The Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations (also known as The Mechanics' Union or MUTA) was an American
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 ...
founded in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Pennsylvania, in 1827.
Origin
During the winter of 1826–1827, more than 800
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
ns were jailed in a
debtors' prison
A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histor ...
as a consequence of not having paid off their
loan
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the deb ...
s.
One anonymous prisoner working from his prison cell wrote an open letter, "To the Mechanics and Working-Men of the Fifth Ward, and those friendly to their Interests," describing the difficult work conditions suffered by working-class Philadelphians. The letter inspired a few outspoken writers to publish a widely circulated article demanding the
workday be cut from twelve hours to ten hours. In June 1827, carpenters in Philadelphia struck for a 10-hour workday, agreeing to no reduction in wages. According to ExplorePAhistory.com:
By October, the protesters had established the Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations, the first trade union to cross craft lines.
Activities
Almost immediately, the organization set up its own advocacy newspaper, the ''Mechanics Free Press,'' and began providing benefits for its members and political candidates, "who will support the interest of the working classes." The Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations became a proxy of the united crafts in Philadelphia, independent of the increasingly popular
Jacksonian Democrats
Jacksonian democracy, also known as Jacksonianism, was a 19th-century political ideology in the United States that restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, Andrew Jackson and his supporters, i ...
. Members of the association became known as "workies", and ran numerous candidates for local offices while forging coalitions with other Anti-Jacksonian organizations who supported educational reforms and economic regulations favorable to Philadelphia's workers.
In 1837, ten years after the original carpenter protests, dozens of industries achieved their greatest victory when the City of Philadelphia passed legislation prohibiting businesses from employing workers for more than 10 hours a day.
Loss of influence
The gains of the organization, however, were relatively short lived. Soon after the 10-hour workday legislation, the
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...
caused many businesses to declare bankruptcy, and the subsequent rise in unemployment effectively deactivated the Mechanics' Union.
Legacy
Despite the relatively short lifespan of the Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations, future union leaders such as John Siney and
William Sylvis
William H. Sylvis (1828–1869) was a pioneer American trade union leader who founded the Iron Molders' International Union. He also was a founder of the National Labor Union. It was one of the first American union federations attempting to unite ...
looked to the Mechanics' Union for inspiration in the
coal miners organizing movement. The organization also heavily influenced the idea of
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...
in the United States.
See also
*
Working Men's Party (Philadelphia)
*
Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...
Footnotes
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Further reading
* Philip S. Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 1: From Colonial Times to the Founding of the American Federation of Labor.'' New York: International Publishers, 1947.
* Helen L. Sumner, "Citizenship (1827-1833), in John R. Commons, et al.
''History of Labour in the United States: Volume 1.''New York: Macmillan, 1918; pp. 167–332.
Defunct trade unions in the United States
Trade unions established in 1827
1837 disestablishments in the United States
History of labor relations in the United States
1827 establishments in Pennsylvania
Trade unions disestablished in the 1830s