was initially the secretary; from 1905 the secretary-treasurer; and from 1912, the president. :1877: Thompson H. Murch :1878: Josiah B. Dyer :1895: James Duncan :1923: Samuel Squibb :1935: Lawrence Foley :1951: Costanzo Pagnano :1967: Joseph P. Ricciarelli

References

American Federation of Labor affiliates Stonemasons' trade unions Trade unions established in 1877 1877 in Maine Rockland, Maine Trade unions in Maine Trade unions in Massachusetts 1877 establishments in Maine Defunct trade unions in the United States {{NorthAm-trade-union-stub

History

Leaders

Further reading

References